Money Makes The World Go Wacky

If you have money, you can apparently afford to make everybody jump through hoops. From the most junior intern to the president of the USA, everybody has to bow down to the almighty dollar. Even if that dollar is stupid as hell. (euro would have also worked, but unfortunately we don't know if it still remains a viable currency two years from now.)

Gentlemen's Agreements

Implicitly understood between men, the Gentlemen's Agreement is what keeps society from descending into anarchy. It is the one thing keeping the world sane for all to enjoy and live in. It consists of the following themes:

• "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"
• Don't cockblock another man, unless he violates the Gentlemen's Agreement first
• If a good and honest man has a chance to make it with a woman, his friend must not make him look bad

Actually... just refer to the Bro Code already.

Western Sensitivity in a Eastern World

The stereotype is that the Asian kid is always the one with the nose in the books, going for the highest grades, just because their parents want their children to.

Frankly the working culture in the East, particularly Korea and Japan, is a natural progression from this tendency. People work long hours, throughout the week, day and night. Family life is respected, but mostly from a social perspective, not from a personal one. Value is placed on effort, self-sacrifice in favour of the group, of the company.

At least from what I've seen Asians do work hard and long, but tend to put everything down to the last final detail - just to be more exact and precise than their peers. Or maybe they expect to learn something zen from the time they spend on their task. Anyway they don't question the task and just strive to do the best that they can.

Now Western sensibilities say that working long is not as effective as working smart. Not that us Europeans and Americans are lazy, but we like to think - on their own - that they can put more value in into less time, thereby freeing up more time for themselves, to improve themselves or to get richer. Our superiors are not always right, and we let them know that. To Asians that seems disrespectful.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. The biggest success stories in Western economies are from entrepreneurs, who went off the beaten path (Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, the Google and Facebook guys). In China, Japan and Korea it is very rare to attribute the success of a company to individuals.

An Asian from a Western world like myself can see both sides. I know the value of effort and hard work, but I also know running just for the sake of running is merely a front. It is a waste that will end up hurting more in the long run, frustrating people you work with, and jeopardizing quality of life. That needs to improve, otherwise the only winning numbers the Asians can claim are that of population.