The WaPo wrote up a piece entitled: 'The Real Secret to Asian American Success'. I won't go into detail over it but the writer came to suggest that it's NOT education that details the success rate of Asian Americans.
I should note....if you do try to find the data....it does suggest that Asian Americans do better in school.....achieve success in college, and education plays some role.
But I've worked with a couple of Taiwanese Americans (2nd generation) while in the Air Force. I came to four realizations about this ethnic group:
1. They all had structure in their life (both parents, rules within the family, curfew hours, etc). If they were married....their spouse was Taiwanese American and structure rules followed them as a married couple.
2. They rarely made life-mistakes. They weren't likely to get a DWI, or go bankrupt, or develop credit card issues. If you listed the top twenty screw-ups that regular people make....this group does everything possible to avoid the mistakes.
3. They were extreme capitalists at heart. If you had a 400-page book on money-management....they'd have read every page and memorized it. Zero intention of buying a $40,000 car, or spending a wild amount of money at some Vegas casino.
4. Finally, you just felt they were motivated. I know....most all of us are motivated to some degree....but in the majority of Taiwanese people I bumped into....they had this motivation to succeed in life. They wanted your respect.
Then I'll say this....whatever education goals were accomplished....it was layered to fit their path ahead. They weren't the type to get a degree in French literature, or modern dance.
Why all this concern over Asian Americans matters now? Well....a fair number of black Americans see this success business as not having any sense to it. If one were to go past the education chatter and just look at the life-mistakes angle....you'd figure out the whole reason for their success in life.
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