As a guy who works in Asia, i can assure you that there is a tremendous ethic of largesse to the employees that is at work here that simply doesnt hold in the U.S. We could start with benefits: first, universal healthcare or its equivalent (in Japan, for instance, where health insurance is negotiated through the companies, and where small businesses are typically tacked on to an associates larger company as a matter of patronage and loyalty) eats a big chunk out of the upper-crusts paycheck. Next, there is the the ethic of every employee being given a living wage, with everyone in their family being provided for (the above bit is part-and-parcel). It is considered a *grave* ethical violation for anyone in your company - or any contracted worker, who is serving your company - to be unable to eat, clothe their family, meet rent, or take a scheduled vacation (though truthfully, Japanese and Taiwanese companies rate rather low on vacation time, internationally speaking - but generally, still much higher than the US). Next, there is the ethic of partying - bosses are *expected* to put out big money for shindigs where every employee is included, and where every employee - from the assembly-line people, on up - are given an opportunity to snatch big gifts and random bonuses. At these parties, *all* employees are given gifts that can range from something as trivial as big boxes of cakes, or to something as substantial as two months supply of rice for a family of four (or more). The precise nature and amount of the gifts varies widely. And these parties dont happen once a year - they range in size and scope, but generally a large corporation, here, can expect to put on at least eight of them a year, as a matter of course. There is also the annual bonuses feature: fully qualified employees (i.e. - not contract workers) for Japanese and most other East Asian companies generally get two to four months worth of bonuses every year, as a matter of course. In Japan, it is usually a minimum of three months. These are not corporate bonuses, as understood in the U.S. These are bonuses that are written into the contract of the employees; the general effect is that employees quit their jobs at specified times of the year (i.e. - right after the bonuses), which the companies arrange so that the exodus happens at the time of the year that has the least impact on their human resource needs. So when one reads U.S. papers talking about monthly salaries in Asia, one generally needs to recognize that a monthly salary here should be multiplied by 13, 14, or even 16 - depending on the worker, the time theyve spent at the company, and whether or not theyve completed the year of work (and, again - this is outside corporate bonuses). Finally, China and Japan both have a strongly progressive tax system that leans heavily on families that have a lot of capital investments; inheritance taxes, in particular, are extremely heavy (in Taiwan, for instance, its a flat 40%, no exceptions allowed, period). In both places, these taxes are used to subsidize Academic activities (mainly research and development) aiming at building more jobs, and stronger technology innovation. So: In both China and Japan, the key factor on determining whether or not one wields power is not How much money do you have, and what laws do they exercise?, but instead, Who do you know, and what laws do they exercise? Because the US/uk system is so dependent on money, there is generally much greater effort expended on maintaining an objective facade than in China/Japan/Russia, where the principle If you crossed our leaders - who arent so far away from us, in their living - then probably, youre a problem... rules. Personally, id prefer if neither principle were at work in our fate (i think its obvious that it doesnt work nearly so well in China as it does in Japan - for reasons, id suggest, of scale, rather than philosophical outlook). I prefer a more tribal approach. But with that said: Who do you know is, generally, much better at getting more money to more people than How much money do you have? And i dont think i need to say it, but in the US legal system, media, entertainment industry, and general philosophical (e.g. - economics, political science, literature, pop music, movies...) outlook, its quite clear that How much money do you have? is the ruling principle.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 14:05:47 +0000