Rebellion v Acceptance

Broadly speaking the division between Far Eastern culture and Western culture can be said to be an opposition between an attitude of acceptance and rebellion. While Eastern Confucianism stressed accepting the life one was born into and accepting the authority of our superiors, Western history has been an endless battle between forces of power, now embodied in the 20th century as the youth revolution. It seems whatever is on offer, whatever is out there, is never good enough. Malcontents are celebrated and followed, leading to a large portion of young people who take pride in or at least aren't ashamed of having no life plan. A romantic image is thrown over the misfit who is misunderstood by society and comes out with bitter witticisms. But really a balance must be achieved, sure it is reasonable to rebel against intolerable or even unsatisfactory situations when there is a realistic chance of improvement, but on the other hand, the main cause for sadness in the privileged West these days is that people don't appreciate what they have already and always want something better, faster, more exciting.