Criticism And Resentment

Criticism and resentment… This time, I propose to talk about criticism. You are supposed to ask me why I bother with this issue. Yes, sir, I would like to answer by questioning you: How many times have you received criticism from others in your life? Likewise, how many times have you criticized others? I guess-this is only a guess but I am quite sure-almost of you will say “many” or even “countless”. It proves that the issues around criticism are worth our care. Have you heard about critical thinking? I hope not ;)). It can be quite popular in the world, I mean, western society. However, in Vietnam, we don’t bear it in mind. We like to be the same and belong to the majority of our community. The concept of being different is nearly similar to that of being odd, eccentric and stupid. Here I want to cite a Vietnamese idiom as a proof of what I have claimed (I put it in its own Vietnamese word but not try uselessly to translate it into English): “Xấu đều hơn tốt lỏi”. Vietnamese people, therefore, avoid criticizing others. Additionally, Vietnamese society is where people respect and live on relationships with people surrounding. Criticism has appeared in the past but I think it was killed violently thereafter. Almost of Vietnamese people traditionally have been farmers, lived on occasional crops which could be damaged by bad weather or other factors at any time. As a result, they had to support each other to survive or would suffer and then certainly die of famine. If they criticized their neighbors today, who would have helped them to get out of their hunger tomorrow? There is something different you can see clearly if you go westward: everybody has been trying hard to sharpen their critical thinking. They criticize others, who can be their relatives, spouses, partners and obviously, their opponents or enemies, whenever they find those people’s faults or mistakes. Why do they act like that? Originally, we should trace to the past. They have been almost traders, not farmers as in Vietnam. In the process of buying and selling things, they formed their mind as practical one. They had to fight against each other to widen their places and strengthen their positions in the merciless markets. One of the most effective methods to achieve that is to make use of their antagonist’s faults made by chance. Criticism will kill the opponent and therefore, they will take one higher step on the ladder of success. Man is greedy and what they want seems to be uncountable. One of these wants, there is one thing which forces them to give criticism: “the desire to be great” or “the desire to be important” because if they criticize

someone successfully, they win and those who are defeated accept to be lower in the rank of importance. Blah blah… Asking you “are you pleasant after criticizing someone?” you can say “No” but excuse me, my answer is yes. While that person feels being discouraged and depressed, I am delighted with my excellence. In case the fault influences directly my rights, criticism given on that person will pass my anger and unhappiness away… Is it really necessary? No, because it will bring me some undesirable repercussion. According to my personal experiences, the common reaction to criticism is resentment. Criticism usually arouses the people’s anger and negative response. Why’s that? Because of the desire to be great, man is hard to accept criticisms, that means, to admit their weaknesses or mistakes. People think that they are creatures of logic and intelligence. Actually, it’s partially true; they are also creatures of emotion and motivated by pride and vanity. Criticism destroys their beliefs in their greatness so they are likely to reject it immediately…