Posted by sigismund on June 7, 2011, at 19:35:26
In reply to Re: Capt. Kirk » sleepygirl2, posted by floatingbridge on June 7, 2011, at 0:30:38
I'd post a link but I can't find it. This is from a professor of psychology in Sydney who came from Hungary as a young man. I found the concluding remarks of the article particularly interesting. This is just the end.
When Forgas returns to his native Hungary, he is instantly struck by how negative everyone is. It is a country with a sad history and even the national anthem "is a downbeat dirge of complaint about how we have been suffering and everyone has been beating us up, and God help us have a better tomorrow". Hungarians abroad often refer to their homeland as szegeny kis orzag.....that poor little country.
The people in Hungary are so paralysed by their gloom, Gorgas says, they are unable to do anything to overcome the corruption and bad governance that plague them. They are resigned to their fate. Australians, he says, are much more positive and would be likely to do something to initiate change. 'It seems to me that one of the critical things you need in a democracy is people who believe in themselves as individuals."
But the conversations he has in Hungary are on a much deeper level than those he generally has in Australia. "They tend to be much more intense, more probing, much more personal," he says. "In some ways you feel that the people you are interacting with are much more involved with you." The other place he has encountered this is Israel.
Australians, Forgas adds, are very easy going, and the Australian culture is a great culture in all sorts of ways - but "personal depth may not be one of its features."
poster:sigismund
thread:987097
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20110517/msgs/987402.html