Nell,
I'm watching the opening of the Olympics as I type and I can't help but marvel at both the incredible corporate expression of the Chinese people with its exquisite beauty and the dark secrets hidden beneath the surface of China's past ... and present.
What a paradox.
I write this here because, as I read your list of toxins, I couldn't help but think some of them are simply a part of the nature of people, not the fallen nature but just the nature. We Americans would use a term like "Blind loyalty" but I'm sure these thousands of Chinese youth dancing in such incredible coordination would never think for a moment there was anything bad about their loyalty -- or conformity -- to the culture.
So my point is that while I agree with you that many of these traits are indeed toxic (I'm taking some perverse satisfaction in watching Joel Osteen's wife squirm under the spotlight which relates to your last point), some of them are simply differences between cultures.
Would you agree with that?
SC
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