ARLISA WAITERS

Why do we lack a maverick attitude to life

Not long ago, we went to see a friend who was visiting family in Shanghai from the United States. My friend who grew up with me went to the United States to study 20 years ago. When he talked about his years of living in the United States, what impressed him most was that there was a big difference between the life pursuits of Chinese people in the United States and those of Westerners. That is, Chinese people in the United States seemed to attach great importance to the pursuit of material life, no matter whether they were successful in their careers or not, no matter what class they belonged to. As long as Chinese people are together, no matter they are from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland or overseas Chinese who have lived in the United States for many years, they are very practical and emphasize the enjoyment and happiness of life. The content of Chinese People's Daily conversation is nothing more than houses and cars, and they seem to have a strong herd mentality in the enjoyment of secular life, which is not as diversified as Westerners in the pursuit of life. It is true that there are many people in the West who only care about their material life, but it is also true that there are a large number of people who pursue other things. For example, there are people who like adventure and are quite casual in their daily material comforts, and there are people who have become professional billionaires but live very modestly and always drive a normal car. No amount of money makes you want to buy a limousine. They can be completely indifferent to how others live, what they pursue, and how well they live materially. Everyone is self-centered and pursues the value that he thinks is worth pursuing. In other words, Chinese people have a relatively simple pursuit of life, and they care a lot about what others think of them. Since material life is the center of the society, under the control of the herd mentality, people will naturally show off their wealth to show their success. The life pursuit of Westerners is more diversified. Even the Japanese are far more diversified in their pursuit of life values than the Chinese.