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In an era when value for money ought to be at the core of economic behavior, many Asians are making fools of themselves by falling for expensive luxury brands from Europe. Most of these items are made elsewhere and sold at prices several times their real value. Many of the privileged in East, South and the West Asia feel underdressed unless they patronize "designer" items whose value is often less than 10 percent of their cost.
Six months ago, a politician in Bangalore proudly showed me her handbag, made by a well-known French fashion house. It looked similar to the complimentary laundry bag of the hotel I had stayed in while on a visit to Mumbai, but it cost an incredible $3,000.
Consumers in Asia buy hugely expensive bags, shoes, watches,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], clothes, perfumes and other items for billions of dollars because they feel their cultures, and hence they themselves, are inferior to the West's.
Even cars are no exception. Some European brands cost more than six times the cost of Chinese, South Korean or Indian vehicles, even though they at best may be only twice as good as their cheaper Asian competitors. Those who feel uncomfortable without driving in a fancy European car are willing to pay super high prices just to have their egos massaged. Had they been rational, they would have gone in for a cheaper - but almost as comfortable and elegant - substitute from elsewhere, and spent the savings, for example, on setting up a new school in a rural area.
In some rural areas, two or more schools can be built for the price of a single luxury car. Yet on the roads of Mumbai and Shanghai, such cars are multiplying.
Sadly, many of those wasting billions of dollars on luxury brands do not consider the building of a school a worthwhile use of surplus money. This is in contrast to Europe, where high-quality education infrastructure has for long been a priority. That's why Europeans can be forgiven for regarding their continent and their cultures as being the best in the world.
Strangely, this fad has been uncritically adopted by so many people in India and China, which have far more ancient and complex cultures. During my visits to villages and small towns in India, I have come across art pieces and artifacts that are as good as many in the museums of Europe. The difference is that the Europeans discover and nurture talent, whereas we in Asia ignore it.
China is doing better than India in this respect,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in that it is making a coordinated effort to discover treasures from the past and put them in museums. The pride in the land that is thus created helps motivate the population into demanding higher standards for themselves,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a dynamic that has been active in Europe for six centuries, during most of which the relatively small continent dominated the world.
But treasuring the past is not enough. There needs to be an effort to discover cultural brilliance in the many towns and villages of India and China, so that those who are creative masters can be recognized the way they have been in Europe.
In contrast to China, which has brought numerous art treasures back to the country, India has seen a steady loss of its cultural relics. Many officials have made money by wrongly de-certifying antiques, so that they can be exported. Others have been replacing genuine works of art with replicas. Only an exhaustive investigation can uncover the scale of the theft of Indian art and relics,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which has been going on for the six decades that the country has been independent.
Across India, old houses are being pulled down, and the priceless antiques they treasure get either lost or sold for a pittance. Unless India follows the example of Europe and protects its culture in a way that makes its people feel proud of their past, it will not have the needed confidence to create a bright future.
Instead of running after expensive luxury goods that are low on value and high on cost, Asians need to learn from the European mindset.
If China, Russia,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Japan and India work together to develop technology they would be able to make aircraft that can rival those made by Boeing or Airbus.
But sadly, Asian countries seem more willing to look for friends afar. Yes, European culture is superb. But so is Asian.
Asian countries need to encourage each other, as well as identify and encourage creative talent at home. But most of them have taken the easy way out, by outsourcing their advanced brainpower to Europe and North America.
Investments from the Middle East flow to locations outside Asia, rather than to other Asian countries that are expanding much faster than any economy in Europe. Asia needs to emulate the example of Europe, and look inwards to provide the core of future progress.