美媒:应该学习中国人集体主义力量

    I read a post about TCBN Charter Member David Wolf's latest piece. Writing about increasing antipathy¹ to foreign brands in China's domestic market, Wolf characteristically hit the nail on the head: "Suddenly, just as people in China were starting to wonder if they still needed foreign capital and know-how², we went and proved to the Chinese that we were greedy, dumb and actually needed China’s help to pull us out of our own mess."The emperor is looking pretty scantily³ clad in Chinese eyes. I am tempted⁴ to summarize the lessons learned - so far - from China's 30 years of rocketing from poverty and isolation⁵ to global superpower status in the following terms: humility⁶ is the ultimate competitive advantage。
    By subordinating to the dominant⁷ power - adopting the maxim⁸ that "the customer is always right" while building a customer base comprised of anyone who buys manufactured goods anywhere in the developed world; by seeking knowledge of the deep secrets of America's meteoric⁹ success in a few hundred short years by studying the wisdom of iconic institutions like Wall Street, Harvard, Silicon¹⁰ Valley and the WTO - China learned everything it could from the West about unleashing¹¹ the forces of economic development in the modern world. What happens next, now that Wall Street has proven an unreliable compass point?
    The era of China's enthusiastic learning from the West is clearly waning¹². That's a Yin Yang theory term - one aspect wanes¹³, the other waxes. Once the former subordinate becomes powerful, it's time to learn about them and from them in order to deal effectively with them. The social values of the west are still powerful. At the same time, China from 1979 to 2009 is a case study without parallel: creating wealth by mirroring some behaviors and values of the people who have the money。
    We can't out-Chinese the Chinese, but we can regain¹⁴ ground by being our smartest selves. Civil, diverse and open societies can do that. Maybe we can learn from the Chinese about the power of the collective effort: a group of individuals and organizations acting¹⁵ in concert for a common goal; the joining of forces to focus on economic development。
    Shenzhen, Tianjin Economic Development Area, and Suzhou Singapore Industrial Park are the world's most successful economic development zones, and they succeeded by making it relatively¹⁶ easy to set up shop in China. Land? Got it. Electricity and water? Yup. Regulatory approvals? Concierge¹⁷ right here. Talent? Resumes on the way over. Foreign-friendly housing and bilingual associates to help get settled in? Check and check。
    America is complicated. I've asked numerous people from the NY and NJ Port Authority, airlines and tourism industry association over the years, "What would it take to get some Chinese language signage and some 'getting out of the airport and to your hotel' brochures at the information desk at Newark and JFK?" The fact that everyone tells me it would be a bureaucratic¹⁸ nightmare means one thing: we need to get better at the collective effort。
    近日笔者读到中国商务网创始人戴维-沃尔夫撰写的一篇文章。沃尔夫提到中国市场对外国品牌日益反感，他一针见血地指出：“突然之间，就在中国人开始怀疑是否还需要外国资本和技术之际，我们向他们证明了我们的贪婪、愚蠢以及我们其实需要中国帮我们脱离困境。”
    在中国人眼中，昔日的皇帝已经变成乞丐。纵观过去30年中国从贫困和孤立一跃而为全球超级大国的历程，笔者不禁要得出这样的经验教训：谦卑是最根本的竞争优势。
    中国甘愿听从强者———接受“顾客永远是对的”的信条，接受任何发达国家具有购买力的消费者，从而打造了广泛的客户群；中国研究鼎鼎大名的华尔街、哈佛、硅谷和世贸组织的智慧，深入了解美国短短几百年就取得巨大成功的秘诀。中国通过这些手段，尽可能地从西方学习一切能释放当代经济发展力量的东西。接下来发生了什么呢？事实证明华尔街的一套是错误的？
    显而易见，中国满腔热情学习西方的时代行将结束。这符合事物兴衰起伏的阴阳理论———此消彼长，阴阳转化。一旦昔日的弱者变得强大，就到了我们要了解他们和向他们学习的时候了，这样才能有效地跟他们打交道。西方的社会价值仍然富有影响力，与此同时，中国从1979年到2009年的发展历程提供了一个前所未有的经验：通过效仿财富拥有者的一些行为和价值来创造财富。
    我们不能做到比中国人还中国人，但我们可以做个聪明人，借此收复失地。文明、多元及开放的社会能做到这一点。或许我们可从中国人那里学习集体努力的力量：不同的个人和组织携手为一个共同目标努力，齐心协力致力于经济发展。
    深圳、天津经济开发区及苏州新加坡工业园区，都是世界上最为成功的经济发展区。它们之所以如此成功，是因为中国提供了便利。土地、水电、审批、人才统统不成问题。住房和双语同事也是为外国人着想的。诸如此类，不一而足。
    在美国却难办了。多年来，我曾问过不少纽约和新泽西港管理局、航空和旅游业协会的人———“纽瓦克和肯尼迪机场如何才能弄一些中文标识和乘客住宿指南？”每个人的答案都是，这种涉及到多个部门的事不好办。这说明了一件事：我们需要在集体努力方面加把劲。

1 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

2 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

3 scantily   

adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地

参考例句：

• The bedroom was scantily furnished. 卧室里几乎没有什么家具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His room was scantily furnished. 他的房间陈设简陋。 来自互联网

4 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

5 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

8 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

9 meteoric   

adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的

参考例句：

• In my mind,losing weight is just something meteoric.在我眼中，减肥不过是昙花一现的事情。
• His early career had been meteoric.他的早期生涯平步青云。

10 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

11 unleashing   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
• Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网

12 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 wanes   

v.衰落( wane的第三人称单数 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• The moon waxes till it becomes full, and then wanes. 月亮渐盈，直到正圆，然后消亏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The moon waxes and wanes every month. 月亮每个月都有圆缺。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

17 concierge   

n.管理员；门房

参考例句：

• This time the concierge was surprised to the point of bewilderment.这时候看门人惊奇到了困惑不解的地步。
• As I went into the dining-room the concierge brought me a police bulletin to fill out.我走进餐厅的时候，看门人拿来一张警察局发的表格要我填。

18 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。