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So the Chinese are the most materialist culture....

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Crono said:
There are probably a lot of Chinese people on the bubble of entering the middle class, and that's where how much stuff you own may be a metric of success. Not that different from how the U.S. was booming in the 50s and post WWII overall.

America is still very materialistic, it's just not something we perceive to be the case as much.
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An insight from someone from Hong Kong shared with me:

They explained China's politics saying that the Chinese government, as prosperity explodes, wants to hold on to power and made an implicit deal with the people, who they are terrified of overthrowing them (remember the reaction to Tiannamen (sp?)), that if the people do not try to do anything to change the political power setup, the government will support their becoming wealthy.

Right or wrong, wealth in China is going up a lot for some, tons of new millionares are being made.

At some point, there's a natural tension between the government and the wealthy.
 
BeeBoop said:
In Asian culture, it's the norm for the kids take care of their parents under the same roof unlike in America. This probably helps them afford more things since you don't have to buy a new home. It's also the law that you must take care of ur parents over there when they get older.
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We made Medicare and Social Security. Families were being financially ruined trying to pay for parents' healthcare.
 
Craig234 said:
An insight from someone from Hong Kong shared with me:

They explained China's politics saying that the Chinese government, as prosperity explodes, wants to hold on to power and made an implicit deal with the people, who they are terrified of overthrowing them (remember the reaction to Tiannamen (sp?)), that if the people do not try to do anything to change the political power setup, the government will support their becoming wealthy.

Right or wrong, wealth in China is going up a lot for some, tons of new millionares are being made.

At some point, there's a natural tension between the government and the wealthy.
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Also you'll never hear people say this, but outside of a few groups of people with close ties (aka getting rich from corruption) to the communist party, the party itself is hated across the nation wide and far.

But china is a materialistic nation since a lot of people are moving up from near poverty levels thanks to mao's backwards policies that ruined the nation. In 2-3 generations you'll see less emphasis on material goods.
 
steppinthrax said:
I bought a coach bag for my wife 8 years ago. I originally bought it from the Coach Store..... Later I found the same back online (with a wallet) for roughly the same price. I bought it online. When I got the bag. It looked a little weird.... It was roughly the same, but it looked a little different. I took it into coach and the ladies looked at it and pretty much told it it was a fake and pointed out all the little things wrong with it!!!! However, one of them told me that it's actually pretty good considering and some people would just keep it. I got my money back from the online retailer.
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I'd spend $50-80 on a really good fake Louis Vuitton belt or something.

They're like $600 retail and who's gonna go look up the serial number on my belt if it's fake or not.
 
You would think they would be better at building more quality materials then. But no, they are horrible at it.
 
BeeBoop said:
In Asian culture, it's the norm for the kids take care of their parents under the same roof unlike in America. This probably helps them afford more things since you don't have to buy a new home. It's also the law that you must take care of ur parents over there when they get older.

http://m.ibtimes.com/chinese-law-requires-children-visit-elderly-parents-987796
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That is correct. Pretty common for the kids to subsidize their parents..... Also kids will live with their parents till their 30s.
 
Svnla said:
I think the nouveau riche in Asia (not just in china) are the most vocal and obsessive brand name whores that I know. Heck, that's how I make my money for my business. Bring brand name goods from US to Asia ==> handsome profit. <Happy Panda>
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Not just China, and not just Asia. Nouveau riche like bling.

It's just that China is one of the newest.

Dari said:
Not sure if "materialistic" is the right word. I would say they're very image conscious. So, so long as they look good to others then it's A-ok. Doesn't matter if there is fraud, corruption, or faking going on, what matters is perception to the people of China.
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Materialistic AND image conscious.

But then again I own a gold iPhone 5s. 😛 But hey, here I think I might be able to get a pass, because it's a techie device and this is a tech site, and I didn't upgrade to the latest and greatest. 😉
 
OILFIELDTRASH said:
I'm personally downsizing my material possessions and it's very liberating. Seriously. Junk consumes us.
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Same. I can probably retire in my mid-30s if I don't stay unemployed too long. Rather not have a BMW and big house than have to whore myself out doing shit jobs for my entire life.
 
steppinthrax said:
I second that!!!!

I can come up with a lot of useful functional things to spend 4K on than a shit bag to put shit inside.....
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third


It's one thing to say "Hey I bought my mom a xxxxxx", where X means something useful that actually helps increase their lifestyle...like fixing a broken dishwasher or shit like that.

But if if you start talking about spending well over 1% of your gross income, you better run it by your significant other because that's fucked up. "Hey, I just spent 35% of your income on a purse. SURPRISE LULZ"
 
Over the last fifteen years, many in China have become super wealthy due to entrance into the WTO. Those Chinese are starting to invest money right back into America, especially real estate in larger metropolises.

For instance here in NYC, Chinese-Americans are buying up properties and demolishing them to rebuild mansion-styled homes. A Chinese developer recently was describing to me how his clients all want that stately 'wow' factor. Some of the brickwork being done by Chinese/Indian/Mexican immigrants (both illegal and legal) is actually pretty impressive.
 
Craig234 said:
We made Medicare and Social Security. Families were being financially ruined trying to pay for parents' healthcare.
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when my parents moved out of China, they were confused about the whole concept of rest homes. They just didn't get why someone would want their parents to live somewhere else when they grew up. My mom and aunt pay for my grandmother to go on vacation, see friends, etc.

Whereas Social Security and Medicare are government programs whose main purpose is to make sure the US doesn't look like a third world country to outside observers.
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
when my parents moved out of China, they were confused about the whole concept of rest homes. They just didn't get why someone would want their parents to live somewhere else when they grew up. My mom and aunt pay for my grandmother to go on vacation, see friends, etc.

Whereas Social Security and Medicare are government programs whose main purpose is to make sure the US doesn't look like a third world country to outside observers.
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Your parents need to return to China and see how things have (and haven't) changed. Kids are abandoning their parents on such a massive scale that it is actually a law now that you they have to, at the very least, visit their parents. And social security and medicare is a Western, not just American, staple. SS is a pension program while medicare is there for healthcare. I know your parents never heard of those things either because they were nonexistent in China. There, you have to do all the savings yourself or else you die. If you get sick and go to the hospital, you pay first before the doctor will even see you. So, in China, taking care of the elderly is not a matter of choice but of necessity since there is no social net. So do not pretend that your culture is better than ours.
 
bradley said:
Over the last fifteen years, many in China have become super wealthy due to entrance into the WTO. Those Chinese are starting to invest money right back into America, especially real estate in larger metropolises.

For instance here in NYC, Chinese-Americans are buying up properties and demolishing them to rebuild mansion-styled homes. A Chinese developer recently was describing to me how his clients all want that stately 'wow' factor. Some of the brickwork being done by Chinese/Indian/Mexican immigrants (both illegal and legal) is actually pretty impressive.
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Some say impressive. Others say gaudy.
 
steppinthrax said:
They will then brag to their friends on how they live in Rockville, etc.... I've seen this for a while and never understood the logic....
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More power to them if their friends back home are impressed that they live in Rockville. Might as well say they own a vacation home in Stockton, CA or Bensalem, PA.
 
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