Callous society or are people too afraid to help?

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Seems to me like this idea of selfishness increasing is sort of a subtle dig at the growing economy and perceived distancing from rule of autocrats and oligarchs and people like Mao.

Confucianism is arguably a meritocratic system, and Chinese Buddhism is certainly not devoid of a sense of good deeds. If anything, the lack of belief (some Chinese described life during Mao as one in which people were unable to believe anything - not just religion) and compassion in effect then hurt this, not the recent opening of markets.

 

[aelf]

Seems to me like this idea of selfishness increasing is sort of a subtle dig at the growing economy and perceived distancing from rule of autocrats and oligarchs and people like Mao.

That might be a valid point if the same narrative wasn't told in the freedom-loving West as well. The ascent of consumerism just tends to be associated with the decline of moral values. It's a simplistic narrative, but I don't think anyone can say that it's prima facie wrong.

Confucianism is arguably a meritocratic system, and Chinese Buddhism is certainly not devoid of a sense of good deeds. If anything, the lack of belief (some Chinese described life during Mao as one in which people were unable to believe anything - not just religion) and compassion in effect then hurt this, not the recent opening of markets.

And it would be as silly to counter a simplistic narrative with another simplistic one. A point the article brought up, and something that I've been saying as well, is that the lack of kindness towards strangers has cultural roots that go further than the Cultural Revolution and Communist rule. Those include Confucianism as well, which in practice tends to emphasise respect for authority and the value of familial bonds, not empathy for the suffering of strangers. Also, the idea that the decline of religion corresponds to the decline in moral values is pretty controversial.

 

[Yeekim]

I couldn't live with myself if I had done something good only to have my life (including property) robbed from me. I just won't take the chance of ruining my life in a good deed.

Even if it is a matter of helping an injured child?
I... won't comment so as not to be infracted - and my mastery of English is probably inadequate to fully convey my emotions anyway.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

That might be a valid point if the same narrative wasn't told in the freedom-loving West as well. The ascent of consumerism just tends to be associated with the decline of moral values. It's a simplistic narrative, but I don't think anyone can say that it's prima facie wrong.

Well then it gets to the point of it being true or not, which is sort of hard to believe in the west or China. The sweeping idea of moral decline is hard to prove, particularly when the general morality of a nation is far from homogenous; even in countries in East Asia.

And it would be as silly to counter a simplistic narrative with another simplistic one. A point the article brought up, and something that I've been saying as well, is that the lack of kindness towards strangers has cultural roots that go further than the Cultural Revolution and Communist rule. Those include Confucianism as well, which in practice tends to emphasise respect for authority and the value of familial bonds, not empathy for the suffering of strangers. Also, the idea that the decline of religion corresponds to the decline in moral values is pretty controversial.

Sorry, my point was not clear. I meant to phrase it in a way that if we're going to simply blame it on economic growth in modern China, it seems every bit as reasonable to blame it on the Cultural Revolution. And Confucianism is more of a perceived merocratic system; like the free market (theoretically) is, so a hang up now seems... odd. I don't think either Cultural Revolution blame or modern economic growth blame is true.

 

[Darkwind]

I really do not see this kind of cases happen in Hong Kong or Taiwan. (I may be bias as I live in Hong Kong, but I wholeheartly believe this.)
This cannot be explained by Chinese culture alone.

I do feel that western culture is more "friendly" to strangers; but Chinese are also not cold-blood murderers. Please remember they also have a mother and is human when you blame in all on a race issue.