Once again, I hope you are joking 
I used to volunteer in a homeless men’s shelter, working with recovering alcoholics and drug addicts who were trying to turn themselves around.
Once the guy who was leading the program asked me why I did it. I said, I was being selfish, because being there, working with those men was helping me become a better person.
I seem to feel the same way about Taiwan SOMETIMES when I get very very critical of the people, the culture, the boneheadedness as I see it…
But when I manage to remove my cranium from my anus, I see that I have the perfect opportunity to become a better man, by showing more understanding and more compassion to people and to myself. Go figure…
But, I live and work here with my wife and her family is here. Striving to become a better person is not why stay here, it is an ancillary benefit though.
Thanks for reminding me of that MAW. 
Put that way, yeah. The Taiwanese inability to govern effectively–or ability to prevent the gov’t from imposing its will, if you prefer–is something I view as largely negative, yet it creates conditions that sometimes favour staying… the dynamism aspect of chaos. But there’s little pleasure in it, which was more to your point.
I think most people to some degree find negative traits in others appealing. Ever watch one of the more sensational American talkshows and think, geeze at least I’m not that shmuck? So your question is an interesting one.
But the bigger question here is do people seek out situations in which they feel superior. Does a richy-rich move into a slum so he can show off his bling-bling? Sometimes, I guess, but it’s not the norm. People tend live where they feel that they belong, and common culture provides a good medium for this feeling.
However, few expats “belong” in Taiwan in the traditional sense. So, the proportion of people who are here for a feeling of superiority may be higher that in the home countries. Looking at it another way, fewer people with a strong desire to belong in a place would move to a foreign country over staying at home, so the proportion of those craving feelings of superiority is higher in Taiwan.
So, to answer your question, I believe that the negative aspects of Taiwan contribute to most people staying to some (probably insignificant) degree, and that these negative aspects are the main factor in staying for a higher proportion of expats in Taiwan than for people in similar situations at home.
To end that rambling opinion, I like it here for many of the reasons already mentioned by others, and I can assure you that feeling superior merely because I was raised with certain habits common to those of my nationality is not my bag. The foremost thing I like about Taiwan is the fresh and different perspective it gives me about myself and the society in which I was raised.
Doesn’t matter where I am, I look around and think “I’m better than them.” Because its true. I really am. So it can’t be that. 
Other than that, I’m a bit like Tigerman in this regard – I’m not much of a self-analyst, especially when there’s beer to be drunk, music to be played, girls to be charmed, etc.
Plus, I’ve lived in lots of places and they’re all like the curate’s egg to some extent.
Superiority I’m not sure about, but I’ve met many people who I thought were attention whores, needing the daily stares. The sort of person who seems to get off on the (totally insincere) compliments from complete strangers.
That’s a lovely avatar you have there hsiadogah. Kind of reminds me of clouds in the sky. Lovely!
[quote=“sandman”]That’s a lovely avatar you have there hsiadogah. Kind of reminds me of clouds in the sky. Lovely![/quote]
