Here's the bottom line in my mind:

Confucianism is a failed system of thought whether from a religious or philosophical point of view because it's foundation on how to treat people is not made of ideas that people are all the same and equal in ways, but it defines people as needing to be placed in categories that interpreted as higher or lower based on what they do. Once you are put into that category you cannot be labeled in any other way, you are stuck in society for what you are.

So the basic idea behind it is one that completely defines itself by STATUS.

This is why china even after all these thousands of years still hasn't changed in her thinking. The very day an infant starts to be aware of his/her surroundings they are made to believe that people who want to improve their own lives must work from the very bottom. So if you wonder why folks who "made it" suddenly want to oppress and view poorer people with contempt vs the ones who view themselves as poor who complain about corruption and china being a country that has been through so much hardship and want sympathy; well they are two sides of the same coin!

Now every country I have been to there will be status, greed, power grabbing, and corruption to some degree. But in china there is literally NOTHING ELSE to define the dynamics of what comprises life, so the people there indulge in the vicious cycle even while knowing it does them no good. Whereas in my country (USA) you see people well into their mid-years changing careers out of choice, folks with families and jobs who still find time to improve themselves and chase their dreams in fields that develop the mind (art, literature, philosophy, productive hobbies), and a general atmosphere of more acceptance. What cannot be overlooked is a strong spiritual/religious foundation in many countries is what contributes to this open view.

What hurts the chinese even more is their "face" culture which inhibits them from trusting expats and accepting information that was given to them by non-chinese sources. There is always an "us vs. them", "chinese ways vs. non-chinese ways", and the constant comparing is the status mindset at work. You can see churches, mosques, and temples in that country. You can buy if you have the money all the latest consumer goods. You can even see some unique construction from hundreds of years back. Everything can come together to give you a sense of civilization, culture, and a sense that you can be comfortable living there. But there is just something that is missing, and that is the love of life and the belief in yourself that you can create something from nothing.

Until the general population understands and personalizes the values in developed countries such as universalism, democracy, mutual benefiting, and abiding by the law they people there will always hold themselves down. We cannot help them nor can we help the expats who benefit from this by doing nothing and trying to marginalize us. Just fight for what we believe in and lead by example, for there will always be people who have not opened up.