ANTI-GLOBALIST EXPATRIATE writes:

Ann Coulter writes that Asians support big government, gun control, and ‘affirmative action.’

Asians support big government because their culture places hierarchy above all, and because in their native countries, government is seen as the top of the hierarchy, and they themselves as subjects and clients of government. The concept of ‘citizen’ in the Western sense has no analogue in Asian culture.

They support ‘affirmative action’ because all Asian societies are tribal- and clan-based in nature, with extreme xenophobia present between tribes and clans, much less evinced towards those of other races and nationalities.  Asians are so ‘racist’ that they make the KKK look like the NAACP; every single Asian I talked to about the election of 2008 was astonished that the U.S. would elect a black man as President, since in their view, blacks are subhuman.

Race-based preferences are endemic in all Asian societies, and always have been. All Asian countries reserve certain occupational specialities for natives, with additional considerations of patronage network membership, bribery, graft, and corruption.

What most Asians don’t understand is that in U.S.-style ‘affirmative action’, they will end up as losers, because the system is heavily weighted towards underachieving races, and against overachieving races.  They support gun control because their assumption is that the system can be used to keep guns out of the hands of undesirables (e.g., blacks, Arabs, et. al.), while they themselves will be able to pretty much openly own guns by paying bribes to the relevant government officials, as they do in their native countries (China is the big exception to this, as the Communists have pretty much eradicated gun ownership amongst the hoi polloi; in Japan, the yakuza and other elements in the underlying power structure, as well as politicians, openly own firearms).

In many ways, Asians are much more realistic about race than Westerners, though they take matters to extremes due to their lack of understanding of and desire for the Western societal values of abstract justice, equality before the law, and individual merit.  Asians don’t want a just, meritocratic, relatively corruption-free society; they want a society in which they can gain as many benefits as they can for their families, tribes, clans, and extended patronage networks.

Asians who manage to emigrate to Western countries are able to do so because they embrace corruption (which isn’t seen as a negative, but rather as the only way to make ends meet in their fundamentally unjust societies and cultures); their expectation is that once they reach Western countries, they will be able to subvert the rule of law in those countries, as the rule of law in Asian countries does not exist, but is just a polite fiction meant to deceive gullible Westerners for trade advantages and economic and military assistance.

Just as Muslim immigrants to Western countries seek to subvert the governments of those countries in the service of Islam (as well as themselves), Asians seek to subvert those same governments in order to enrich themselves.   They don’t come in search of freedom in the political sense, but rather in search of material gain for themselves and their own.

The many, many spying cases in the defense, aerospace, agricultural, and industrial sectors are indicative of this mentality, as well as the perpetual onslaught of online espionage against U.S. governmental departments, militaries, and corporations.  The high-profile Asian campaign-contribution ‘bundling’ scandals which came to light during the Clinton administration illustrate the willingness of Asians to directly subvert the electoral and political systems of Western countries to which they emigrate.

— Comments —

Laura writes:

Most Asians in this country are not consciously subversive, I would say. They bring their own interests, inclinations and cultural mentality. This mentality also has a positive side (for instance, the relatively low rates of family breakdown) in comparison to the extreme individualism of Americans. But for all the reasons Anti-Globalist mentions, it represents a threat to American culture, given the very  high rates of immigration.

The issue isn’t whether Asians should live in America (they should) but of a mass, unsustainable influx, with citizenship rights essentially sold off.

John writes:

What Anti-globalist Expatriate says reminds me of a conversation I had with a man who was mayor of a city in California with a large Chinese population. He could speak Chinese, and he was familiar with the culture.

With some exceptions, he said, most had little interest in adopting American values. Often, however, they would pay lip service to assimilation. Once he challenged a Chinese man who was doing this. The man smiled and replied, “Well, you took this country from the Indians, and we’re going to take it from you.”

He said he would often circulate in the Chinese community and listen to the conversations, without the residents knowing he could understand them. He said their common term for an American was “foreign devil.” (I’ve confirmed this from other sources.) He said they have “no respect” for white Americans and generally regard blacks as amimals.

On the subject of corruption, he said that Chinese restaurants have different sets of books, one to show the IRS and the other to show the real cash flow. They don’t worry about audits because 1) few IRS agents speak Chinese and can decipher the available records 2) if an auditor should figure out what’s going on the proprietors can simply shout “racism.” They are quite aware of the potency and usefulness and of that charge.

So here is what they call the “model minority.”

