Mainland China has got some issues

[secol]

http://newsstream.blogs.cnn.com/2011...cident-victim/

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzEzMDU4ODYw.html

[Cain]

Incredibly disturbing. Word of warning, the second link is the link to the video...very graphic, heartbreaking, disturbing and a whole host of other things.

[JohnnyB]

This has been a big deal in the news here the last couple of days. I'm sure it will incite very nasty reactions from everyone who sees it. I just hope that before this turns into attacks on Chinese people or culture generally, that those seeing it understand the fact that people in China are horrified by this too.

Appreciate the fact that if you're on this board you are most likely among the most privileged and fortunate few percentage points of people on the planet.

Edit: this BBC article is at least more balanced than the CNN one.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15331773

[T@T]

They call it a "brutal car accident"

Sorry idiots, at that speed and the fact the first car ran over her slowly with both wheels and the second car didn't even try to avoid her I call it attempted manslaughter.

Makes no wonder westerners call orientals the worst/blindest drivers on earth...how the f.ck this could happen is beyond me..just ridiculous.

[Barnet Flame]

I saw this last night in the WGMG thread. I was warned and wish I had not. It is probably the most horrific and disturbing thing I have ever seen. I don't even know what to say about it except my heart aches for that little girl and her parents.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

This has been a big deal in the news here the last couple of days. I'm sure it will incite very nasty reactions from everyone who sees it. I just hope that before this turns into attacks on Chinese people or culture generally, that those seeing it understand the fact that people in China are horrified by this too.

Appreciate the fact that if you're on this board you are most likely among the most privileged and fortunate few percentage points of people on the planet.

Edit: this BBC article is at least more balanced than the CNN one.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15331773

Color me confused by this statement???

Are you saying because I have a job, can afford internet services I'm privileged enough to know better than to run over a small child or to try and help the kid....please!

[JohnnyB]

No,what I'm saying is that there is a lot of horrible violence that takes place on a regular basis and, I believe with higher frequency, in parts of the world that are much less privileged. There are many, many more horrifying stories from inside China. To me, this is not even the worst I've read nor the worst I believe I've witnessed the results of. My point was just that it really is worth appreciating being in the position of not living somewhere that so many nasty things like this happen. It is a great fortune, and one that isn't shared by most people in China who are also horrified by this.

[T@T]

Fair enough Johnny, Personally I just can't get over this, bad enough the driver(s) but the people walking by just blows me away.

Unreal really.

[JohnnyB]

That's fair, and I don't mean to say you should get over it. It's very saddening. I just hope people can look from a privileged position and sympathize with those involved and other horrified people who live here rather than lump everyone in China in together with the people in the video, as the thread title threatens to. That's mostly what I'm reacting to.

I do know lots of horrible things go on here, and some of the things that go on are truly reprehensible, but there is moral outrage within the country also.

[HOZ]

In my experience traveling to Mainland China this incident is just a good example of the sheer lack of empathy they show towards others and other living things. I never can explain to others what it is. It is as though their humanity has been torn from them. Its not that they don't give a ##### but that it has nothing to do with them so they ignore it.

The same thing happened to the Japanese in WWII. But even that was different. At least they still "cared" for each other.

[JohnnyB]

^^^
That is basically what I was trying to preempt, in the hopes that there could be a little more nuanced discussion rather than painting a billion plus with the broad stroke of being inhumane.

[burn_this_city]

I saw the video yesterday, pretty shocking that people could care so little about others, particularily a young child.

[LChoy]

From my post in the WGMG thread:

Originally Posted by Lchoy

Not trying to gloss this over or justify it, but perhaps this was an example of the bystander effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect



Also, 9 notorious cases of this effect:
http://listverse.com/2009/11/02/10-n...tander-effect/

[SeeBass]

If you are truly one in a million then in China there is only 1,500 people like you.

[kirant]

Not trying to gloss this over or justify it, but perhaps this was an example of the bystander effect:

Exactly. It's unfortunate, but it's likely this story would have occured anywhere. USA, Canada, Russia, China...you name it.

We've heard similar stories over the years from all over and this time, it just happened to occur in China. Does it excuse the individuals at the scene? Fata no. But it also doesn't imply anything against the Chinese.

[FlameOn]

Bystander effect? Wasn't there some lady in NYC like Kitty Genovese (sp? from what I read in freakonomics) or something like that where more than 15+ people watched the lady get stabbed repeatedly and no one reported it? It happens in more than just China.

I'm not disputing that there is an overall problem in China. I think the sheer lack of empathy, manners, culture and consideration in China has a lot to do with the backwards communist era policies and subsequent relaxation more than anything else. Chinese one child policies and subsequent relaxation of economic policies to allow for capitalism has created an environment of spoiled children. Parents and grandparents get vastly richer than the previous generations and their very few children get more and more spoiled/inconsiderate/less empathetic.

[squiggs96]

I've seen a lot of stuff on TV and the internet that was graphic and disturbing, yet it didn't affect me at all. That's the most effed up thing I've ever seen.

[OilKiller]

Doesn't matter where you live...this world if f'd up. Seriously unbelievable. I wish I hadn't seen that. I hope the poor girl makes it and is OK.

[malcolmk14]

Walter Sobchak: The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line you DO NOT... Also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

[secol]

to be fair society in mainland china has turned into this because people have been known to "twist" their stories.....basically old people pretending to be hurt, and then if somebody helps them they pretend that the helper hurt them and sue. but getting rolled over by a car probably causes injuries that are pretty difficult to inflict by a man so argument doesn't really stand