The Culture of Nations - Its who you are

[azooey]

Today's Sunday Times carries a guest column by David Brooks (original NYT article). Whether you get a parking ticket or not, would depend on a gazillion real life factors. Time, traffic, a fight with your spouse, a lost sock, vehicle malfuntion or whatever-god-wills. It might sound be unfair, even far-fetched to caliberate my cultural standing, and

Comments

[aimlesswanderer]

People need the coherence their culture provides and value it even more than easy parking.

It is interesting to see how these lines convincingly localize a broad spectrum of behavioral patterns vis-a-vis driving/parking. At the risk of digressing from your well written (and researched) piece, do you really believe people are more driven by the sociological need to "do the right thing" or the more plausible "do what is more convenient"?

I have been driving in Texas where there are just too many deviants to this theory.

./w

[azooey]

do you really believe people are more driven by the sociological need to "do the right thing" or the more plausible "do what is more convenient"?

If you're a vegetarian (lets say by choice, rather than by birth) would u eat a beef burger, because its more convenient to get? Or would u rather walk down a extra block to get ur regular veggie burger.

[azooey]

It was an analogy. There are some things we just wont compromise. Just like the swedes wont compromise abt parking right, we dont compromise our food requirements. Its the way culture makes u.

[five18pm]

What if that trip around the extra block is a trip around the continent? Hmm.. relative values...

[azooey]

relative, may be. What if that trip around the extra block is a trip around the continent? :) some of us even do that. Just for "maa ke haath ka khana".

[aimlesswanderer]

I thought we were discussing "Sociological" constructs, not physiological ones.

./w

[azooey]

might sound silly, but how is choosing to walk more for ur veggie burger when ur running late for an appointment any more "physiological" compared to finding the right parking spot when ur late for a meeting? I think being vegetarian is more of a "sociological" than a "physiological" preference for many.

[aimlesswanderer]

I agree with this to a certain extent; what would really convince me is the answer to 'Why do so many Indians become the perfect citizens (having been sociologically finetuned to spit on the roads, pee on walls, cut-corners while driving and so on..) when they are put in a different country, let's say the US of A?' I don't think they become a sociological convert the day they land here, they follow the rules coz if they don't they go to the "bad place" :)

Needless to say, these examples are perhaps gross exaggerations (and a bit sexist as they bring out only the dominatingly male psychology) and are not sweeping in a way that covers all the Indians in the US/India, but I hope I have given you my drift.

./w

[azooey]

u sure have :)

'Why do so many Indians become the perfect citizens when they are put in a different country

no, they dont become sociological converts, but the "checks" are so effectively implemented that the fear of being caught works as well as a deterrent. And yes, the stakes are just too high, monetary or otherwise. Its just a calculated gamble in the end.

[aimlesswanderer]

but the "checks" are so effectively implemented that the fear of being caught works as well as a deterrent.

Which brings us to the original point: why do you think the same is not true for the Citizen's themselves? :)

./w

[azooey]

one, the stakes may not be that high for the americans as for a travelling indian.
two, the article did not comment on the culture of the americans per se. I might offer a conjecture: All conditions(home land etc) remaining same, they might be better than the Indians but worse than the Swedes.

[aimlesswanderer]

I am surprised how often I have found comfort in middle-grounds inspite of being a black-or-white person.

Thank you for the stimulating conversations.

./w

[azooey]

the pleasure was mine, monsieur.