<Author>RA</Author>
<Nationality>Australian</Nationality>
<Gender>Male</Gender>
<Age>33</Age>
<First language>English</First language>
<Other foreign languages in decreasing order of proficiency>NA</Other foreign languages in decreasing order of proficiency>
<Last degree>Bachelor of Arts with Honours (English Literature)</Last degree>
<Years of staying in China>1</Years of staying in China>
<Topic>9</Topic>
Men have not become more greedy and selfish -- societal progress and open discussion have revealed men to be greedy and selfish. In previous eras, men could act as they pleased (whether this extended to greed, selfishness, infidelity, or violence) and women had little power to speak out about it. To attribute mens selfishness to changing values is to seek a convenient scapegoat rather than to acknowledge two fundamental problems: traditional values themselves (which are complicit in mens misbehaviour), and the nature of men.
Arguments that promote traditional values are symptomatic of a human tendency to believe that in past ages, people lived in a state of comparative harmony and moral goodness -- that life was simpler and more innocent. In many peoples minds, societal progress is synonymous with moral decay. The implication of such beliefs is that men, women and society were better off fifty years ago. They were not. We need to start by dispelling any myths about how happy families were (and how noble men were) in previous eras. 
Male selfishness, arrogance and aggression were not absent in past ages -- they were concealed by the sanctity (as Western conservatives would have it) of the family. Due to the reluctance or inability of women to speak out about what happened in the home, wider society was not made aware of mens misdeeds. That women endured mens indiscretions in silence does not mean that men were better. When women feel that their duty is to maintain the appearance of domestic harmony -- that to reveal their husbands misbehaviour is shameful -- they will cover up whatever evils occur. The fact that mens selfish tendencies are now more readily acknowledged does not indicate that mens behaviour has become worse, but that we are making progress.
Many Chinese women feel pressure to serve the interests and image of their families while their husbands do as they please. However, the more facilitating a woman becomes, the less restrained her husband will be. Men are greedy and selfish to the extent that others are likely to tolerate it.  If men are given the opportunity to be greedy and selfish, they will.
In regards to marriage, a womans future happiness is often overlooked and overruled by her own family to satisfy a few peoples traditional prejudices (usually relating to how they wish to be seen by the community). Women are coerced into marrying men they do not love, or who they have not had time to assess -- men who often turn out to be brutish and misogynistic, not to mention unfaithful. Chinese women live under the weight of traditional values, and reinforcing the importance of these values will not make the burden lighter.
Many antiquated beliefs are deeply ingrained in Chinese culture, and it is these beliefs that need to be addressed and overcome. As long as women are considered subservient -- which is their traditional status -- men will disregard their wishes, and will exploit the privileges of their own position. 
We can coerce and enforce respect for family and community, but this will not improve the behaviour of men -- adherence to old values will only facilitate it. What proponents of traditional values fail to acknowledge is that in all developed or developing countries, life is better in the modern era than it was in the previous one.
Attempting to teach men respect for traditional values (the very name suggests redundancy) is futile. Men do not live in traditional society -- they live in a modern environment, with modern conditions and opportunities. What men need is something tangible that they do respect. That thing is successful, confident and autonomous women C women who are not kept silent by traditional subservience to family, and who do not feel ashamed to speak out against infidelity.
Change is not inherently bad, and is inevitable. Society must learn and develop, and not cling to an imagined past where men were more noble, and women content. We need strong, independent, successful women who will stand up for themselves -- women who can assert their will when men misbehave. Traditional values accommodate mens selfishness and greed, and are the most powerful force in preventing progress towards equality. To return to traditional values is to reinstate a system in which mens selfishness and greed are not reduced, but condoned.