Why China will win: A tale of two cultures

Imagine a small country with a native population known as Culture A with new residents from another country known as Culture B. Culture A has been in existence for a couple of centuries and enjoys a prosperous lifestyle with all the modern conveniences from cars to dishwashers to lavish vacations. Culture B comes from a place with less material comforts. Educational opportunities abound for Culture A children in their native land while Culture B children were mostly stuck in a restrictive class structure that offered few chances for self-betterment.

And so Culture A initially welcomed a few members of Culture B to their little jurisdiction because the A’s had a few jobs they weren’t thrilled to do. “Let the B’s do that kind of thing,” said a bunch of the A’s. Hence the B’s arrived and established themselves as able and willing. Most everyone was happy because the work was getting done.

The relationship continued for a few decades. During this time, the A’s expanded their holiday celebrations. What was once a couple of days off became events with weeks of preparation. Furthermore, since the B’s were doing the dirty and difficult jobs, the A’s had more leisure time than ever in the course of their daily lives. They closed their businesses early or asked for time off in order to engage in all sorts of sports and hobbies. These activities became the focus of their existence much to their delight.

In the meantime, the B’s filled in the gaps. The B’s worked early and late. One by one, new businesses owned by B’s popped up and these places were willing to be open during those long holidays and weekends when the A’s were having fun.

Some other things happened, too. Children of A’s performed poorly in school. They got into trouble. They lost jobs given them thanks to family connections. Conversely, the B’s children excelled in school, stayed clear of the police, and rose through the ranks wherever they worked.

A few more decades later, the second and third generation of B’s found themselves the owners of not just a few small enterprises but many large ones, too. The A’s reaction to this phenomenon was one of shock and resentment. The A’s felt as if they were at the mercy of the B’s. The A’s didn’t care that the service and quality of a B-operated business was better. The A’s wanted those B’s to be more humble. The B’s were not supposed to threaten the A’s culture with their discipline, hard work, and constant improvements. Democracy complicates the relationship between the A’s and the B’s. The A’s vote themselves ever-generous social benefits paid for by increased taxes on the B’s. Naturally, the A’s see these programs as cultural necessities and express not the least bit of remorse that people they resent, namely the B’s, provide the funding. For their part, B’s seem to do very well without availing themselves of such entitlements.

In many cases, the A’s and B’s are not host and immigrant but natives of the same land with vastly different views of what it takes to build and maintain a society. Either way, a clash is ultimately in the making as the A’s become an ever-increasing burden on the B’s. Sooner or later, the B’s are going to figure out who needs whom. Upon this general realization revolutions are built.