Perspective on the US from an expat working in China

[ZenGum]

On the slacker syndrome, there is another aspect of it which occurred to me after posting. Many people in the west are starting to feel that they have "enough" material wealth, and extra effort is not best put into working more so as to earn and accumulate more. Rather, a greater return is gained from increasing leisure time.
I believe the trendy word for this is down-shifting. I think it is part of the reason for westerners being in general less motivated than others.
When was the last time that westerners faced widespread hunger? The great depression? and before that? Ages ago. We haven't even had a seriously threatening war for 60 years. We've become complacent.
By comparison, China in particular has had many periods of shortage, famine and internal war in the last hundred years. Things are good now but the culture still carries the urgency of the hard times. I think this also explains part of the difference.

Also some people are just plain lazy. Whatchya gonna do?

[ZenGum]

On families, there is also the matter of the shrinking size of families. Previously, families might easily have six or more children, but now this is pretty much the exception. It is easier to keep bonds with your six (19th C) siblings than with your six (21st C) cousins.
And in the past, you had a lot more cousins, too. If you had, say, 30, even if you were in fairly close touch with 10 or so, thats still a big network.
I have one brother, three cousins, two niece/nephews, two step niece/nephews, three step-step nephews ... but I'm only in regular touch with the first on this list. The others are just too distant (socio-psychologically) to feel connected to.

Which brings me back to China. I know the one-child policy is not enforced uniformly, but many people do end up having just one child. These children of course have no siblings, and will have no siblings-in-law. The next generation will have no cousins or aunts or uncles. As Riddil notes, Chinese society has very strong family ties, and also I believe that a lot of Chinese business is done through family connections. I wonder what will become of Chinese society when the long term effects of the one-child policy begin to bite. Any guesses anyone?