Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameOn
Mainlanders are mostly the problem with the whole Chinese are rude, impolite, not reading the sign things but I don't think its as much Confucian teachings. Mostly has to do with Communist era "Cultural Revolution" policies. Back then, communist theory stated everyone can do everything equally well (which we know is not true). So the masses were to be given the opportunity to do what the bourgeois were doing.
The most educated people in the country where sent to be farmers/miners/labourers and the farmers were sent to the cities to do the educated people's work. So your teachers, scientists, engineers, doctors became farmers and vice versa. If you spoke out against the Communists you were put into the group that got sent to do farming/labour. Kinda makes everyone develop a look out for yourself attitude since you couldn't really trust your neighbours not to rat you out to the communists.
All the people who would have instilled "modern consideration" type of values (i.e. politeness, reading signs, queuing in line, etc) on society were more or less sent to the camps/collective farms/mines. Either that or they died off when the engineers started trying to work on the farms, famine happened and tens of millions of people died. Add to this mess decades of the Single Child Policy where increasingly rich parents/grandparents are raising and spoiling only a single child and you have China rudeness as it is today. More or less this is why in general Taiwanese/HK/Singaporean Chinese are considered more "polite". Stupid Communists.
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While I agree with you that the cultural revolution is the source of having such a pushy culture nowadays, the idea that it is because the educated city dwellers were necessary to instill manners and modern consideration to the uneducated masses (whom I can only assume were mannerless by your post) seems more than a little unfair towards the masses at that time. The suspicion of neighbours and the need to fight for every little edge to survive no doubt had a massive influence in making things the way they are now, but that's hardly about the masses being deprived of the enculturing influence of the educated city dwellers. Other than that, I agree.