What Happens when you Try to implement Diversity Initiatives in China

Here is a short, yet interesting, tale that I would like to report on. It’s kind of cute and helps us to think about our life and the lives of others. I’d like to use it as a springboard to discuss the importance of British Common Law. As well as why American Law needs a reset.

Anyways...

It seems that everyone recognizes that China is a big market, as it is. It is a HUGE market. As such, many understand that China has a lot of potential for new ventures, opportunities, and expansion. If you are young, full of energy and willing to work your butt off, China might be your ticket to success. As a result, there are many people who are trying their best to “break through” into the Chinese market.

I wish to relate one such story. It is a story about people trying to break into the Chinese market… a “gold rush” as it were. Only, they were doing so with an American mind-set. Not a Chinese mind-set.

There are a lot of lessons that can be derived from this story. You can look at it as “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”,. Or, you can consider it as to “Being an Ugly American, applies to millennial’s just as it does to other generations.”

Let’s have a look at this story…

In this instance, a group of young millennial’s (located in California) got this great idea and decided to move forward with it. They figured that since so many non-Chinese (Americans) want to find work in China, that they could set up a Job-Portal that caters to these individuals. They would use the most common Chinese social media platforms. They would market to expats, or potential expats. And they would become match-makers for existing Chinese companies.

In return, they would obtain placement fees if the person was placed in the company.

What could possibly go wrong?

Introduction

As we start on this subject, we need to underscore some key points. The first point is that China does not allow American applications, Websites, social media or search engines that are tied directly to the American NSA. They think that it is dangerous for Chinese citizens to have their data harvested by the American government.

The companies that harvest data are banned in China. This includes Facebook. It also includes Goggle and all it’s branches. It also includes numerous other software organizations.

As a result, China has it’s own software and APP sphere of influence.

One of the most popular applications for cellphones in China is WeChat.  It is sort of a cross between Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Except that you can use it as cash to pay and buy all sorts of things. It’s an absolute necessity, if you live in China.

Anyone can join, and it is a global organization.

One day, a group of software-coding millennial’s out of California wrote up a “group” within WeChat. It is sort of a “presence” or a “website” that resides within the WeChat operational sphere.

The group that they set up was called “Job Tube”.

Within that “group” they established 170 sub-groups that people could become part of. Each group was ascribable. Thus, for instance, if you wanted to find out jobs that were looking to hire Thermal Engineers in China, you could subscribe to the “Engineer” sub-group of “Job Tube”. If you wanted to find a job that would consist of ESL English teacher, you would subscribe to that sub-group.

It’s a pretty slick idea, and the group is still active. Though, I really don’t know how successful it actually is.

An Event

They have been doing this for a number of years. I really don’t know when they got started. I think that I first noticed them back in 2015. They had some articles that I would read when I took the subway. The articles often were about China written from a millennial American perspective.

Sometime around 2016, the “Job Tube” group started pulling advertisements and offering apologies.

They actually had a few articles describing this situation and why they were doing it. So it became easy to see why they were so conflicted and what was going on.

It turned out that Chinese job advertisements weren’t “diverse” enough.

via GIPHY

They had all kinds of “illegal” and just plain “wrong” requirements in them. In fact, I am quite sure that the young millennial’s were quite horrified by the advertisements. The advertisements would specify an acceptable age range. They would ask only for women, or only for men. They would post things about appearance, weight, and other things, that were (in a millennial’s eyes) totally “unfair”.

Such as this…

Wanted Non-Chinese English Teacher in Beijing

Must be female, between the ages of 21 and 28. Must be attractive. CV's and resumes without a photo will not be considered. Weight must be under 40 Kg. 

Primary candidates should come from The United States, the UK, Canada or Australia / NZ. Other nations will not be considered.

Must have a four year BA, or BS. Must have a TSOL or ESL certificate. Must have a verifiable two year history of teaching English as a foreign language.

Applicants must not be too Asian or Chinese appearing. 

The ideal candidate would have brown, red or blonde hair. The ideal eye color would be blue or green. Interviews will be over Skype and candidates will be judged during the interview. 

Black or brown people will not be considered. Muslims who wear a veil will not be considered. As there is a work policy that all female employees must wear their hair in a prescribed manner.

Absolutely no tattoos. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Notice how different this would be from an American Job advertisement?

In America, much of what is asked would be illegal. For instance, you cannot ask about a person’s age, race, appearance, ethnicity, or gender. In order to promote “diversity” in the workplace, and to prevent discrimination, laws have be put in place.

But this isn’t America. This is Asia. Specifically, China.

