It would be tolerated and it is everyday, all day...sad but true. Check thebeijinger.com

I often wonder WHY Basil Fawlty hires Manuel? ;-)))))

@faraday

You said "A proven fact is that a truly free market leads to separation (as opposed to integration), for example between races, ages and genders"

This is an interesting statement. I have two questions: 1) Can you provide a source for this statement? 2) Where and when has a "truly free market" ever existed?

Yes! Actually I forget the source but will try to remember and PM you if i can. Likely that something can be found in Wealth of Nations. Are you an economist, could it have been Adam Smith? I've seen several case studies, all of them on a micro scale. Harlem in NYC during the 1960's is the one that comes to mind most. Yes of course this was at a time of problems, black panthers etc., but according to commentaries about that time (refer to e.g. brothermalcolm.net, search around and you should find some studies there), the locals set up their own economies which quickly developed into the scenario I described - IF one can manage to filter out the men of violence and their actions.

Geezer - in some way it all reminds me about the very surprising study about the "average" human face. Google for it, its well worth a look. Turns out, the average face (using software to combine thousands of faces) is absoloutely gorgeous! The explanation offered is that the averaging process irons out all the wrinkles and blemishes. Could the same effect be valid for economies and societies?

Misfit: its a religion to me. I've never sold water in a desert for $100 but i have sold western condoms in asia for €5. :P

I'm sorry for leading this thread so far off topic. I think we should be optimistic about the future of discrimination of all kinds. It WILL disappear, and I personally believe economic policy is the key. I do NOT believe equal-rights legislation will help at all. What about the line in a David Bowie song "we can force you to believe, and we can force you to be free"...really?

Perhaps some of you folks need to clarify differences between discrimination and racism. Take Brazil - there is prejudice in favor of light skin, but there is a great range of terms to describe skin colors, but no single racial dividing line. In North America, however, people imagine 2 different 'races', and then talk about race mixing, mixed bloods etc.

Recommended: The Race Concept, Michael Banton and Jonathan Harwood, pub. 1975.

Sorry, but in my electronic 'Wealth of Nations,' Smith mentions "free market" only once and "free markets" not at all. The free market mention in 'Wealth" has to do with production and price and nothing to do with the natural tendency, I believe, of humans, and most animals, to congregate with others of like species, or, in humans, of like thought. (page 455 of my source)

I guess it is how you define a, or any, "market," be it free, mixed or command, you can arrive at some sort of scenario that justifies any belief or fantasy you wish but that falls far short of establishing "A proven fact."

Tonyaod has it about right in my mind. However you characterize the advert, it is an economic reaction to a perceived need to fulfill for marketing purposes. I'd say the advert is unfortunate but accurately reflects current thinking of Chinese consumers of foreigner taught education.

At the last school I taught at in Beijing, a Russian was teaching English. He had been hired as a "subject" teacher, much to his dismay, as his accent was a bit heavy. No matter this guy could read, write (much better than many native English speakers) and speak, in clear, grammatically correct manner, but heavily in accented English, he felt the students were being short changed.

When the school interviewed several potential English teachers (Asian) to teach English, the students were angry. They were paying 80,000 yuan per year, plus room, plus board, plus books, plus..., plus.... For that price you deliver what the customer wants.

Note that there was no complaint about the race or national origin of "subject" teachers. Nor was there any discrimination as "subject" teachers, Chinese and foreigners, were paid, pretty much, the same and treated the same, good pay, so so treatment.

For the record: the word "Capitalism" was coined by Karl Marx. It was intended as a pejorative and as we can see, still is used that way today.

Marx also redefined "profit" as exploitation and thus the pejorative characterization of rents retained by the Capitalist.

Trying to blame capitalism and profits for the universally human propensity to stereotype and pigeonhole other humans is ludicrous. It is ignorance and fear, or is it fear and ignorance, that is at the root of prejudice. We all have our personal biases, sometimes those biases get socialized but hopefully mature people deal with them internally and not let them affect economic decisions.

I guess I think it's the advert that's the issue here, not whether capitalism is good or bad

@cloudtrapzer

Glad to see you have no problem with sexual, age, religious, ethnic, or country of origin discrimination.

So, an ad that states "female, 20-23 years old, good looking, nice body, from US, UK or NZ, Christian, and very friendly" would be okay?