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Q: worse off than Africa?
It's a thought that has passed my mind a few times. I'm thinking of the socio-economic (neither the social nor economic aspects should be underestimated) quality of life people enjoy in China compared to your average African country, where people face desertification, diseases and other tropical dangers, not to mention the aftermath of colonial exploitation.
China has a lot of money now, but still there are so many impoverished people who can only look at the opulent displays of wealth that define culture here, as their families slowly die off from treatable ailments.
I've never been to Africa myself, so feel free to correct me if the situation there is really much worse than China's.
But I believe that African communities enjoy a richer cultural heritage than Mainland Chinese do, and they are close to (trust) more than just their direct relatives. They are free to speak their minds to their peers. Investments are growing, allowing more Africans to enjoy better living standards. Any lack of education is mitigated by the fact that they are aware of the shortfall, and willing to adapt to modern society. Or are people in Africa just as closedminded, stubborn, arrogant, supremacist, superstitious, oppressive and racist as the average Chinese? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Ok, first i should say that Africa is a continent not a country so its hard to make generalizations unless someone has been all over.
I spent about a month and a half in Eritrea and Ethiopia and thinking back, the similarities between those places and China are striking. I dont recall thinking of them as negatives at the time but i guess that is a large differnce between travel and living somewhere.
As for your points of culture and heritage, i would say it is actually on par. Wether its eskimos in fords, chinese with iphones or africans in Nikes, pretty much any place will readily discard their culture for western toys.
Just as you see here, culture is in the details, small things you notice at weddings or funerals. Little traditions that you pick up over time. But i did not see any rain dances or shamans.
Other similarities:
The idea of useless face. Families, as they do in China, spend too much money on appliances and gold to show off to others. Most houses will have a tv or a fridge but no electricity or channels. Every household has gold necklaces galore but dont eat chicken because the eggs are their only source of protein.
Weddings where shockinly similar to China
Renting or borrowing cars to drive around and look cool and take pictures at places that few would call attractions. Giving money and people counting said money. They did dance though, so the weddings where a bit more fun.
People definatly stared and yelled hello a few hundred times a day. Again i was travelling and not yet jaded by China so i remember it as a small anoyance, never did i wish for violence, but im assuming living their would change that quick.
Untrustworthy and money hungry? Check! Even back then with the rose covered glasses, i vividly remember trusting them much less than i do in China, plus the violence was much worse. * side note- a friend of the families son was a mixed race kid , Canadian/ Nigerian. He lived with us for 4 years as a teanager for sports in the area. His mom had moved here with his dad after meeting in Africa for his job. I specifically remember them saying they had no contact with her family anymore, as they only wanted his money. ( sound familiar???) They would lie and cheat and steal from their own family members. Thats not everyone , i know, but Nigerians do have a reputation that any African from any other country will gladly agree to. And thats my personal experience, so there.
People pissing and spitting a shooting snot rockets???? Check Check Check!
Its not hard to imagine it would be hell for a woman there. While both countries men are creepy, the Africans are far less shy about it.
Total disregard for their environment and wildlife??? For sheezy!
People always give Chinese shit ( much deserved shit) for buying all the ivory and tiger paws and eating all this horrible food that is killing all of these endangered animals. But people seem to forget that its not the Chinese that are killing them and selling them. The Africans deserve just as much if not alot more of the blame for destroying their own eco systems for a cheap buck. And its not just a few poachers. No one seems to care except a few park rangers paid by western organizations.
Its kind of stange that in this case, the guy that ordered the hit gets a way longer sentence than the actual hitman. Western views can be kind of funny like that.
Youll see similarities in smaller things too, like a complete disregard for their own culture in favour of the "cooler" american one. At that time Nellys " hot in here" was popular and i used to spend my days counting how many people i saw with the damn fake band aid on their face. Yes, just like China, they seem to take the worst parts of other cultures while also screwing it up.
coineineagh:
i'm glad you gave such a detailed answer. sometimes it's hard to distinguish between culture-specific behaviour and general backward human nature. in a way, it's good. it means that there is more promise for the future. when backward attitudes fade and economies improve, people everywhere should become less sad, desperate and irresponsible.
