i was treated to a few lavish dinner when visiting an inland city of northern china. disturbed by the style they order dishes, i told the hosts that it was unnecessary to waste a lot of foods to make us happy. one host replied, "to squander on the dining table is crucial for us to survive", he continued to explain that by squandering and making his guests happy, he could gain the sparse investments that his neighboring regions work hard to get, and it proved to be working especially well, not only for outside investors but also for their supervising officials. "to survive, we have to squander", he concluded.
that night i was woken up by the hotel waitress at about 12 p.m., was asked to put more deposits if i wanted to stay for another day. annoyed by the disturbance, i asked the waitress why she woke me up in the midnight. she felt sorry but had to do her duty because otherwise according to hotel policy, she would be fined her bonus money of the month if she failed to collect the deposit before the day.
although both of their behaviors are wrong, i won't blame the official or the waitress as much as i blame the systems that make their behaviors a "have-to".
the simplistic way (and attitute) of blaming the "official" and "waitress" is not rare among china observers, but it reveals their inability to see the big picture and work out solutions that solve the root problems.