The education system may seem flawed, but it served its purpose, chiefly, to drag the people out of the rice paddies and factories and into the science parks. The system’s brutal emphasis on never making mistakes, that mistakes are shameful and to this day, corporally and emotionally punishable has bred a generation committed to academe like no other before it.
And rote they did. Sacrificed sport and art and leisure and dug into the short term memory art of the cram. And it worked, as Friedman so aptly pointed out a few years ago when he wrote that article. He actually made the rounds from FOX to Letterman talking about Taiwan and basically quoting that article in the interviews.
The blowback of course, is a somewhat social ineptness, coupled with a draught of creativity and a culture that dares not challenge the status quo. Making money becomes the prime directive and selfishness rules the day. The drivers, the laoban class, the salary slave, the owners of FoxConn…
And yet, there is kindness and community and evolution. The mei meis and jie jies are not settling for Prince Slob-a-lots, population is dwindling, and the economy weathers and flourishes. Since the writing of that article, Taiwan has only evolved. Another successful election, no bombs or half-baked assassination attempts, Taiwan plods forward, trends upward. China Lite.
Tourism is starting to become an actual industry and it’s only a matter of time before ze germans get here, bloating about in BeiShrWan.
So how did Taiwan get so lucky? Rote Learning. But if we aren’t careful and acknowledge the role experiential learning plays in the development of a new culture (which is what is going on right now, as you read), I fear it is doomed to the same fate as America.
The “Dream” is shifting to Taiwan as the nightmare settles from sea to shining sea. Can they run with it? Well, they’d better get out from behind the books a little more often. Find the balance. Wu Wei Er Tze…
And all this under the watchful eye of some 1500 missiles. That’s impressive.