Robk:
LoL... how could you say such things about Nigerians?
The Nigerian Prince often sends me emails about how he wants to give me a lot of money and how I am his best friend. All he needs from me is my bank account information, my CC information and all my documents to absolutely NOT steal my identity or my money. He is a great man I say!
mike695ca:
Shit you know him too??? Im curious how many princess they have in Nigeria. And all of there fathers seem to be dying at the exact same time. Must be an epedemic. Ebola. Surely it must be many princes' as i cant believe the same man would have offered this amazing opportunity to you as well! He said he trusted only me!
mike695ca:
@coin. I definatly agree, there does seem to be promise in the future. Middle school and high school students i come across in GZ give me hope. They stand on the right on the escalators, they dont scream into phones. I never see them pee anywhere and they dont stare at me or try to practise English. They give me hope. But unfortunately, I am sure this dream we share, of a civilized place we can live comfortably, is too far off in the future. Not in our lifetime. I hope your kids grow up in an environement far better than ours.
I've been to Morocco and Haiti, but somehow I can't compare Africans with Chinese.
I came across a web link from Numbeo yesterday on 'Visualizing The Cost of Living Around the World'.
A bit off-top-ic, but here it is, if someone is looking for the retirement spot:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-30/visualizing-cost-living-around-...
I've also never been to Africa so take what I say with a grain of salt but I'd much rather live in China. First of all, most places in China would be safer than most places in Africa any way you look at it - violent crime is low in China and there are a lot more nasty diseases to worry about throughout Africa. There are also generally more economic opportunities in China - yes, these opportunities exist mostly for those born into privilege but 20 years ago in China there were no opportunities for anyone. China's rate of development is generally more rapid and that is increasing living standards for people at all levels of society. Sure, there are gross displays of wealth from people at the top, many of whom earned their fortunes unscrupulously. In terms of opportunities for expats, it's hard to say. I mean it's easy to find a crappy job in China but the better jobs are becoming less and less accessible. Perhaps there could be more chances to get in on the ground floor in Africa, I really don't know. One area I have to agree with Coin is when it comes to culture - I'm sure that many parts of Africa have much richer and more meaningful cultures than this soulless hellhole of Chinese Iphone worshippers. I don't know about the people - I'm sure you can meet a lot more open minded and thoughtful people in Africa but at the end of the day I'd rather be surrounded by peasant morons in China and feel safe.
Ok, first i should say that Africa is a continent not a country so its hard to make generalizations unless someone has been all over.
I spent about a month and a half in Eritrea and Ethiopia and thinking back, the similarities between those places and China are striking. I dont recall thinking of them as negatives at the time but i guess that is a large differnce between travel and living somewhere.
As for your points of culture and heritage, i would say it is actually on par. Wether its eskimos in fords, chinese with iphones or africans in Nikes, pretty much any place will readily discard their culture for western toys.
Just as you see here, culture is in the details, small things you notice at weddings or funerals. Little traditions that you pick up over time. But i did not see any rain dances or shamans.
Other similarities:
The idea of useless face. Families, as they do in China, spend too much money on appliances and gold to show off to others. Most houses will have a tv or a fridge but no electricity or channels. Every household has gold necklaces galore but dont eat chicken because the eggs are their only source of protein.
Weddings where shockinly similar to China
Renting or borrowing cars to drive around and look cool and take pictures at places that few would call attractions. Giving money and people counting said money. They did dance though, so the weddings where a bit more fun.
People definatly stared and yelled hello a few hundred times a day. Again i was travelling and not yet jaded by China so i remember it as a small anoyance, never did i wish for violence, but im assuming living their would change that quick.
