tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097293516411888153.post9163556342626756221..comments2023-12-04T10:02:29.445-06:00Comments on Mark's China Blog: NPR - Religion and One Child Policy in ChinaMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00967364257656897151noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097293516411888153.post-77071637799491630482010-08-05T03:33:12.727-05:002010-08-05T03:33:12.727-05:00Ugh, money, money, money. I have been trying for ...Ugh, money, money, money. I have been trying for 7 years now to get my wife to relax about money. Its pretty high on my list of cultural pet peeves as well, this primacy of money.<br /><br />We just got back from vacation today and after getting my car out of long term parking and paying at the gate, she starts going through alternate scenarios and how they would have resulted in saving 5 or 10 bucks. She starts calculating out loud how much it would have cost to take a cab and with tip and.... and right then I lost it. "We have just spent 6 hours on a bleeping plane, its midnight, and you still are gonna worry about how we could have saved 5 bucks somewhere!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097293516411888153.post-35721687787765860982010-08-01T20:21:52.099-05:002010-08-01T20:21:52.099-05:00I appreciate the comment, Ramesh. I don't have...I appreciate the comment, Ramesh. I don't have a deep perspective of Asia outside of China. So I always appreciate the knowledge of India and the rest of Asia you share here.<br /><br />I've seen articles about South Korea and every family's desire to send their kids to America to study. You've talked about that with India too.<br /><br />I agree with you on the civil society. When I was writing that paragraph, all I could think about was social Darwinism. I feel that primacy of money and soullessness too. I suppose people have to embrace such a life in contemporary China or they could be left behind.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00967364257656897151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4097293516411888153.post-557451252118586662010-07-31T22:39:25.870-05:002010-07-31T22:39:25.870-05:00Mmmmm interesting. The pressure on children is com...Mmmmm interesting. The pressure on children is common across Asia. Its a cross cultural thing here and I don't think its particularly influenced by the one child policy. South Korea is even worse. India is no better. Its mainly because of extreme competition. When you have 10,000 applicants for each decent college seat, the slogging is perhaps understandable.<br /><br />One para in your post really caught me - the lack of the civil society in China. I've felt it very strongly. One of the huge transformations has been the absolute primacy of money and the individualism that brings. It seems to have completely overtaken China and I've often felt the soul is missing. Not sure if you felt the same way.Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.com