Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevemcgarrett]

A former colleague of mine, a man who has continuously lived and worked among East Asians for nearly 70 years and is very well traveled insists privately that Asians--especially East Asians--regard themselves to be superior to others, including Westerners. He also insists it derives from more than a deep-rooted sense of cultural superiority.

What's most intriguing, if not compelling, is that he also insists that most Asians will never admit that to a Westerner, for fear of conflict, or concern over someone losing face, or simply because they act out this quiet condescension without even realizing its source.

I have to admit I was more than a little taken aback by his comments. Usually he was more reserved and erudite. But he said it in such a contemplative, even-toned voice that the import of his words became disturbing.

Does anyone else out there think he's correct? And if he is, why doesn't anyone talk openly about it? And what does this do to the whole Orientalist mindset? Kinda turns it on its head, eh, as in Occidentalist?

[rocklee]

Mate you've just opened up a can of something there.

[Paddycakes]

[yesnoyesyesno]

the man is over 70 years old. he comes from a different era, they looked at things differently back then

[Newbie]

Well, I don't know about all East Asians, but Koreans would NEVER think they're better than anyone else (couldn't get through that with a straight face)

[SPINOZA]

I've encountered the following, Steve:

White people are under-ripe. Black people are over-ripe. East Asians are ripe and perfect.

This apparently can explain phenomena such as Nazi Germany and why countries like Britain and America have dominated the planet for last 300 years. It also suffices to explain why whites and blacks are more aggressive than east Asians. Presumably, the fact that these poor buggers are struggling away with English - whilst folks in the US, Australia and Britain are not studying Korean or indeed any foreign language to as significant a degree as East Asians pursue a mongrel northern European language - is also related.

This was openly expressed and received agreement.

They were however unable to fit the Japanese - who are "the English of Asia" - into this model, when pressed. I'm not entirely sure where Indian, central Asian, Arab people fit into all this either. It also wasn't satisfactorily explained how the under-ripeness of whites is necessarily a negative thing given that white countries are generally economically very successful, or how China has only very recently overtaken Britain as the world's 4th largest economy, despite the obvious size and population differences. I also politely asked for an explanation as to analogously Asian individuals such as Charles Darwin, Newton, Milton, Kant, Einstein and why it is that the ripe Asians did not invent the car, the telephone, the airplane, the space shuttle, the computer, the internet, or make vital discoveries, from the hundreds of extra-solar planets we're aware of, to morphine and penicillin. Needless to say, no such explanation as to how under-ripe whites managed all this was given.

I rejected their theory as lacking any kind of observable justification, but did point out that white guys and Asian girls appear to have some mutual affection and that this is common enough phenomena to considered a fact of life.

[djsmnc]

[VirginIslander]

Are you concerned that he feels that Western culture is inferior to East Asian culture or are you concerned that one culture can be inferior to another?

[stevemcgarrett]

Virginislander:

Not sure why I find it disturbing, actually. I suppose it might have to do with my desire to continue to believe that there is something genuine (and thereby endearing) behind the outward modesty of most East Asians rather than something vulgar, such as a quiet sense of superiority.

That said, it should come as quite a surprise to many Westerners who've been educated by the politically-correct hegemony-laden discourse of the academia these days where the predisposition of the "dominated" is never called into question.

yesnoyesno:

Maybe...but I doubt it since most of his current circle of friends are younger East Asians and he is married to a Chinese with mixed children. He is also a man of few words who, when inclined at all, speaks without mincing words.

[RACETRAITOR]

It is obvious the Japanese think they're the best race/country in the world, but Koreans are a little more complicated. They know their country is small and weak, and pretty much all of them acknowledge the US is better. But it doesn't mean they don't love their country a little too much at times.

[doggyji]

Typical East Asian...? Let me just say CJK people are already too different from each other.

[eamo]

I reckon Koreans swing from superior to inferior self-perception all the time. They have both going on in there.

When they think of their economic success or the 2002 World Cup they feel all superior.

The next minute they might remember how much more of a profile China, Japan, USA and many other countries have on the world stage. Then they start feeling inferior until MBC shows another montage of World Cup clips!!!

Coc_ky but insecure is how I would personify Korea as a country.

[endo]

Replace caucasians with east asians and this thread makes more sense.

[stevemcgarrett]

endo:

Oh? How so, endo? And before you respond, consider this: in Western academia, particularly during discussions centering on postcolonialism, the Caucasian would be propped up as the bogey man straight away. It's almost a 'given.'

I'm just turning the coin on its head, not to be provocative or for some troll baiting thrill, but because when this man proposed it he was dead serious, and there wasn't a hint of malice in his voice. In fact, he said it with a note of irony, recognizing that it would not be something most expats in East Asia would seize upon as an explanation for many of the reactions they get from the locals.

[DanielP]

I think people feel very proud of their culture, and of course think and/or act that it's the best.

I've lived in various cultures from Arabic to French, to Spanish, to American and soon Asian, and one thing I've learned is that everyone is subconsciously proud of their way of life. Of course, there are certain individuals that take it too far and act way arrogant but they must'nt get in the way of anyone's first impression of a culture because it will be a negative impression.

Daniel