Untrustworthy and money hungry? Check! Even back then with the rose covered glasses, i vividly remember trusting them much less than i do in China, plus the violence was much worse. * side note- a friend of the families son was a mixed race kid , Canadian/ Nigerian. He lived with us for 4 years as a teanager for sports in the area. His mom had moved here with his dad after meeting in Africa for his job. I specifically remember them saying they had no contact with her family anymore, as they only wanted his money. ( sound familiar???) They would lie and cheat and steal from their own family members. Thats not everyone , i know, but Nigerians do have a reputation that any African from any other country will gladly agree to. And thats my personal experience, so there.
People pissing and spitting a shooting snot rockets???? Check Check Check!
Its not hard to imagine it would be hell for a woman there. While both countries men are creepy, the Africans are far less shy about it.
Total disregard for their environment and wildlife??? For sheezy!
People always give Chinese shit ( much deserved shit) for buying all the ivory and tiger paws and eating all this horrible food that is killing all of these endangered animals. But people seem to forget that its not the Chinese that are killing them and selling them. The Africans deserve just as much if not alot more of the blame for destroying their own eco systems for a cheap buck. And its not just a few poachers. No one seems to care except a few park rangers paid by western organizations.
Its kind of stange that in this case, the guy that ordered the hit gets a way longer sentence than the actual hitman. Western views can be kind of funny like that.
Youll see similarities in smaller things too, like a complete disregard for their own culture in favour of the "cooler" american one. At that time Nellys " hot in here" was popular and i used to spend my days counting how many people i saw with the damn fake band aid on their face. Yes, just like China, they seem to take the worst parts of other cultures while also screwing it up.
coineineagh:
i'm glad you gave such a detailed answer. sometimes it's hard to distinguish between culture-specific behaviour and general backward human nature. in a way, it's good. it means that there is more promise for the future. when backward attitudes fade and economies improve, people everywhere should become less sad, desperate and irresponsible.
Robk:
LoL... how could you say such things about Nigerians?
The Nigerian Prince often sends me emails about how he wants to give me a lot of money and how I am his best friend. All he needs from me is my bank account information, my CC information and all my documents to absolutely NOT steal my identity or my money. He is a great man I say!
mike695ca:
Shit you know him too??? Im curious how many princess they have in Nigeria. And all of there fathers seem to be dying at the exact same time. Must be an epedemic. Ebola. Surely it must be many princes' as i cant believe the same man would have offered this amazing opportunity to you as well! He said he trusted only me!
mike695ca:
@coin. I definatly agree, there does seem to be promise in the future. Middle school and high school students i come across in GZ give me hope. They stand on the right on the escalators, they dont scream into phones. I never see them pee anywhere and they dont stare at me or try to practise English. They give me hope. But unfortunately, I am sure this dream we share, of a civilized place we can live comfortably, is too far off in the future. Not in our lifetime. I hope your kids grow up in an environement far better than ours.
I have never been to Africa but I think those of us that are a bit less ignorant can tell you that Africa is not all the same.
South Africa and Botswana are decently "developed". You would be safe in larger cities and maybe some smaller areas. Kenya is moving forward well, but should stick to the larger cities. Running off into places like Burkina Faso, Ethiopia are quite poor but slowly moving forward. Places like Somalia are still extremely dangerous for tourists.
Can't paint Africa with one brush. Use this website for local stories: www.metropolistv.nl - You will see for yourself.
yongge:
Yeah, I can see you haven't been to Africa. or heard about the crime wave in South Africa, where non-blacks are particularly vulnerable. The big cities is where you stay away from. Being "developed' is no guarantee for safety, as it attracts those who wants to feed off others.
This post is not meant to be offensive and I will not further participate, as the previous topic that went this way was banned by admin.
Robk:
I have heard of it, but I hear it is confined to certain areas...
Like walking down the wrong alleyway in Compton after dark... but again, that's all here-say and I haven't seen it myself. I hear Botswana is safer than South Africa.
