Why are Asian-Americans Wealthier? (small business, credit card, wage, invest)

[Thomas R.]

And China having such a large population in the nineteenth century, though a negative in some ways, in other ways is a sign of how successful they were. Even their periods of disunity were not that detrimental to their development. So they had three thousand uninterrupted years as a true civilization. (With cities, large-scale agriculture, division of labor, etc)

Their culture brought them stability and growth. The downside being that the Confucian caste system tended to devalue trade and an emphasis on order sometimes led to stagnation. Although the large population may have damaged the Manchu generally speaking Chinese dynasties go into decline after their bicentennial. The Chinese were unfortunate in that this happened in a period where Europe's emphasis on trade led it to expand to new places and advance technologically. Still I suppose it's possible China will someday see the 1840-1970 period as an anomaly and that being "The Middle Kingdom/Center of the World" is really the more normal scheme of things. As much as I love Chinese culture I have some reservations if that comes to pass. (I value personal and religious freedom a good deal more than modern or dynastic China)

[Moonwalkr]

The topic asks why they are wealthier, and that's simply harder work ethics. I know some folks then turned this into some sort of genetic superiority; but it's just simply a cultural effect, which is lost in 2nd and 3rd generation emigrants when they get assimilated into another culture.

Oh, hard working ethics does not translate into innovation and creativity. More hours worked = more wealth and stress, period.

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by Moonwalkr

The topic asks why they are wealthier, and that's simply harder work ethics. I know some folks then turned this into some sort of genetic superiority; but it's just simply a cultural effect, which is lost in 2nd and 3rd generation emigrants when they get assimilated into another culture.

Oh, hard working ethics does not translate into innovation and creativity. More hours worked = more wealth and stress, period.

Thank you. This is what I have been trying to say. Reps for you.

[John23]

Originally Posted by runningncircles1

That's definitely NOT true. They get married younger and have children earlier on average.



I'm going to sound racist here, but that isn't always true either. I've worked for Asian bosses before, and they complicated things more than they should have been and disobeyed several ordinances (health and business). Not to say all Asians are like this, but I do not think "honesty and straight-forwardness are necessarily ideals for all Asians (just like they aren't for all whites, aka Enron and banks).

This is all generalizing, but some groups of people have much higher teen pregnancy, early pregnancy. Look at unwed teen latino mothers giving birth vs unwed asian teen mothers getting pregnant in America. Its like two ends of the spectrum.

-Also, about honesty, being straightforward. They don't need all the coddling and special assistance others might need (or expect from the american govt).

They don't worry about what happened 100 years ago, or how the US did something to a little island of theirs 85 years ago on a friday. They don't create a lot of their own obstacles the way others might.

Honest and straight forward in terms of making opportunities for themselves. They don't delude themselves the way others might about white superiority, or you have to be white to have connections or something. Honest and straightforward going from point A to point B.

We're at point A, we want a better life for ourselves. Point B is america...work hard, save, get educated.

Others meander around, from point A to point b, c, d, e, f, g...welfare, dropping out, making excuses, blaming others, wanting special help and assistance, etc.

[supertrucker212]

One is work ethic. Asians go to school longer days from a young age which I feel creates an impact. White & black kids are lazy bastards that want to sit on their ass all day and expect the world to owe them a living. Two is education. Education in the far east is much better than the US's. Three, is the risk taking free spirit. Fourth, it's easier to get loans and other things to go into business if you're a minority. There you have it.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

Asians, particularly Northern Asians, are an intelligent people. And, since they've been able to ride on the coattails of affirmative action, in a small period of time they've been able to advance economically quite well.

Affirmative Action benefiting Asians. Are you kidding? When was this? I went to prep school in the late 80s, and saw many examples where affirmative action hurt Asians. This is probably still the case for most schools today. A lot of people fail to see that success is not generally achieved by getting into an elite college. Success is usually achieved by how well you do in college. Who cares if you get into an elite school, only to drop out and stack up mounds of college debt?

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

I check census stats periodicially PINC-11--Part 1, and the thing that always stands out is that Asian-Americans consistently have higher incomes than other ethnic groups - higher even than non-Hispanic whites. For an ethnic group that is fairly new to the US, that's quite an achievement. Is there something the Asians are doing right that the rest of us can learn from? Are they more entrepreneurial? Better educated? Both? My hunch is that they are more entrepreneurial. They like to take risks. Whenever I go to Chinatown here in Chicago, I'm struck by how many Chinese here could barely speak English, yet they own businesses that seem to print money left and right. I also know a couple who owns a small fast food Chinese restaurant in the suburbs. Their English isn't very good. Yet their son is now a junior in medical school.

You know, I failed to mention one thing that might shed some light on this particular topic that I did not see anybody talk about. Well, about a year ago this topic was actually of interest to me because I lived in a wealthy Asian community and I did business with a few of them.


Long story short, I asked a Korean woman I knew about the excellence that I have observed within the Asian American culture and I was told that one of the "keys" is the fact that in edition to public/private education Asians also receive home education.


In the end, I think "education" in our country is in a sad state because Amercian parents outsource the entire learning process to western academia. To make matters worse, home education would sadly be a burden for American parents because they are to busy overextending themselves or are caught up in entertainment just as much as there own children (football, sex in city).

[Craig121]

A lot of them do have tempers and they sometimes think that they can work the employees to the nub, especially the Chinese and Koreans.

[jz8408]

Asian-Americans tend to be on average, well-off, but none possess the kind of money or power that the established white dynasties in America have. There aren't any super-rich Asian-Americans, except perhaps for a few tech entrepreneurs like Jerry Yang..

Asian-Americans in my opinion tend to range from middle to upper-middle class. There is emphasis on education and going to college, as Asian culture traditionally values education. What's interesting though is that I believe our parents, as immigrants who started businesses, will be more financially successful than their kids will be when all is said and done. As an Asian-American kid, I wasn't encouraged to take risks. The same risks our parents took in order to succeed in the US are seen as too risky for their kids. They encourage us to study hard and get middle-class jobs. Dropping out of high school or college to pursue business opportunities is unheard of and viewed with distrust.

We generally have been conditioned to take the safe route and rely on being good employees to ensure our well-being. This isn't a bad philosophy by any means, but it surely won't make any you ridiculously wealthy.

Oh and I'm a 1st Gen Asian-American who did graduate from college but is forgoing the 9-5, safe, corporate middle-class dream.

Edit :: also, one must keep in mind that sometimes, the immigrants who make it to the US are the cream of the crop in terms of motivation, ability, talent, intelligence, etc. They are some of the most productive and talented citizens in their home countries, but because of lack of opportunities there or a dangerous, unstable environment, they've immigrated to the US. Thus the group is uncommonly selected for and will often have above average success rates. This is becoming less common as immigration opens up and more and more people are allowed to come into the US.

[movin'on]

Because they are smarter?