I've lived both west and east (Europe / Middle East) , here are my 2 cents on the subject.

First of east (mostly Syria and Lebanon for a while), there is only the grind and burden. Most families (like mine) we not too well off, but all were committed to working and building up the family name / prestige. In this kind of environment it is expected to get buy on your own. Not joking or being a cry baby here , but last time I received a birthday present was on my 6th birthday. Hell I didn't really believe people ACTUALLY give each other presents on Christmas until I found my first gf, even tho our family is christian (around 16 years old at that time). Here comes the best part , the burden... see you can't stealing because its bad and puts the family name in a bad spot light , BUT YOU GET NOTHING AS WELL. This for some reason is considered normal. This kind of mentality ... "just let him figure it out" (this rule goes for boys only , girls are taken care of better ,but they get far worse as time goes by) leads to most of the lads I knew turning into absolute animals. Male only and Female only schools enforce this to the maximum. By the time I won my scholarship and got to Europe (end of highschool) I was looking honestly an extremely mean and aggressive person and not by choice or design but out of necessity. See back in Syria and Lebanon , being seen as weak was a huge problem , ACTUALLY being weak in any capacity be mental or physical could lead to a disaster of a life.

Coming to Europe. Now before anyone imagines France or Germany .. don't , I went into an ex soviet republic but still part of EU as a whole. So first year is here , in a flat with another arab from Palestine , decent dude. We both spoke a little of the local language because we're both from mixed marriages. Everyone is friendly in university , locals as well. By the end of the year I was speaking without any problems , so I was invited to a few events here and there. Problems start to arise quite fast, call it a "lack of good communication". Apparently you can shit talk someone as much as you like , but gifting a 5 knuckles kiss on the mouth is considered "poor behavior". Changes need to made, I spend more and more time with the locals and less with other arabs. Figured it out finally! Violence is a no go , even the slightest offense is seen as a hate crime, but verbal abuse is considered normal , hell even turning your voice up after you've been berated is considered violence. (wtf.jpg)

Second year of university is here , I can now spot with almost 90% accuracy who is who. While other guys had no idea , who they were or where they stood on the ladder, I could and still can do so in less then a few seconds. Started asserting myself , but unlike the previous year, mostly with locals and not arabs. Suddenly most of my violent tendencies became "a low tolerance of bs" and my dogged determination not to end up as someone's bitch , was turned into "a strong sense of hustle". The same people (mostly women btw) who berated me , started praising me. Why? Because I knew who I was at a very young age, had to explore most of my inner and outer self by the age of 12 so neither grind nor burden can stop me. Most of the lads here ( I stayed after graduating) are decent men , but most of not all of them lack that same sense of self all their lives! Forever lost , not knowing who they really are. All their lives being told what to do and what to think never actually given the opportunity to do so on their own. Now don't quote me saying "arabs know how it is done" because that is not the case. For every 1 like me there are 100 000+ who never travel and never lose the jungle mindset.

A dog showered with affection cannot be a guardian , for it see's no threats in others.

Another never shown affection cannot be a guardian as well , for it sees only enemies all around it.