Helping sharks???

[TheRedHead]

I'm am of the opinion which I have formed by talking with recent Chinese immigrants that their worldview of animals is quite different from ours and their only regret about the extinction of sharks would be lack of soup. It's probably different in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places where they have more contact with the West.

They tend to view the sea as dirty and the animals as a food source and nothing more. They don't swim. They practically have no birds in China - no sparrows, no robins or bluejays. Can you imagine living in a world without birds, squirrels other small animals which remind us of the beauty of nature?

Sharkfin soup is a highly desirable dish and they have an emerging middle class which is putting pressure on the market for shark's fin. You will gain in esteem by eating it. Having higher esteem among your peers means everything. It's a mistake to believe that every culture thinks like us. Their government could control this very easily.

 

[robbcayman]

I'm am of the opinion which I have formed by talking with recent Chinese immigrants that their worldview of animals is quite different from ours and their only regret about the extinction of sharks would be lack of soup. It's probably different in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places where they have more contact with the West.

They tend to view the sea as dirty and the animals as a food source and nothing more. They don't swim. They practically have no birds in China - no sparrows, no robins or bluejays. Can you imagine living in a world without birds, squirrels other small animals which remind us of the beauty of nature?

Sharkfin soup is a highly desirable dish and they have an emerging middle class which is putting pressure on the market for shark's fin. You will gain in esteem by eating it. Having higher esteem among your peers means everything. It's a mistake to believe that every culture thinks like us. Their government could control this very easily.

It's like hunting, I don't mind it, but it must be regulated and harsh punishment for offenders who go over the limit. Regulation is the answer!!!!

 

[vladimir]

They don't swim.

Maybe we shouldn't generalize so freely.

Chairman Mao swimming:

 

[TheRedHead]

It's like hunting, I don't mind it, but it must be regulated and harsh punishment for offenders who go over the limit. Regulation is the answer!!!!

I agree with you robb, and their government could put a stop to it in a New York minute if they wished. But it has to come from China. The question is how to influence the Chinese government to stop it?

People could influence them greatly by not buying Chinese imports. If enough people protested with their wallets and made their choice known to the government, you might have some influence. Trade is something they understand quite well. I don't think a humanitarian appeal would work.

 

[TheRedHead]

Maybe we shouldn't generalize so freely.

Chairman Mao swimming:

And, despite the pleadings of his security guards and his physician, he swam in the heavily polluted rivers of south China, drifting miles downstream with the current, head back, stomach in the air, hands and legs barely moving, unfazed by the globs of human waste gliding gently past. "Maybe you're afraid of sinking," he would chide his companions if they began to panic in the water. "Don't think about it. If you don't think about it, you won't sink. If you do, you will."

Swimming is feared there because of the pollution. I have a Chinese friend I've tried to interest in swimming and it will never happen. I've never been able to understand why Westerners believe that other cultures will listen to us and expect them to have the same worldview.

 

[vladimir]

I appreciate your insight into Chinese culture based on your one Chinese friend. I think it's pretty safe to extrapolate to the other 1.4 billion (or whatever it is) based on that one data point.

 

[RadRob]

I appreciate your insight into Chinese culture based on your one Chinese friend. I think it's pretty safe to extrapolate to the other 1.4 billion (or whatever it is) based on that one data point.

Hey now, I eat Chinese food. I know everything about why China won't listen to us.

 

[TheRedHead]

My master's degree is in cultural anthropology. I don't delude myself that Western culture is universal. If you're really interested you could read published studies. And there are published studies about every single aspect of behavior in every culture identified.

 

[vladimir]

My master's degree is in cultural anthropology. I don't delude myself that Western culture is universal. If you're really interested you could read published studies. And there are published studies about every single aspect of behavior in every culture identified.

I couldn't afford a master's degree in cultural anthropology...I have to work for a living. I did, however, live in Shanghai for a year, and in Singapore for eight years, with real Chinese people, and--published studies notwithstanding--doubt the broad applicability of your statements.

 

[TheRedHead]

Vladimir, I excluded Singapore and any other place that had contact with the West. If you want to educate them, it has to be through their government. You should know how much influence the government has on the population - the vast majority of which has never seen a person of European origin.

The gist of my suggestion is to influence the Chinese government. You can whine, moan, gnash your teeth, wring your hands and protest it, but nothing is going to happen until you get the government involved.

Even if we managed a change in worldview, the people can't hear you. They aren't connected in the mainland.

I'm sorry you don't like what I think about their worldview. I don't find it offensive and it's just my opinion.