I think that's the difference between Asian Americans and Asians in Asia. When you live in a society with someone else's culture and norms, all you have is what you can accomplish individually. So the standard for Asians in America is to just go for the money. But human beings are social animals. Individual accomplishments are supposed to plug into a larger social framework. That's why I think AAs are a eunuch class. Eunuchs were always able to make money and amass wealth, but they had to sacrifice a basic part of their humanity to get in that position. It's the same tradeoff AAs make.

I think you have to be a little bit careful blaming "high standards." Lower standards should not be anyone's answer to anything. What I think you're pointing to is that, for the reasons above, AAs are essentially trying to make up for their lack of social and cultural power by chasing status. But just like the eunuch, no amount of wealth will regrow your genitals.

I agree that there is a distortion for Asian Americans in society. Maybe you could say that chasing wealth alone is actually the lower standard? Creating a culture and raising the bar for the Asian community as a whole is the highest standard. So the people you are talking about are actually the ones shortchanging themselves.