Rejecting economics in favor of nationality - brain blockage

[citizen of industry]

I just had an interesting conversation with a Japanese man whose wife is Chinese. He was saying how in China there are basically 4 categories of food (Cantonese, Sichuan, Beijing, and Shanghai) and that the majority of people eat the same things every day. In Japan (like most/all developed countries) people eat a variety of foods and rarely the same things several days in a row. He was trying to say it is an inherent feature of being Japanese to be picky about food.

I suggested that Japan is more developed and wealthier than China and thus has a greater variety and quantity of food. That in Japan children from birth eat different foods every day and thus would get sick of eating the same thing. But in China children are raised eating the same meals, so it is a social phenomena easily explained. I also suggested that if China's economy becomes further developed this trend would change.

He, however, rejected this in favor of the theory "no, Japanese people are more sensitive about cuisine than other nationalities" as if it was a genetic or biological trait.

It's amazing how otherwise very intelligent people reject any kind of economic explanation for things in favor of "It's because we are Japanese/American/French/etc./etc./etc." Ahhh, I hate nationality...

[ckaihatsu]

It's amazing how otherwise very intelligent people reject any kind of economic explanation for things in favor of "It's because we are Japanese/American/French/etc./etc./etc." Ahhh, I hate nationality...


I, for one, take this as a kind of political barometer -- if we may unscientifically generalize from an encounter with just one individual -- that indicates a shift in societal culture *away* from economic-growth-based complacent feelgood multiculturalism, retrenching *back* into anxious circle-the-wagons privileged nationalist identity-mongering and cultural-imperialist cultural hierarchies.

Without a healthy, more-universal international economic standard at work the typical societal types will fall back to more-*traditional* frameworks for defining society and interacting within it.

[bluerev002]

I don't know if I agree with your statement. Especially with that quote from above "It's amazing how otherwise very intelligent..."

Why did you assume it was genetics he was talking about? There are a number of nationalities and cultures that are far more partial about their cuisines than others. An example would be like Mexican, Indian, Japanese, foods are very specific. You can identify them right away.

But what is "U.S. food"? Does England have an internationally recognized cuisine other than fish and chips? It's cultural more than anything- some nationalities/cultures have developed their own cuisine far more than other cultures for whatever reason.

Now, if you think of one of the most economically developed countries in the world - the U.S. - they eat basically the same thing every day. Breakfast: some combination of eggs and meat, or cereal. Lunch: Some type of sandwich, soup, burger. Dinner: Some type of meat (Roast beef, Meat Loaf) with vegetables.

[Seth]

Right, people in the US before fast food tended to eat the same sort of thing, such as steak or pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a soup. Just one example.


But what is "U.S. food"? Does England have an internationally recognized cuisine other than fish and chips? It's cultural more than anything- some nationalities/cultures have developed their own cuisine far more than other cultures for whatever reason.

A lot of western European countries and the US and Candada don't have their own defined cuisines, only individual dishes which they can claim as "theirs."

Of course things like pizza, pasta, stir fry, and general tso's chicken have become as American as Thanksgiving turkey or whatever.

[citizen of industry]

Now, if you think of one of the most economically developed countries in the world - the U.S. - they eat basically the same thing every day. Breakfast: some combination of eggs and meat, or cereal. Lunch: Some type of sandwich, soup, burger. Dinner: Some type of meat (Roast beef, Meat Loaf) with vegetables.

Right, but here you are giving me choices:
breakfast: eggs, meat, cereal, toast, oatmeal (of which there are many possible kinds and combinations)
lunch: sandwich, soup, burger, (and you can add a lot to that - tacos, chili, leftovers, etc.)
dinner: meat (several kinds) and vegetables (many kinds of dishes), not to mention many kinds of foreign foods, Italian, Chinese etc.

The US is more like Japan, where there is a wide variety of food and people almost never eat the same exact dish for the same meal two days in a row, let alone the same exact dish for the same meal every day for their whole lives.

[Comrade-Z]

I run into more and more people here in the Ozarks (southwest Missouri) who say that they like eating Phô, hummus, red curry Thai dishes, sushi...all kinds of stuff that you would have never encountered here 20 years ago. And I'm seeing that the supermarkets are stocking more of this kind of stuff and that there are Vietnamese and Thai restaurants and sushi bars...and Jesus Christ are there a lot of Mexican and Chinese places that have opened up over the last 20 years. Hong Kong Inn, Red Dragon Inn, Shanghai Inn, [Insert cliché Chinese word here] Inn...you've actually got to look pretty hard if you want a "traditional American" steakhouse or "country-cookin'" type of place. That's capitalism. And in my book, it's a progressive development.

[citizen of industry]

I run into more and more people here in the Ozarks (southwest Missouri) who say that they like eating Phô, hummus, red curry Thai dishes, sushi...all kinds of stuff that you would have never encountered here 20 years ago. And I'm seeing that the supermarkets are stocking more of this kind of stuff and that there are Vietnamese and Thai restaurants and sushi bars...and Jesus Christ are there a lot of Mexican and Chinese places that have opened up over the last 20 years. Hong Kong Inn, Red Dragon Inn, Shanghai Inn, [Insert cliché Chinese word here] Inn...you've actually got to look pretty hard if you want a "traditional American" steakhouse or "country-cookin'" type of place. That's capitalism. And in my book, it's a progressive development.

Right - and that's exactly what I wanted the guy to see, it isn't race, it's economics.