The informal culture described in the article is massively underrated, or at least, the opposite is overrated. I'm from the (highly formal, rules-based) UK, bu

The informal culture described in the article is massively underrated, or at least, the opposite is overrated. I'm from the (highly formal, rules-based) UK, but have lived most of my adult life in places with strong informal cultures. I find home incredibly rigid, inflexible and stifled compared to a lot of other places I've lived. So much "computer says no" and "not worth my job" in every interaction, incredible precision and planning required for the most basic things. I'd stress this isn't necessarily just a government thing, there's a culture of unhelpfulness, restrictions imposed by insurance policies, a lack of communal responsibility, rent-seeking behaviors in privatised public space. Not saying the opposite is necessarily better, but there are different modes of being outside our Western norms. When you get your head around the way things work, things can often be a hell of a lot easier day to day.