Quote Originally Posted by 4321go
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."--John F. Kennedy
I think you pointed out a key reason behind China's difficulty in adopting democracy and modern justice system. Confucius ideologies emphasize a great deal about family values. From Confucius point of view, one's family is the basic building block of a nation therefore, a person should put his family first then society second and nation last. This thinking is embedded deeply in the Chinese society even to present day. As a result of this thinking, Chinese people do not see themselves responsible as a member of the society, rather they are individuals who lives accordingly to the way that gives them the best outcome as individuals. A direct consequence of the individualism nature is the lack of caring for the society as a whole.

Have you ever been to a Chinatown in Japan or North America? If you have, then you must've noticed how dirty and un-organized the streets are. Why is that almost all Chinatown display such incoherency to the rest of the community? It’s the disregard to the society that created such an un-organized scene.


Note: Individualism of the Chinese is different from the individualism of the west. In the west, individualism is promoted in the sense that one has to act to be responsibly as a member of the society.