Laura writes:

Anti-Globalist mentions the Asian view of blacks. Most Asian immigrants voted for Obama. But in light of the surveys, it is safe to conclude that this was a vote for big government and immigration benefits (and against whites), not a vote for black empowerment.

Most Americans are completely ignorant of the Asian disparagement of blacks. I think the language barrier is a big factor in this.

Don Vincenzo writes:

In the Spring of 1990, I was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Rome, and was the embassy’s liaison to a group of U.S. state legislators who were holding a conference with their Italian counterparts who represented local residents in the town and provinces of Italy. One might call this a “boondoggle.” By the way, one of the U.S. legislators present was William “Billy” Bulger, who at that time was President of the Massachusetts Senate, and brother of the infamous “Whitey” Bulger, recently sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders he committed.

On the bus to the conference center, I sat next to the President of the Senate from a Midwestern state, and we had an extended conversation about the workplace in Italy vs. that of the U.S. He then revealed that he had been approached by the chief executives of an Asian car company asking about the work place environment if they were to establish their plant there, which would be a major employer in that state. After reluctantly mentioning the company, he said that the Asian executives had come to the U.S. and had asked four questions of the Senate President and others, which I will describe in the reverse order they were asked.

#4 related to where the company’s Asian representatives would be able to live, and would there be any potential problems in having them?

#3 if there would be any “tensions” that might arise with Asian bosses of American workers?;

#2 dealt with the ability of the company to establish lines of credit at local or state banks, but the very first question that they raised, according to the President of the Senate (a dentist) was this:

#1 what percentage of the labor force in the area was black?

The state in question never received the company’s approval for building the plant, and the company went elsewhere.

Nothing else need be said.

A reader writes:

I’m curious, has Anti-Globalist Expatriate found anyplace that isn’t totally corrupt, or at least less corrupt than others?

Michael S. writes:

Those Koreans in that photo — and all Koreans in this country, for that matter — should get down on their knees every morning and thank God for the United States and the veterans of the so-called 1950-53 “police action.” And then they should kiss the ground.

They have no businesses “demanding” ANYTHING.

Neil writes:

In the accompanying photograph to this entry, signage in Korean can be clearly seen. There is something in this that elicits a visceral sense of discomfort. Life moves quickly, though, and the kids must be gotten off to school, traffic is a bear this morning….did I get the financials over to accounting? Life is such that we do not delve into these issues.

But when you do stop to think about the significance of what you see in passing, it is not pleasant. Korean immigrants demanding amnesty and a stop to deportations. Out of the kindness of their hearts for poor Hispanic immigrants? You consider this. No. It seems improbable. It must be for their fellow Koreans. You are discomfited, but can’t put your finger on why. It seems so tribal. But isn’t this bad? It is difficult to square this with the modern narrative. You put the thought aside. Too much mental heavy lifting to push through the dissonance.

Your mind turns to Korea, the Korean war, and images of American troops at the 48th. You consider the sacrifice of the United States in the war, the loss of life and the U.S. military presence – and expense – from the cease-fire until this day. 50 years? No, must be more like 60. Well, I could do the math, but it’s a lazy Saturday morning…. What a difference, though, eh? Just look at the North! And the South, what an economic powerhouse! Samsung, LG, Daewoo, Hyundai, Kia, and so many more. Quite a trade surplus they have with the U.S., too!

Your mind turns to Koreans in the States. Quite a few. Funny how you’ve learned to recognize the script. I suppose it’s from all of the Korean churches. Signs written in Korean, with the occasional “First Korean Church of….”, tipping you off. They seem to have such close knit communities. Seem to keep to themselves in many ways.

Korea’s doing well, but they continue to immigrate, you think. And didn’t you read somewhere that there was significant Korean birth tourism to the States? Koreans in the States are pushing for legalization and an end to deportations. For Koreans.

And then you let yourself think, on this Saturday morning, what you are not supposed to think: for the love of God! We fight a war for them, protect them for 60 years, throw open our markets to them, continue to welcome them as immigrants…and they want more. For themselves. Were we never a nation to them? Did we never merit consideration as a people?

Laura writes:

Here is the Korean Resource Center’s page supporting comprehensive immigration reform. And a poll by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund last December showed that 75 percent of Koreans in America want “comprehensive immigration reform.” From the linked article:

According to the results of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (AALDEF) exit poll in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, 75% of Korean Americans polled support immigration reform, including a path to citizenship. Moreover, 63% of Korean American voters polled said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who supported comprehensive immigration reform, compared to 52% of Asian Americans overall.

