Moscow, Russia. You can usually drink tap water in Moscow, but it’s something unusually good for Russian bigger cities in general, and it’s considered a good thing to boil it. Actually depends on local specifics and where the water comes from.
Well, analogy is not a sufficient method of argumentation by itself, but I suppose things I’ll write would be even more visible in Chinese villages 100 years ago.
In Russia the peasant commune as an institution was created artificially (so all those Russian narodniks glorifying it as something perfect and wonderful untouched by bureaucratic machine coming from the depth of ages were just stupid ; it’s one thing one can’t argue with Lenin about - they didn’t have a bloody idea of what that “people” they considered inherently virtuous was) somewhere around Peter the Great’s time. So it’s had enough time to mature.
That commune had enormous families living together, with the patriarch (the oldest man still able to work and do things) being basically a despot. It was literally not so rare for him to casually sleep with wives of his sons and nephews, for example (if not daughters and nieces). Nobody could refuse him.
Again, that whole family would live in one bloody place, together. No personal space or individuality at all.
In such an environment, first, you don’t act differently (either you’ll seem weak or you’ll cause envy, both are worse than any gained efficiency justifies), second, your value is so low, that nobody cares if you make it, third, in a despotic system your own attempts at planning usually don’t work, so you don’t learn to do it, and planning is what’s needed for more honest behavior to be advantageous.
So yes, you are right.
Just like in Russia nobles would hire French and German servants to look good. Like an expensive horse.
Well, many Chinese and Japanese plainly consider all non-Asians (and many Asians) savages. Racism is normalized there. Hierarchical centralized clan-based societies and thus certain lack of agility in social ties and traditions.
I mean, they are not much more racist that Middle-Eastern people. Just the Middle-East is (I know this may sound funny) socially more progressive in many places.
I mean, the Finnish military should have inherited some things from the Russian imperial military, so this is to be expected. And it was a nationalist and traditionalist force which fought against Bolsheviks and won, getting itself a country (this kinda gets forgotten since the public image of Finland is very progressive and almost leftist now). And military is the most conservative institution in any country usually. Still weird.
I should spend more time in places I can meet British people then.
Where I live many people think that arguing with them means that I want to insult or dominate them.
That’s a society which had lots of hierarchy and very little social or even territorial mobility until very recently. And those people’s ancestors were likely peasants who’d just live all their lives growing crops in very scary conditions.
I mean, I’ve heard these things about China and manners.
I’ve event heard maybe not so scary, but similar things about Russia and manners in the early XX century (since I live in Russia, I do believe they are correct).
Consider that for Arabs the old school way would be using their left hand and sand (well, in more humid areas - water). Which is the reason you should be careful with your left hand while interacting with a person of that culture.
I think I like some paper between hand and … more, than sand, ya knaw.
Well, I personally get drunk quicker due to metabolism and my hangover starts the same day.
That is, compared to most Europeans, but I’ve heard that for SE Asia this would actually be the norm.
So one can say in this case culture just follows structural difference.
But - yes, it’s much nicer to be with friends when they are not drunk.
Except for beer, there are weaker sorts, and the effect of hops on people I actually like.
And also separates your hand from the substance you are removing, not joins it. (Sorry, I just couldn’t)