Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Techno-Addicts

<< < (2/3) > >>

tsaint:
1. 24x7 police state? Huh???????... no, you're right, as here in Oz we too have police available 24x7. And I wish there were more available, as like many people where I live, I feel its not a pleasant/safe experience to walk alone on a Saturday night in the heart of the city. Bad luck about MY freedom to go unmolested by drunken yobbos.

2. As a regular visitor to Singapore, I see plenty of non conformity. Not to USA extremes perhaps (and I can't see how those extremes are so good anyway).
 I said a sense of COMMUNITY and I meant just that. It's there, not to be confused with conformity. And in the normal sense of the words it implies a respect and tolerance for other members of the community and a preparedness to sacrifice for the sake of a wider, community good. To me, that's positive, not neutral.

I don't feel like I'm taking any chances in Singapore. To each his (or her) own.
(And finally, I would apologize to you 40hz, because your post caught me at a bad time when - elsewhere - I'd seen yet another assumption made that western values and culture are somehow innately superior to those from the East. A dubious premise at best)

Renegade:
...assumption made that western values and culture are somehow innately superior to those from the East. A dubious premise at best)
-tsaint (April 24, 2011, 09:30 PM)
--- End quote ---

I see that all the time.

There are good and bad aspects no matter where you go.

In the west, people often confuse selflessness and harmony for conformity. It's not about that, though that is an apparent side-effect.

But, values are hard to pin down, harder to express, and almost impossible to understand unless you live inside of them/their environment.

Regarding your #1 - You can stumble down the street at 3am in Seoul, perfectly safe. If anyone stops you, it's probably because they're trying to help you.

Singapore is a fantastic place. I don't go there nearly enough though, but it's on my list of places to spend more time.) You have only to walk through Changgi airport to know that you've reached a very different, and special place. I love that airport -- it's absolutely a pleasure to use. Can't say that about any airport I've been through in the US, though the airport in Vancouver is the nicest one that I've been through in North America.

It's not an easy thing to be able to glean the good and run with that. Often the bad is like a spotlight, blinding you to everything else. (I know I'm guilty there.)

Stoic Joker:
assumption made that western values and culture are somehow innately superior to those from the East
-tsaint (April 24, 2011, 09:30 PM)
--- End quote ---

Funny really, as I tend to assume the exact opposite ... But I tend to be a nonconformist also. :)

I haven't read the article, but I'd have to assume it should end up with anything to excess is bad.

tomos:
A lot of this can be cultural differences, I thought that zero-tolerance had been tried in parts of the US (with some fairly dysfunctional effects)

Coming from a land where it often doesnt feel safe to go out on a Saturday night, & your car never really feels safe (Ireland), to a land which seems relatively crime-free (Germany), I can see that a certain amount of that is cultural, even character (on the level of individual and society) differences.
Sometimes one feels pretty repressed; the other, nicely spirited.
Other times, one feels nicely organised, the other pretty chaotic.

i.e. as Renegade says, there's usually pros & cons

(for all that I suspect there's just as much theft here in .de as in .ie - just here in .de, it's more "white-collar"/scams.)

40hz:
A lot of this can be cultural differences, I thought that zero-tolerance had been tried in parts of the US (with some fairly dysfunctional effects)
-tomos (April 25, 2011, 08:57 AM)
--- End quote ---

I think tomos hit the nail on the head. Different cultures have different mores. And the degree of community cooperativeness is a manifestation of those mores.  

That's what makes the United States so bewildering and difficult to get a handle on. (Only the game of Cricket is harder to understand.)  The United States is not a monoculture. There are dozens of different versions of the United States. And they don't exist in isolation. Many of them overlap each other, and sometimes even exist in weird paradoxical juxtapositions within a given social group.

That's why when people say "You Americans..." ( or we say "We Americans...") I immediately ask which Americans we're talking about. Because as far as I can see, the only thing the USA is really 'united' in is it's differences. That and a general consensus it's our god-given right to disagree with each other.

Most Americans disagree with something. And while we're quick to try to legislate behaviors, we've so far (knock wood) been very reluctant to limit debate, restrict speech, or forbid criticism of those in power. How long this attitude will prevail is anybody's guess however.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page