The exit poll also indicated that extremely high numbers of Korean American voters are independent. In Virginia, 46% of Korean American voters indicated that they were not enrolled in any party, compared to 38% enrolled in the Democratic Party and 13% enrolled in the Republican Party. New Jersey and New York both had a majority of registered Korean American Democrats, with 55% in New Jersey and 76% in New York. However, in the New Jersey gubernatorial elections, Korean American voters were evenly divided among candidates, with 49% voting for Republican Chris Christie and 49% voting for Democrat Barbara Buono. [emphasis added]

“Immigration reform is a nonpartisan issue for Korean Americans,” said Glenn D. Magpantay, Director of AALDEF’s Democracy Program. “There is tremendous political diversity within the Korean American community, with extremely high numbers of independent voters. Nonetheless, immigration reform appears to be a unifying issue for the community.”

You come to America. You obtain citizenship. And then you vote for more of your relatives to obtain citizenship.

Anti-Globalist writes:

Have I found any place which isn’t utterly corrupt?

In Asia, no. What Westerners consider to be corruption is a foundational pillar of all Asian societies, and the periodic ‘anti-corruption’ agitation in various Asian countries is in reality agitation for some of the spoils to be allocated to the extended patronage networks of the agitators.

Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and the RoK manage the public perception of their endemic corruption better than other Asian countries, but it still makes its way into the press, from time to time.

My view is that Asian culture is a far greater threat to what remains of Western culture than Islam; when the time comes, non-Muslim Asians will gradually exterminate the Muslims, as is already happening in China.

 George writes:

I’m traditionalist homeschool father, and an occasional reader of your site and appreciate the work you put into it, but your recent uncritical postings of rants by Anti-Globalist Expatriate have made me rethink that. It should be enough just to say that anyone who thinks half the world’s population (i.e. “Asians”) are all the same–and can be summed up by his own anecdotes–isn’t worth listening to, but perhaps some facts are in order.

Out here in the real world, “Asian” governments tend to be smaller than white people’s governments. Compare government spending to GDP for Asian countries versus European countries: Japan has the highest in the region, and even it is lower than the US. Even ostensibly communist Vietnam is about 25% lower than the US. And compared to white governments in Europe, Asian governments are tiny.

There are other measures of “Big Government,” and Asian countries look small on those too. Look at the Heritage Foundation’s ranking of countries by economic freedom. It should be no surprise that Singapore and Hong Kong are #1 and #2 (by comparison, their white influence comes from the U.K., which is only #14). Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea all rank above most white governments.

Maybe Ann Coulter says Asians want big government, but Reality disagrees.

As to the question of Asian-American political preferences, that is something different, and more complicated than Anti-Globalist’s simple-minded generalizations.

Many of his other points are wrong, too. For example, comparative data show his generalizations about corruption are wrong. The organization Transparency International puts out yearly ratings, into which go a great deal of work–far more than one person’s personal experience–and they are widely respected among people who study corruption. Of course, Singapore is near the top, much cleaner than the U.S. According to TI, even Japan is less corrupt than the United States. For what it’s worth, part of this is Japan’s simpler tax code–lots of graft in U.S. tax law. Other parts of Asia do have more corruption than the U.S., but to put it in perspective, China is about the same as (white) Italy or Eastern Europe.

Some of his other accusations are just plain silly. In a reply to an earlier post of his someone commented that parts of Asia are very safe, and he dismissed the comment with a condescending “you’ve only been to tourist traps.” Earlier in my life I lived for years in gritty industrial suburbs of Osaka, places with some of the highest crime rates in Japan, and always felt safe–safe enough to let my elementary school age kids walk to school on their own. I’ve also lived in the mountains and in the center of Tokyo, and felt the same way in both places. But don’t look at my experience, take 30 seconds to google the crime rates in Japan. Again, he may say one thing, but Reality disagrees. (Except umbrellas–Japanese people will return a wallet bulging with cash, but if it starts raining, don’t let your umbrella out of your sight for a second ;).

