Most of the people of those subcultures are phenotypically not too different looking than the dominant Han ethnicity though.
Like you said, the fact that China is authoritarian is a big factor in all of this.
The "melting pot" West does have numerous phenotypically similar caucasian subcultures, but also many non-caucasian ones that do not look phenotypically alike at all.
It's taboo to speak about, but both Japan and China are homogenous societies and enjoy the benefits that brings.
China a bit less so than Japan, but still much more than the US or Western Europe. Plus even the minorities are still phenotypically more or less similar looking to the majorities.
China also enjoys the benefits of being an autocratic nation.
You describe some of the best possible transit scenarios and compare it to the worst possible car scenarios. That can easily be flipped.
My daily experience with transit is that you're far more likely to be standing, jam packed like sardines with your nose up someone's armpit. The train/bus is constantly heaving and shaking. You have to be always be concentrating not to stumble or fall into the person next to you.
This is a problem that still exists with some of the best transit systems, and is even more pronounced on the ones that aren't quite so nice.
Key words: "done well" and "good public transport".
Whenever I see discussions like this, I always feel the standards that most public transportation advocates consider "good" or even "acceptable" are far lower than mine.
Mine - Seoul, Tokyo, other East Asian cities.
Most public transportation advocates - Maybe NYC, many even lower.
Factors - reliability, cleanliness (both cars and stations), reach, safety (both actual and perceived, and both violent and non-violent).
Give me the Seoul or Tokyo subway and I'll gladly ditch my car (actually...no, but I'd only use it for excursions outside the city).
Reminds me of an anime titled Code Geass, whose alt-historical setting is where Benjamin Franklin betrays the American colonies to the British, who win the Revolutionary War.
Then Napoleon proceeds to kick them out of Europe, and the British re-establish themselves in North America and emerge as the pre-eminent superpower.
Some of those makes you list only sold convertibles that were extremely niche, short lived, and/or incredibly ancient history. I wouldn’t use them as practical examples.
Because as a non-citizen, you are technically still a guest?
If you love the place you're living in and want to actively participate in its governance, including implementing any changes, you should obtain citizenship.
And even if you do, your stake would still be less than those who've been living there all their lives, across many generations. Maybe the natives actually don't want the changes that the immigrants want to see implemented.
(not going to argue the finer details of ethics like racism or xenophobia, etc. which I acknowledge can often come up in cases like this).
A friend who came from a wealthy family went to an Ivy League teaching school. While she was there, her family went bankrupt and she had to take on student loans. Fast forward to today, she regrets going there, saying a cheap state school would have been just as effective for her career.
That’s not my take. That the people involved are part of a particular race is less important than that they are likely originally from a country that is a geopolitical rival and potential enemy to the US.
Would you say the same if the people involved had names that sounded more Caucasian but from a similarly rival nation?
Disclaimer: I myself am an Asian American, naturalized citizen, with a distinctly Asian sounding name. I don’t think top commenter is racist.
Rather, where are their true allegiances? It is relatively easy to become a naturalized US citizen, versus say, a citizen of the PRC.
Highly, highly, controversial and politically incorrect tak, but are there people (and entities, including nation-states) that take advantage of that for their own purposes? I wouldn’t doubt it.
I know people who are naturalized US citizens (or even second generation immigrants) from countries friendly and allied to the US, who, if hypothetically asked who they would fight for in a shooting war, would pick their country of origin without hesitation.
As do some European high speed trains. I make it a point to book first class (or equivalent) tickets as that often comes with lounge access at the stations - which lets you mostly avoid the rampant pickpocketing and other petty crime that absolutely infests many European train stations.
Seoul is like this too. People look at the transit system and think it’s a model for car-less living. And while it’s fantastic, many Seoulites also love their cars. Those massive clusters of dense highrise apartment buildings you see everywhere? Most sit atop vast underground garage complexes.
My wife and I are DINKs. We drive a smallish CUV. Her cousin drove it, fell in love, and bought the same car.
It’s really a perfect allrounder - looks nice, is luxurious, more than enough space for us, even drives like a sports car (or at least as close to a CUV can hope to).
Then said cousin had a baby. People around him scolded him for not selling the car for something much bigger - like a Kia Telluride or a Honda Pilot. But he is doing just fine.
I live closer to my wife’s side of the family than mine, so I’m more familiar with them.
Out of the dozen plus adults I regularly interact with there, we both only respect one of the “elders” (as in our parents’ generation) as someone I can look up to as an “adult”.
Out of our peers (cousins, siblings, etc.) likewise we only really consider one person as an “adult”.
That’s not to say they’re bad people. They’re all mostly cool people we enjoy hanging out with. But they’re not people we’d have serious life conversations with.
Ironically, as one of two childless couples in the family, I’m sure some of them look at us as “not adults” for no other reason than because we’re not parents. I know there’s a contingent here in HN as well that have expressed the same viewpoint. Also, the aforementioned peer (a cousin) we respect as an adult - is the other childless couple in the family. We, and she (and husband) are independent while the parent couples are still quite visibly dependent socially, emotionally, and even sometimes financially, on the older generation. If anything, our parents have started to depend on us as they grow older, which is a responsibility we happily accept.
Doubly ironic is that more often than not many members of the family come to us (my wife more so) when they need “serious adult advice”. Even the elders.
Everyone is different. Living with five strangers or even anyone who is more distant than a super-close near-lifelong friend (my assumption - apologies beforehand if I’m wrong) sounds like a nightmare to me.
Like you said, the fact that China is authoritarian is a big factor in all of this.
The "melting pot" West does have numerous phenotypically similar caucasian subcultures, but also many non-caucasian ones that do not look phenotypically alike at all.