American Interest: A masterful post explains why coronavirus in China and America may differ
In San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s, it was routine to see men from China spit in the streets, blow their noses in their fingers and then wipe their hands on anything nearby, and generally violate American hygienic norms. Outside the tourist zones, Chinatown's restaurants and grocery stores also suggested resistance to American hygiene.
The Chinese who came to America to escape communism were amazing people and model immigrants. They worked hard and were so family-focused and education-oriented that, usually within one generation, they made the leap from Chinatown squalor to lovely suburbs. However, unlike the Japanese, the Chinese did not bring with them a culture of cleanliness.
When it comes to epidemic diseases, these cultural norms matter — and political systems may matter even more.
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WNU Editor: This is definitely a must read post on how differences in culture can impact the transmission of the Covid-19 virus .... Birth Of A Virus… (Regie's Blog). Speaking personally as someone who lived in China for a number of years in the 1980s and who has travelled back and forth a number of times since then, Chinese hygiene and cleanliness (or lack of) was (and still is) an issue with me. They only thing that I can say is that it has gotten better since the 1980s. On a side note. That is why I know this disease is going to ravage places like India/Pakistan, the Middle East, and Africa in the coming months. The lack of sanitation is a natural breeding ground for diseases like Covid-19.
I concur with WENU'ds remakrs.
ReplyDeleteI will not that American spit on the street too. Not everyone. Watch runners out running for their health. Quite a few of them spit on the street. You typical exerciser will spit rather than swallow their own spit.
I remember articles on Lee Kuan Yew. He wasn't PM when Michael P. Fay was supposed to be caned, but he was the face of Singapore as much as a NYC mayor is the face of that city. You don't spit in Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew, who is no longer with us, could have vastly improved China. I dare say he could have improved the US also. Canada a little less so, but Canada is catching up to the US fast. :(
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ReplyDeleteAm do not want vacines
ReplyDeletewe are warned it will be widely spread in US
china now claims numbers going down while our beginning to go up