He also seems to have the standard Western fetish with the Japanese mafia (Yakuza). For some reason, Westerners’ image of Japan always seems revolve around samurai, geisha, and yakuza. Actually, his belief in their influence over Japanese government resembles that of a now-ridiculed book written by a Western reporter (von Wolferen) who didn’t even speak Japanese. I say this as someone who’s spent the last two decades researching and teaching Japanese politics, who has embedded in multiple political campaigns in Japan, have in-laws who’ve helped manage campaigns, and spent many a night swapping stories over beer with Japanese politicians and bureaucrats. I’ve seen plenty of yakuza myself, I’ve even taught English to would-be members. The prosaic reality is that they’re an interest group, just like lots of others. They don’t provide as much money for politicians as some other groups, they’re not even the only group that can provide violence. Granted, if one believes the most sensationalist stories of the Japanese tabloids (as apparently he does), they seem to pull lots of strings, but if he believes everything he reads in the tabloids, well, I guess there’s no point in me arguing about it.

I could go on, but that’s enough for now. It seems to me that Anti-Globalist Exaptriate has spent his life seeing what he wants to see. Maybe that works for him, but shouldn’t a THINKING housewife question whether one man’s personal reminisces can adequately describe half the world’s population?

 Laura writes:

You write:

It should be enough just to say that anyone who thinks half the world’s population (i.e. “Asians”) are all the same–and can be summed up by his own anecdotes–isn’t worth listening to, but perhaps some facts are in order.

Expatriate was speaking in what I called “sweeping generalizations.” Regardless of whether his generalizations are correct, generalizations have a place in understanding the world. You write, “Except umbrellas–Japanese people will return a wallet bulging with cash, but if it starts raining, don’t let your umbrella out of your sight for a second. :-)” How can you generalize about the Japanese in this way? Aren’t you saying they are all the same?

Regarding your point about Asians wanting big government, Ann Coulter was writing about what Asians want in this country. And Expatriate was responding to her findings that Asians want big government in this country. Their voting habits and surveys indicate that this is true. Do you dispute that point?

I am sure corruption varies considerably from country to country in Asia. The Transparency International index indicates that corruption is indeed greater in some of the largest Asian countries. In light of the millions of Asians who have come to North America since 1965, it is a subject that urgently needs to be discussed and I make no apologies for openly discussing it. As for your point that I have uncritically posted the comments of Anti-Globalist, who has done business in Asia for years, that’s simply not true. I posted extensive discussion about his previous points and gave considerable space to someone who disagreed.

However, your commentary overall lends weight to the argument that Anti-Globalist is making against prolonging the enormous wave of Asian immigration to America. The business climate is agreeable in Asia and conditions are good, you say. There is no need for Asians to emigrate in such high numbers.

Paul L. writes:

I am an Asian expatriate living in the U.S. I disagree that Asian Americans ( with a few notable exceptions) have an ideological predisposition towards ” big government.” Confucianism is an elite ideology amongst the Chinese in a similar way to how big government liberalism is basically the elite ideology of the US. I would dispute that most Chinese people actively follow Confucianism or have even read the analects. Elite Ideologies tend to be crafted around flattering powerful patrons while flattening everyone else! Many Asian-Americans run their own business and have a tendency towards a dislike of government intervention. Indeed, this is what they tend to vote in their countries of origin. Many of them just do not have the same passion for the minutiae of American politics and her various squabbling cultural divisions. As such, all of their cultural and political understanding comes from America’s amazingly biased and dishonest news media. They settle down in very liberal states because there are pre-existing Asian communities and because the media tells them that California, New York, and to a lesser degree, Chicago are the center of the Universe in America. Telling these people that there is a great economic boom happening in the deep south is frequently met with shock and disbelief because the media keeps reporting a false picture of the south as being blighted by poverty and full of white trash. These people are not all that different to your average non-Asian Los Angelino, New Yorker, or San Franciscan for whom gaining an understanding that is contrary to the liberal Zeitgeist takes a real effort. Indeed their voting records are non unusually liberal when you take in account the places where they live.

Laura writes:

Many of them just do not have the same passion for the minutiae of American politics and her various squabbling cultural divisions. As such, all of their cultural and political understanding comes from America’s amazingly biased and dishonest news media.

Ann Coulter cited a Pew study which said that 55 percent of Asian-Americans favored “bigger government.” That is an ambiguous statement. I don’t know how the question was worded. Nevertheless, I think it is safe to predict that most Asian-Americans, whatever their views on big government in the abstract, will continue to support theDemocratic Party, the bigger-government party because it is stronger on immigration rights.

Aditya B. writes:

“Why do Asians Support Big Government?”

The answer to that question is very obvious to anyone who has actually observed Asians in their natural environment.

