Man committed robbery to avoid debt shame.

" A man who staged a robbery so he could go to jail to avoid the shame of being in debt was prosecuted by Chaoyang District People's Procuratorate, the Beijing Morning Post reported Thursday...


This is the first time I have heard of such a thing! An individual would rather be sent to jail than lose face in front of his parents! I don't know about Mr Zou, but where I live, letting your parents fix all your problems have become part of the " normal". 
Once upon a time in the West, people were taught to be self-sufficient and thrifty; it was part of the societal package. But, thanks to Keynesianism and Statism, a great number of people and institutions ( especially) expect the government to provide for them. They have lost all sense of  " shame."


"More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years"  usatoday

"Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007. Benefits have been extended by Congress eight times beyond the basic 26-week program" usatoday

The dread of being caught " eating at the government table" seems to have disappeared and that why I am completely flabbergasted at the idea of a person preferring jail time rather than losing the respect of his parents! 

"Zou said he planned the robbery so he could be sent to prison, where he would avoid his creditors. Suffering a series of heavy financial losses in the stock and futures markets, he was too ashamed to ask his parents to help pay off his debt again, and instead chose robbery as a way to avoid his situation as well as his creditors." chinadaily

China economic growth is been hailed everyday in the media! Granted! But very few understand the deeper cultural roots that have enabled the Chinese people to rise so fast in such a short time span. The example of Mr Zou willingness of commit a crime to maintain an " air" of respectability in the face of his family can be seen as one of the many cultural factors that explain the rise of China in the last decades. While the West and many other parts of the world have become dysfunctional and mismanaged from top to bottom, in China, children are still expected to represent their families, and represent them well in all aspect of their lives!

Zou shamed his family name by protracting a lot of debts; rather than calling his " Moma's ambulance" like many people I know, he  got himself in trouble in order to save face! 

For that alone, I tip my hat to Mr Zou!