If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao # 4

 Spaced Teacher’s Adventures In The Middle Cosmos { China}

If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao { # 4 }

By Spaced Teacher

I’m sure that by now most of you have figured out  that these articles entitled ” If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao “{# s 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 } are my explanations of why I don’t think , in spite of what The Higher Minds Of Governments the world over think , that China will ever rule the world. Now I’m sure you’re asking yourselves ” Well Stanner why should we believe you and not them. ” I will answer you this way. Because I have lived in China for ten years consecutively and not in the relatively civilized and modern Chinese metropolises such as Beijing , Shanghai , Hangzhou , Guangzhou and Qingdao but rather in the Chinese hinterlands where The Higher Minds never go. I’ll let you be the judge of the accuracy of my assertion upon the completion of your reading of my articles.

The Chinese will never rule the world because they are expert at ” fouling their own nests “. Industrial pollution is rampant in China. That is to be expected in a rapidly developing industrial economy and can be dealt with. I’m speaking of a far more pernicious pollution which is rooted in the culture and psyche of the Chinese people. Sanitation is also abysmally bad in China. This problem is also rooted in Chinese culture and the Chinese psyche.

In the apartment building I currently live which is on campus there are seven floors.The first three floors have a small overhang which is not quite big enough to be considered a small patio but is big enough to put some plants on. The people that live on floors 4 – 7 seem to feel that it’s ok to throw their trash out the window onto these ledges. It does not matter to them that they are fouling the view and the aesthetic pleasantness of the people that live below them. The rubbish you see is out of THEIR view and thusly is not a problem to THEM so it is not a problem — PERIOD !! If you go to West Lake in Hangzhou which is one of the premier tourist spots  in all of China you will see Chinese people throw there trash in a symbol of their country that is world reknown. If you go to the Longman Grottoes in Luoyang which is a World Heritage Site you will see Chinese people throw their trash in and urinate in the caves that people come form all over the world to see. You will also see them wash their clothes in the Po River which divides the two sides of The Longman Grottoes. It’s THEIR country and they just don’t give a damn what the rest of the world thinks about this behavior.

The school neither cleans up the mess or discourages the behavior. The fact that us lao wai { foreigners } don’t like this behavior with good reason does not matter to them.When we inform them that this makes us really uncomfortable and ask them why they won’t do anything about we are told ” Because it is the Chinese way to behave like this. ” That my friends concludes the conversation. Now I am no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing my opinion so I will tell you that I don’t give a DAMN if it is their culture and it’s been that way for 5,000 years. It’s rude ignorant behavior that needs to stop and if it takes the lao wai to tell them so well I’m happy to oblige them. One would think that aside from this behavior being rude and ignorant the Chinese authorities could have figured out by now that this trash attracts all manner of vermin. In short it’s a health hazard. They have had 5,000 years to get it right and STILL they are apparently clueless or arrogantly indifferent. This campus also has a small but potentially beautiful pond and a small and potentially beautiful brook where lots of trees and plants grow on the banks. The same sort of behavior affects them also. It’s truly sad because absent this self inflicted pollution this could be a beautiful campus.This behavior will also take place in the classrooms. The classrooms here are disgustingly filthy and always trash strewn.

Chinese toilets in the vast majority of China are STILL of the squat variety. Picture a long trench with a series of holes dug into it. You squat down and aim as best you can. To say they are extremely uncomfortable and highly unsanitary is an understatement to the max. 95 % of the time you will not find deodorant or soap in a Chinese public toilet. Those things cost MONEY you see. Most of them will also have no curtains for the same reason. When the bathrooms are cleaned they will be cleaned with cold water and very little if any soap. Bleach apparently doesn’t exist in China. Once again those things cost MONEY. It never occurs to them that all the disease they are forced to pay to deal with costs far more than the solution to the problem would. Penny wise and pound foolish to the maximum extremes. Another example of this sort of poor sanitation habits which are rooted in culture is that Chinese people will spit anywhere at any time. They will spit on the classroom floor, they will spit on a restaurant floor, they will spit on the sidewalk directly in the middle of the sidewalk where people are walking. It’s thoroughly disgusting behavior. They will also let their children urinate or defecate on the sidewalk in broad daylight in public and walk away without even cleaning up the mess. Are you getting the picture here?

When I lived and worked in Harbin there was a restaurant right across the street from my house which specialized in donkey meat. Every morning at 5:30 A.M. they would bring in 3 – 4 donkeys and slaughter them ALIVE right there on the sidewalk. I used to wake every morning to the sound of these screaming animals as they were being slaughtered.If you went out there at that hour you could see the blood and entrails spilling out all over the sidewalk. The stench was unbelievable. This is not unusual behavior in China. Apart from being incredibly inhumane the sanitation factor alone should be enough for the authorities to stop the practice. They do nothing about it though because you see it’s The Chinese Way. It’s been that way for thousands of years. It’s part of our culture. Can you imagine this behavior being tolerated in any Western country? I can assure you that should you be unfortunate to witness this once you’ll change your attitudes about the treatment of animals. While I have not been able to break my meat eating habits entirely I can tell you that I have cut down my meat eating by about 95 % as a direct result of viewing this.

Whenever I talk about these issues with people from Western countries there will always be at least one Dumbass Multi- Culturalist China Apologist in the group who will ask me this question : ” Who are you to judge the Chinese about these things? It’s their culture and their country. ” I answer thusly ” Who do I need to be? ” I don’t give a DAMN if these sorts of behavior are parts of their culture and psyche and have been for the 5,000 year history of their civilization. All that means to me is that China has been doing it wrong for their entire history. I really don’t care that that history is 5,000 years in duration. It is the year 2011 and China is now in the Community of Nations. These sorts of behaviors need to change. If the Chinese people can’t or more likely won’t see the errors of their ways and change voluntarily and if their leaders will not force them to then I guess the job of dragging China into the 21st Century , kicking and screaming if necessary , falls to hose of us that know better. I will not shirk my responsibility to the Chinese people that do want to change in that regard. If the Chinese or Westerners that don’t like my attitude in this matter have a problem with it well I guess that is just my cross to bear. I REALLY don’t give a damn what they think about it.

Well now that you’ve read my article and viewed the pictures and slide show I have a question to ask you. Do you STILL think China will rule the world some day? I invite your comments.