The Natives called the British Raj “maa-baap:” Mother and Father. “Aap humaare maa-baap hain.” “You are our Mother & Father.” Why do they need such a government? Because they are incapable of self-government. Because they are incapable of exercising restrained Liberty. And, above all, they live in terror of a majority of “their people.”

India, for example, is not a Nation. The idea of India as a Western-style nation didn’t catch on until the second decade of the last century when a generation of Natives returned from “Ox-Bridge” with all kinds of fanciful notions. They were merely aping the West and were pretty bad at that. Not only did they fail to understand Western Civilization and Nationalism, they failed to understand their own Land.

India is a bewildering patchwork of hundreds of ethnicities or, what used to be called, Nations or Races. Spengler uses “race” the way we use “ethnicity” in his Hour of Decision. European Nationalism is based upon homogeneity of race, language and religion. Although each European nation is comprised of many tribes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thus, a collection of Normans, Angles, Saxons and Celts form Great Britain, an organic entity that is based on kinship. An Englishman and a Welshman and a Scotsman are all united by a shared history. The similarities help them overcome their differences. Even their quarrels are uniquely parochial, uniquely British. I suppose a similar observation can be made about the French and the Germans. And, of course, Scandinavia is the text-book example of a Nation: a well-defined piece of land that is inhabited by people of common ancestry and who share language and religion.

There is no such thing in India. The various tribes are constantly at each others throats. There is nothing in common between most tribes and the only reason they were united was to satisfy the megalomania of various conquerors starting with Ashoka the Great. In such a world, a strong central government is essential to keep the peace.

Secondly, they are not capable of self-governance or any kind of Ordered Liberty. Unless they have the threat of Maa-Baap to chastise them, they behave abominably. From littering to embezzlement, from lechery to outright gang-rape, the average Indian doesn’t have an objective sense of morality. Rather, they will only commit such crimes as they can get away with and, of course, not commit any crimes against their own tribe. In brief, the only crime is something that injures one’s self, one’s family and one’s tribe. Peoples with this mentality need a strong central government to prevent the nation from turning into a Mad Max playground which is the natural state of the Third World.

Then there is independence. A friend who is a U.S. Army Sergeant was utterly shocked by the Afghan incapability to maintain a water pump installed by their unit. The pump broke and not a single man attempted to fix it. They resumed their former ten-kilometer trek until my pal’s unit fixed it. He simply couldn’t understand this phenomenon. I had to explain that “learned helplessness” along with an inability to swim is among the distinctive characteristics of third-world-ness. The average Third Worlder cannot “fix” anything whether it’s a broken water pump or a pot-holed road. The thought of cooperation to resolve a problem is utterly alien. Therefore, a strong Central government is essential to maintain some semblance of Civilization.

And, then, of course, patronage. The most distinctive characteristic of Third Worldness is the refusal to believe that honest, hard work pays. Every Indian looks down upon hard work. Every Indian is convinced that malign forces (usually of a rival tribe) are responsible for his ailment and those of the nation. They cannot envisage a world where things just happen. Everything is a conspiracy. Please note that they don’t want to eliminate the conspiracy, they simply want in. Just as their real problem with venality in government isn’t its existence but their exclusion from the fruit of such venality, their chief problem with imaginary conspiracies and government power is the inability to acquire it. In the Orient, a man cannot make a fortune without government patronage. India’s “License Raj” is the text-book example of the same: not a single business can prosper unless the right bribes are placed to the right politicians and Civil Servants in hack through red-tape like Hercules slicing the Gordian Knot. In the Orient, a politician is not a peoples’ representative, he is akin to Roman nobility, a Patrician doling out favors to his clients, a Patron in the truest sense of the word, who is alternately worshiped and despised and universally admired.

And, of course, the insane superiority complex. Even though they flee the hell-hole they created, Indians stubbornly refuse to yield an inch culture-wise insisting, adamantly and in the face of a Mount-Everest-sized pile of evidence, that their “culture” is superior to Western Culture and that all American are utterly stupid wretches who deserve to have their nation taken from them. Simultaneously, the do everything they can to earn kudos and recognition from whites. In fact, no Indian achieves any real notoriety until the West acknowledges his existence. This unhealthy cognitive dissonance makes Indians (and Mexicans) among the most viciously anti-American population in the world as they can only impotently acknowledge the fact, in a most subliminal manner, that they simply cannot feel good about themselves until some white man pats them on the head.

