Altruism is indeed cringe in China, with a total of only 200 billion yuan donated to charitable causes annually in the entire country, with only 30% of it coming from individuals. This averages out to <$40 donations per person per year (I haven’t dug into this data yet). A 2016 report notes 0.03% of GDP in donations, compared to 1.44% in the US. There is a general perception that charity is low status and those who do donate large amounts of money (business billionaires) think charities don’t require much effort to run effectively and don’t try hard to maximize effectiveness. Supposedly Buddhists donate disproportionately.
Is this true specifically only of China or is it also a general SEA thing? Would like to know more about the cultural origins of this
Is this true specifically only of China or is it also a general SEA thing? Would like to know more about the cultural origins of this