Mitch Moxley worked in a unique industry in China: being a white man. Apparently, it's beneficial in the eyes of some Chinese businessmen to have white men standing around looking important. So that's what Moxley and others have been paid to do:
Link via Fausta's Blog | Image: University of Texas
Previously: Meet a Black Person
“I call these things ‘White Guy in a Tie’ events,” a Canadian friend of a friend named Jake told me during the recruitment pitch he gave me in Beijing, where I live. “Basically, you put on a suit, shake some hands, and make some money. We’ll be in ‘quality control,’ but nobody’s gonna be doing any quality control. You in?”
I was.
And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.”
Link via Fausta's Blog | Image: University of Texas
Previously: Meet a Black Person
Overalll,glad I read about this but = not neat!
Sad to say that in about 100 years time, current demographic trends will mean that "white" people will really become an exclusively rare commodity in many countries . . .
People will always find a reason to hate each other, but let’s just hope that there will be fewer excuses for people to brush off responsibility for their actions.
Well it's not really the same thing but it reminded me of it :P
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