There you have it: Adi’s expert analysis on why importation of Asians is the greatest danger to the United States. These people are utterly bereft of the most basic requirements of citizenship and they don’t want them. America is just a place where they make money and lech at white women. That’s about it. They have no love for the land which is evidenced by the complete absence of philanthropy and military service. Their vicious hatred of whites and whiteness is evidenced by the existence of “grooming gangs” and unequivocal support for every anti-Western movement and philosophy that is growing like mold on the corpse of the West.

An intelligent nation interested in its self-preservation and prosperity would never have allowed them to immigrate en masse. And having made that error, would do everything in its power to rectify the same. Instead, we are surrendering to these rude and base peoples.

Laura writes:

Aditya is known for his unremitting criticism of his native country. I would not call Indians “rude and base peoples.” In fact, I think many of those who have come to this country are refreshingly civilized compared to Americans. However, I agree that Americans are extremely naive in thinking they could so easily blend such alien cultures and think there is truth in many of Aditya’s comments.

 Anti-Globalist Expatriate writes:

George is apparently living in a different world than the one I inhabit, with a different Asia in it.

Government is far more pervasive in Asian countries than it is even in the post-New Deal US. Government is involved in practically every aspect of economic and public life, and quite heavily in personal life, as well.

Can anyone seriously argue that the Chinese government is smaller and takes up less GDP than in the West, for example?

In Singapore, government highly regulates everything – it’s literally illegal to chew gum in Singapore, did you know that? The press is tightly controlled in Singapore, and now webloggers such as The Thinking Housewife must apply for licenses from the government, and said licenses will be revoked, if they criticize the Singaporean government. The government of Singapore has launched numerous libel lawsuits against foreign media for reporting critical of Singapore, with the result that major publications such as The Economist simply do not publish anything critical of Singapore, for fear of retaliation and lost sales and lost advertising revenues.

Transparent, much?

The Heritage Foundations ‘economic freedom’ rankings don’t take into account the wholesale corruption taking place behind the scenes which guides and allows that economic activity to transpire in the first place.

Japan is much safer for foreigners than other Asian countries, but it’s still possible to get into trouble there. As for the yakuza, they are deeply embedded in business and politics in Japan; there are any number of well-researched books on this topic for George to peruse, should he so choose. Ordinary street crime is much lower in Japan than in other Asian countries, but wholesale graft and corruption in business, government, and politics takes place at epic levels.

By his own admission:

‘I say this as someone who’s spent the last two decades researching and teaching Japanese politics, who was embedded in multiple political campaigns in Japan, have in-laws who’ve helped manage campaigns, and spent many a night swapping stories over beer with Japanese politicians and bureaucrats.’

George has pretty much become a Japanese apologist, in my humble opinion. I’ve seen this phenomenon in countries all around the world; Westerners emigrate there, decide they like it enough to stay, and then become defensive about their adopted countries, rejecting any and all criticism in order to justify their decision to live abroad. It seems like a compensation mechanism to me; perhaps they feel guilt or are criticized by friends/family for their decision to live in other countries, and thus are overly sensitive.

Here’s just one example of reporting of corruption in Japanese politics.

It’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As for my ‘reminiscences’ – they’re actually observations of the present, as I’m sitting here in Asia as I type this response. They aren’t recollections of the past, but a recounting of what I see and experience here on the ground.

Expatriate writes:

In response to Aditya’s comments, and your response to him:

Aditya is 100 percent correct, and I salute his honesty and willingness to criticize his native country and its culture.

With regards to your comments regarding your perception of Indians, it’s important to understand that the Indians whom you come into contact with are likely upper-caste, wealthy Indians (whose familial wealth was largely gained through corruption and unethical business practices, if not outright thievery and thuggery). Aditya’s comments reflect the reality of the vast majority of Indians living in India, as well as lower-caste Indians laboring abroad in menial capacities.

Also, even upper-caste, educated Indians living in the West tend to harbor the sentiments noted by Aditya; they just conceal them. I work in a high-tech field, and thus have come into close, extended contact with many Indian expatriates, and once you get a few drinks in them (for the ones who drink alcohol), and they ‘let their hair down,’ they will sometimes confide these sentiments to close Western acquaintances.

There are many examples of many non-Westerners serving in the U.S. armed forces. In my work, I’ve spent decades working with the U.S. military and national security establishment, but not once have I ever run into a serviceman of Indian extraction.

Expatriate adds:

Here is the Wikipedia entry on the yakuza. I suggest reading the entire article – it’s quite informative, although in my opinion it tends to understate the penetration of the yakuza into business and politics.