Why people in China are not eager to help strangers on the street (17 photos)

From a certain point on, Chinese residents swore off helping strangers, especially on the street.





We have been taught from early childhood that offering help to someone in need is the highest virtue. And it doesn’t matter whether this person is a close relative, an acquaintance, or just a random passer-by who finds himself in a difficult situation, helping him is the duty of any sane citizen.



In addition, and this also should not be forgotten, good deeds are always returned with interest... as, indeed, are bad ones.



Carrying a heavy bag to the entrance to an unfamiliar grandmother returning from the store, helping a young mother get a stroller with a small child out of the bus, or extending a hand to a passerby who slipped on the first December ice - all these seemingly insignificant little things not only fill the harsh modern world with goodness and light, but they also make people who are not ashamed to offer help to their neighbors a little, forgive the tautology, more humane.



“But what's special about this? - you ask. “Helping another person is a common and completely normal practice, why inflate this topic to the scale of an entire article?” Well, that’s a reasonable remark... However, the residents of China will hardly agree with it, who from a certain point have sworn off helping strangers, and especially on the street.



Even if they become random witnesses to an accident with victims, they will most likely simply pass by and not even ask if they need any help. I'm not even talking about the old people who fell on the street - ordinary Chinese will simply bypass these comrades and not even raise their heads.



No, do not think that the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire at some point forgot about education, respect for elders and mutual assistance - this simply cannot happen, because the issue of morality and public opinion is a priority for the Chinese. The main reason for such “indifference” towards others was the banal fear of being blamed for the problems of the person they helped. And this is absolutely true.



In general, there are a lot of bureaucratic subtleties in China, the existence of which not every local resident knows about. One of these “subtleties” is the right of the victim, through the court, to demand monetary compensation from the person who helped him - so to speak, for the harm caused. This sounds like a joke, but in reality this practice is very common in China, and people who, out of the kindness of their hearts, come to the aid of their neighbor, instead of gratitude, receive either a kind of “fine”, allegedly for wrong actions, or accusations of involvement in the incident.

An example is a case that occurred in the city of Dazhou, Sichuan Province. A local resident, being a very elderly woman, fell on the street and broke her leg. Seeing this, three schoolchildren rushed to her aid. However, instead of saying a simple “thank you,” the woman chose to blame the guys for pushing her and demand compensation of 20,000 yuan ($3,290) from their parents to pay for medical services.



I will say right away that as a result of the investigation, the truth was nevertheless established, and the woman, for slander, received 7 days of administrative arrest for extortion instead of money. But such “happy endings” do not always happen, and are rather a pleasant exception.



In addition, in China there is a rule according to which all medical services are paid for by the one who calls an ambulance or, say, brings the victim to a medical facility, since at a particular moment in time he is responsible for him - including financial ones. And, as you know, medicine in China is far from cheap, and even providing first aid by a medical professional can cost a caring Chinese a pretty penny.



It would seem, what’s stopping you from demanding your money back after this? But the Chinese, because of their innate sense of duty, responsibility and, of course, endless respect for respectful old age, will never agree to this. And how can you demand money from old people?!



According to the results of a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily, among 139 thousand Chinese respondents, more than 80% responded that they would hardly dare to help an elderly person who had fallen on the street. And all because of the banal fear of becoming victims of unscrupulous old people who extort money in this way. More than 50% of respondents admitted that they would rather simply pass by a fallen old man, and only 5% answered that they would come to help without hesitation.



Experts explain these very disappointing results not at all by the decline of moral values in the country - which I, in fact, already mentioned above. They are simply a reflection of the imperfections in the health insurance system for older people. Therefore, some elderly people have to resort to extortion to pay huge medical bills.



Under the current insurance system in China, older people, especially those living in rural areas, who are injured in an accident can only count on very modest amounts, which, of course, are not enough to cover expenses. And the procedure for applying for compensation, it must be said, is very complicated and takes a lot of time, so most elderly residents of China do not even try to complete the necessary documents.



To top it all off, there is, in principle, no system in the Middle Kingdom for full reimbursement of expenses for the treatment of injuries received as a result of an accident for people over 65 years of age. Therefore, in order for old people to stop extorting money for treatment from compassionate passers-by, it is necessary, firstly, to increase the amount of insurance payments, and, secondly, to simplify the procedure for applying for compensation. That's all. It’s so simple, but things are still there...



For the most part, modern young Chinese are really not too eager to help random passersby who find themselves in an unpleasant situation, and especially old people. However, among them there are still those who cannot remain indifferent to the misfortune of others. True, with some reservations...



Before helping someone who has fallen on the street, the Chinese often ask passersby to witness this action or take photographs, which, in the event of an extortion attempt, will become indisputable evidence of their innocence and non-involvement in the incident. So to speak, kindness marked “Made in China”.