Me-first, You-first
Yesterday I was bored enough to read quora.com for a while. Quora is a good place for cross-cultural comparisons, often asked as "What habits of nation X are shocking to Americans?" I happened to read some items about Spain that did actually surprise me. Spain is definitely a Me-first culture, where everyone minds everyone else's business and nobody ever yields or thanks.

Quora writers from India are disgusted at the You-first habits of England and non-NYC America. They can't understand why we waste time on gratitude or waste money on paying people for service.

Reminded me that I'd written a pretty decent defense of You-first recently, at a time when my prose generator was working well.

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Tulsi's campaign is emphasizing RESPECT:

I really want you to hear this, David: It doesn’t need to be this way. In our movement, we not only respect, but deeply appreciate, that our great nation is made up of a rich diversity of views and attitudes. That progress cannot be made when we fear differences of opinion, resort to cancel culture, or when we allow our leaders and the media to fan the flames of division. On the campaign trail, Tulsi has the opportunity to meet people from across the political spectrum, from all walks of life and with all different (and often very strongly held) points of view. We do our best to ensure that at our gatherings, we create an environment of aloha and respect that is so lacking from our political discourse. We may respectfully disagree, yet we are still able to look each other in the eyes and have a conversation.

It's nice that your bot calls me by name, Tulsi, but frankly I don't see any of that shit in daily life. In this neighborhood, Tulsi, most people mind their own business and treat others with respect and kindness. We are the exact opposite of NYC, which never gives, never pays, never makes, never thanks. We try to yield and tolerate, and we try to be thankful when others yield and tolerate.

Are we really unusual or unique, Tulsi? Maybe, but I doubt it. This area is thoroughbred Deplorable. Lower middle to poor, struggling single parents and comparatively comfortable oldsters. Quite a few homeowners are taking in boarders or hooking up RVs in their yards. Mixed race, about one black family on each block, a lot of NW tribes. No NYC types, no Randians. [The city is dysgoverned by a Randian NYC carpetbagger who has done incalculable damage to the place and the people, but fortunately he doesn't condescend to enter Deplorable neighborhoods.]

So I say yet again that RESPECT is nice, but we're already there. We're doing our job, Tulsi. Talk is cheap, and the old uniter not divider shit is the cheapest of all.

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Tulsi, of course, hasn't improved. She's still all talk and no action. I gave up on her a long time ago.

A more important question: How do cultures become Me-first or You-first? It's not simply or clearly genetic.

China and Japan are genetically and culturally close, but China is extreme Me-first and Japan is extreme You-first. China's Me-first isn't new. Earlier writers observed it, and my father observed it when he served in Shanghai in WW2. So it's not just a product of Mao.

The Spanish writers at Quora believed that Spain's Me-first started from the 1936 revolution. Seems possible. Earlier accounts of Spain showed an extreme You-first.

Latitude may be more important than genes. The Me countries tend to be warmer, and the You countries tend to be colder.

One particular set of genes seems to carry You-first. The old tribes of Siberia and America are vectors of You-first. The You-first parts of USA were strongly influenced by the old tribes, and the Me-first parts are more purely Euro. This would also hold true for Japan, where Han Chinese mixed with Siberian genes. Since these genes tend to stay in northern latitudes, this may be the real cause of the latitude connection.

Again, these correlations are weak and breakable, subject to change by major cultural shifts.

Labels: Asked and sort of answered

  ¶ 12:30 AM