One other thing I found fascinating and revealing about China. Ask someone (anyone) who The Beatles are? Or how about Neil Armstrong? Or Elvis?
It may have changed somewhat in the last few years, with the internet, but few, if any, Chinese ADULTS knew who any of these people were, even three years ago. Never heard of them! That is an indication of how censored their media (and education system) was for many, many years. Now with the internet that has to be changing.
Maybe but how many Chinese pop stars do you know of? How about Chinese cultural icons?
Is the American educational and media censored because they don't teach Chinese history or report on Chinese entertainment?
I think it's very hard for Western people to understand that a huge part of the population in China is just not interested in American culture. They have their own here and it's deep. That's not to say that they aren't influenced by Western culture. They are of course because the musicians all know who the Beatles were.
I know you are a betting man Jay. So I will make this bet with you. I will take a Chinese sixth grader and you can have an American 12th grader and we will give them both simple math problems and I bet the Chinese sixth grader will outperform the American 12th grader.
I think though that if you really got to know more people here you would find that your perceptions change. People do know who the Beatles are and what's going on in the world.
I'd bet that the Chinese on average consume more American tv than Americans do. I say this because of the rabid consumption of all tv shows and movies that happens here. Have you ever seen a "Prison Break" T-shirt? They were all over the place here last year until everyone got through all the seasons and it's over.
And of course the internet - which everyone has - literally every shop has internet and people are on it all the time and they all know how to get around the Chinese government's firewall. But they don't need to because China has versions of everything that we have and more.
I don't know this for sure but I'd bet that they teach who Neil Armstrong is in school here. I will find out tomorrow. I am not surprised though that the average adult wouldn't recall who that is. Just like when Jay Leno goes out on the street in Burbank and asks American adults simple historical questions and they can't answer them. Most people don't retain what they don't use without effort. People like you and me do because we are reflective and being able to remember events and facts is important to what we do. We also have reverence for national heroes like Neil Armstrong and to the Chinese he's an American who did something on behalf of America. Ask them about their own heroes and they can tell you all about them because they have respect and reverence for their own.
Jeeze how did this freaking thread turn into another ****ing China bashing frenzy.
I swear this is my last post on this. Chinese people sweat and fornicate and procreate and live and die like the rest of us. People try to remember that these are HUMAN BEINGS here.
Who gives a shit about their government? All governments are corrupt and full of corrupt people clinging to power. No matter what government you HAPPEN to live under you still have to figure out how to make a life. If you are an American reading this then consider yourself lucky that you born an American in the modern era. You could have been born as a Chinese or Cuban or an African or a Haitian etc....
Keep this crap in the NPR section. If you want to bash China then go there and go off.
"You can bomb the world to pieces but you can't bomb it into peace." - Spearhead
:yikes: :barf:
