It will be hard to inculcate Chinese philanthropy. Charity was always a much bigger thing in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Jews and Christians were expected to be charitable, and charity is one of the pillars of Islam. There are all sorts of charitable customs, traditions and institutions that have been developed over the last several thousand years that Xi would need to develop. What puzzles me is why Xi, being nominally a communist, hasn't pushed for a better public safety net in China.
Some years back, I believe on this blog, I commented that the Romans sometimes seemed a lot like modern westerners, especially in comparison to the ancient Greeks. Another commenter remarked that the Romans were very similar to us in many ways, but had notion of charity or mercy but the Greeks were completely alien.
It will be hard to inculcate Chinese philanthropy. Charity was always a much bigger thing in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Jews and Christians were expected to be charitable, and charity is one of the pillars of Islam. There are all sorts of charitable customs, traditions and institutions that have been developed over the last several thousand years that Xi would need to develop. What puzzles me is why Xi, being nominally a communist, hasn't pushed for a better public safety net in China.
Some years back, I believe on this blog, I commented that the Romans sometimes seemed a lot like modern westerners, especially in comparison to the ancient Greeks. Another commenter remarked that the Romans were very similar to us in many ways, but had notion of charity or mercy but the Greeks were completely alien.