Even in individualist countries, we find collectivism at work. In business, the collective society is often seen in corporate structure.
New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki says, “Under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent and are often smarter than the smartest people in them.”
An example used by Surowiecki shows that “the TV studio audience of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire guesses correctly 92 percent of the time, compared to ‘experts’ who guess only 65 percent correctly.” Source: Co-Society.com
What Surowiecki says explains why China’s top few-hundred officials use the “Red Machine”, an encrypted communication system, for making quick collective decisions.
In The Collective Will, I mentioned the author of a Wall Street Journal piece as an example of how most people in the West have trouble understanding what goes on in China.
Most Chinese understand their government’s actions and decisions even if a Westerner from an individualist culture doesn’t.
Some Chinese may not like it. Others may not agree with it.
However, Westerners are not always happy with their governments. Just look at Donald Trump in the United States to understand what this means.
Continued on March 16 in Part 3 or Start with Part 1
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine, Crazy is Normal, Running with the Enemy, and The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova.
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