The individualism VS the collectivism
——The differences between American and Chinese value
“Value”——it is a word that we can hear more and more frequently these years. From “three represents theory” to “harmonious society”, and “eight do's and eight don'ts”, we can see the government’s endeavor to build social values. China is doing so, and America is just doing the same thing all the time. So what is the difference between American and Chinese value? In one word, it is just the compare of the individualism with the collectivism. 1. Individual strive
American thinks highly of the persons who get success by their hardworking, instead of relying on the family. In America, you can often see the person who is in low profile, while he (or she) is relative of successful people. But it is just the reverse in China. Like the old saying goes :”When someone got to the top, even his dogs and chickens got there too”
2. Individual privacy
“Leave me alone!” To American, losing privacy means losing a part of oneself. They think the privacy is in relation to one’s basic dignity and independence. But it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to share and be frank. In fact, they are more vigorous in work when they are “individual”. But in China, ”privacy” just means “scandal”.
3. Individual choice
More than to help you to choose, American prefers to give you advices. It is just the same in the way parents teaching their children. For example, “Buying a toy and then you won’t get new clothes. Or buying new clothes so that there will be no toy.” One can be think as a dawdler and a loser who is always depends on others’ choices. While in China, most people are just waiting their “destiny”, and they are often tend to “take to the woods” when trouble comes.
There are nearly 100 words in America which have the prefix “self-“, American takes “individual” seriously, but it doesn’t means American ignored the importance of cooperation. In fact, they are more effective as they have the same value. The other way around, Chinese seems very “collective”, but it is just to obey the leaders’ orders. Maybe my words paid more attention to the advantages of American value and the disadvantages of Chinese value, but I think to study something and then give enough
thoughts to it is always a good thing.
the difference between Chinese and American value