America has all sorts of “diversity initiatives” formally ensconced in the law. While they might not be considered to be a diversity initiative, they function as one. It is a world and a situation that anyone and everyone can quality for work or a role independent of their qualifications.

For instance, you cannot hire based on age. You cannot hire based on gender. You cannot discriminate by skin color, or religion. That is American law.

Obviously, the Chinese companies want to recruit attractive female teachers as the school with the prettiest teachers tend to be those that are most successful in recruiting students. Obviously they want to play on the Chinese stereotypes for American “perfect” teachers. For in China, face is everything. How you act, behave, and dress is all considered important.

Now, when the young millennial’s started to notice this, they were shocked. How dare anyone flaunt American law; the social order of perfection!

The way that America does things is the law that EVERYONE MUST follow. Anything other than that must be suppressed, corrected and (if necessary) doxed. If it does not conform to American law, it must change. Period.

So, of course, like any good enraged social justice warrior,  they contacted the companies and let loose. They told them a “thing or two” about what is right and what is illegal. That showed the Chinese companies…

Don’t ya know!

The Chinese Companies Respond

First off, as the reader has probably guessed, Chinese companies are in China. And, in case you are unaware of it, China has a different set of laws and regulations than what is present in America.

They really do.

Of course, it’s hard to understand, given what constitutes an education in America today. So, let me make this clear. Each nation is sovereign. They have their own laws, and ways of doing things. Often the ways are different than how they are done in the united states.

In China, foreigners who come to China to work must be pre-qualified. They must be pre-qualified as a “foreign expert” that will not take work away from a capable Chinese worker. To identify if they are indeed a “foreign expert”, they must fill out a long and lengthy application form.

Any questions on that “foreign expert” application form can be placed on a job requirements list for a specific position.

This includes;

• Photo
• Age
• Weight
• Height
• Nationality
• Race
• Hair and Eye color
• Education

The young millennial’s were under the impression that an American expat would be under the same kinds of “protections” from discrimination while working in China. Of course, they were wrong.

Americans are “outsiders” in China. You can only work and live in China under certain conditions.

What they couldn’t get their heads around was the fact that different nations have different laws, society’s and ways of doing things.

American was founded from British Common Law. Now, it is well known that this includes such things as contracts and business relationships, it also includes such things as what a law is, and what breaking a law represents. For instance, under British Common Law you cannot ban a substance simply because you might choose to use it, and someone else thinks that it is bad for you.

Power comes when a person can limit what someone else can do.

Under British Common Law, if property is not stolen, if no-one is harmed, if there isn’t a victim, then you cannot base a law on it.

Ah. British Common Law. I just wish that America followed it.

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Somehow, we started to diverge from Common Law when we started to regulate and write laws that limited what people could do. In short, if there is no victim, then there can be no law. Writing laws without victims is what tyrants do. They assert their power. Especially over those whom they do not like.

We have moved a long… long way away from the fundamentals of British Common law. That is sad, and alarming.

• British Common Law
• The History of the Common Law in England
• Britexit and British Common Law
• Differences in law the UK and the USA
• Differences between civil and common law

And finally, in regards to China,

• The differences between “Civil Law” and “Common Law”

Which means that I have diverged yet again, darn it!

You cannot make a law telling people how to act, dress, behave, or regulate what they eat, sleep or whether or not they need to buy insurance. If there is no victim, then there can be no law.

If there is no victim, then there can be no law.

OK. Now think about it.

That means no laws against smoking that demon weed; marijuana. That means that the police cannot seize your computer or arrest you for anything on it. That means that they cannot stop you (in your car) for any potential crime. They just cannot. No victim means no crime can be committed.

Life in the United States would revert back to the utopia that it was set up as…

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Now, China does not follow American law, nor British Common Law, which is often a point of contention with British expats. Instead they follow 5,000 years of legal precedent. They have learned over the years, which system and which laws are the the most effective. In the Chinese mind, the smallest number of laws benefit the greatest number of people.

1. The laws must be simple, easy to understand and clear.
2. When you add complexity to the legal system, you increase costs exponentially.
3. Additionally, they have learned that laws should not be used as a bludgeon to force societal conformity, but rather used as a guideline to maintain social harmony.  This difference; “social harmony” vs. “societal conformity” is the core difference between Chinese and American law.

This difference; “social harmony” vs. “societal conformity” is the core difference between Chinese and American law.

I guess that the millennial’s in California never got the memo.

What Happened

It’s simple, really.  The “Job Tube” can simply not post employment ads that they do not like. They can discriminate. Imagine that!

That’s what they were told.

