Gaoxing's comments – all of them (that I've read), but perhaps this post in particular – display a misguided and dangerous ignorance and racism that is very prevalent among westerners. It is often a subtle and subconscious attitude (though in Gaoxing's case, not so) and perhaps all the more insidious for its subtlety. I say this, and make the below comments, as a white westerner (Australian) myself who is also prone to displaying the same ignorance and racism. I just try to keep reminding myself of the broader context of these issues and hope that I have some success in doing so, and thereby combating my own ignorance.
Gaoxing's comments are actually made completely out of context, in that he puts forward a selected list of gripes (couched in offensive and partial language) devoid of any examination of the whys and wherefores of the activities/behaviours set out. I believe, from my own experience and observation, that many westerners are prone to a conscious or subconscious sense of entitlement or superiority. That is, many of us believe that things are better – more developed, more prosperous, cleaner, more polite - in western developed countries because westerners inherently do things better and are therefore entitled to success and prosperity. Again, this view is often subconscious, but all the more dangerous for being so. This view ignores the fact that the relative pace of development between cultures and countries is largely a matter of geographical and historical circumstance, not simply ability or entitlement. (For a more considered and erudite examination of this issue than I can provide, see "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond). It also ignores the benefits derived by western developed countries from the history of imperialism and the use of technological advantages to exploit less developed cultures and countries.
In more simple terms, the point is that it's easy to play nice, be polite and share when you have lots of stuff and a reasonable amount of space. My ancestors were barbarians who ran around the Scottish highlands in the mud wearing skirts and eating sheep entrails. The main reason why I don't do those things myself, and wouldn't even if my family still lived in Scotland, is simply because of economic development, including the level of resources and infrastructure enjoyed by Australia. Availability of infrastructure and space are particularly important issues in respect of some of the behaviours to which Gaoxing refers. For example, one is more likely to push, and less likely to queue, if one cannot be reasonably confident of when the next bus will arrive. I also believe that there is another not often recognised reason for the prevalence of some behaviours in China that would be considered rude if done publicly in the west. That reason is that many Chinese people may simply not have the same concept of a separation between appropriate public and private behaviours as many westerners do, since there is so little private space and time available to most Chinese people. (That's just my own theory and I'm happy to stand corrected if Chinese people believe it's inaccurate).
Let me give you a small, but illustrative, anecdote. I have lived most of my adult life in Melbourne, Australia. In recent years, the quality of the public train system in Melbourne has started to decline (due to a combination of mismanagement and underspending). I was fortunate enough, in the last couple of years before I left Melbourne, to seldom need to take peak hour trains. Perhaps it is because I only occasionally took peak hour trains in that period that I was able to notice the change in behaviours. But in any case, as train cancellations increased and the service became less reliable, when I did take peak hours trains I could see people's behaviour on the platform and in the carriages become more rude and things like pushing increase. It only took what was actually a comparatively modest diminution in the availability of infrastructure for a few small cracks to start appearing in the veneer of civility. Most of the 1.3 billion people in China live in an area that is a similar size to Australia. If Australia was similarly densely populated, with a similar per capita level of resources/infrastructure, I don't believe that Australians would be as well behaved as the average Chinese person is. I suspect that the same might be true of most or all other western developed nations.
I agree that spitting in public, pushing, littering etc. are poor behaviours and any place in the world can be improved by reducing the prevalence of these kinds of behaviours. But please, if you are able, do not make comments and judgements about some of the behaviours that you see in China without also – at the same time – properly acknowledging the broader circumstances and causal factors. Perhaps, instead of bemoaning these behaviours (which is all too often done in an unfairly desultory manner) try to be amazed that, under all the circumstances, society in China works as well as it does (and ask yourself whether your home country would work as well in equivalent circumstances).