If they don’t like a given ad, they have the freedom NOT to post it. They have decided to take that solution for their sensibilities. Therefore they now only post advertisements that do not have any limitations or requirements that might be offensive. The end result was a massive and substantial decrease in the number of advertisements that they posted for the Chinese market.

So, a few months later after the “corrections” and revised content direction, the group took a severe hit.  When previously, there might have been a few hundred job postings in a certain category, it dropped substantially. Today, many of the categories hold zero job postings, while others only have a few.

Instead of maybe three hundred positions related to engineering, they now only advertise one.

So..?

The point being is a simple one.

If you are in Rome, you should act as a Roman and follow Roman law. You shouldn’t be “the ugly American” and try to force they way you believe things should be done on others. It just won’t work.

Examples abound. Like when you have Muslims trying to force their beliefs on Americans, like [1] a ban on pork, [2] women wearing full veils, [3] polygamy, and [4] child sex. The minority trying to push and force their views is often looked upon with disdain.  As they should.

How does this lady make you feel?

I don’t know about you, but I have a difficult time thinking of “her” as anything except a character. She’s a “thing”, simply because there is nothing culturally that I can relate to. I cannot see a smile, or any emotions in her face. That makes it difficult to see a person wearing these kinds of clothes as anything other than a piece of furniture or wall covering.

That is why, historically, women would wear traditional costumes and makeup that would accentuate their beauty. You can see their facial expression and can be exposed to their feelings, desires and needs. With her body language covered up, she becomes less than human.

Though, some people, want it this way…

Back to China

Whether or not diversity mandates are important isn’t really the issue here. Not really.

Certainly, I would like the world to be nice and clean and wonderful; a world where I can apply for a job and not tell them my age… but they will find out. After all, they can guess my age by looking at when I obtained my university degree. I guess it would be nice that they don’t see what I look like… they might have some kind of aversion to old white men with beards. But, you know… they will find out eventually once an interview is set up

So really… What’s the point of all these rules and regulations? Who are they actually protecting, and is it effective?

Laws are laws, and the wealthy and the rich flaunt them all the time.

I remember working in Boston and only being paid once a month. Meanwhile the law in Massachusetts specifically stated that employees are to be paid no longer than a two-week interval. I went to my boss, and HR and complained. They told me that they did not care. The law did not apply to them.

However, one thing came out of it. They fired me one month later.

The company didn't change.

I went to the labor relations office in Boston and they confirmed that I was right, and that I was let go without cause. They confirmed my suspicions. But you know what? Nothing came of it. All the millions of dollars that funded that particular department and agency was just all window-dressing. If it worked, it wasn't for me. I benefited someone else. Who, I don't know. But someone other than myself benefited.

So, what’s the point in all these laws if they are not being followed?

Maybe the point is that instead of laws that force societal change, the laws should be structured to maintain societal harmony. The Chinese way. Eh?

How about a BETTER solution…

Or maybe, just maybe, we need to undo the decades upon decades of tweaks to American law that favors the powerful. Maybe we need to have a “fire sale” and reset everything. Maybe we need to reset everything to the basics; A Constitution. A Bill of Rights. A Republic.

And throw out everything else.

Summary

Perhaps there needs to be a good hard and long look at the laws in the United States today. I would like to see a return back to pure British Common Law. I would like to see a return to laws that…

• Do not regulate behavior.
• Require a defined victim, or aggrieved party.
• Require a judicial system that enforces existing laws and does not interpret them to fit a political or social narrative.

Ah, wouldn’t it be nice…

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FAQ

Q: What is wrong with America today?
A: There are many things wrong. I suggest the consideration that the problem is not the Constitution. Instead it is that the American Constitution has been distorted. It has been distorted to become something other than what it was set up as. I suggest that we need to go back to following fundamental British Common law, and revoke all the changes to the laws that creates crimes out of nothing. I suggest that we stop making crimes based on behavior, and instead reset so that crimes have an easily identified victim.

Q: What does China have to do with American Law?
A: Nothing. Instead, it is uneducated millennial’s who erroneously think that the corrupted and burdensome modern American law should be enforced globally without review or consideration. Imagine the horror the would would experience if everyone (in the world) had to follow the insanity of American’s Social Justice legislated laws.

Q: Why is Pauly Shore in this post?
A: He is an ideal. He represents freedom from conformity. While China (and Asia) does many things right, they demand and expect social conformity to maintain harmony.

I argue that harmony can be made to reassert itself again in America… done the American way. Not the Chinese way. However, that will not happen until we go back to following the fundamentals of British Common Law.

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