hi Diana
yes you are so right, it shows for a period of time that the
Japanese adjusted to living within their means.
Japan
closed their borders/culture to from the 16 th century onward to
the outside world and in the 1860 Admiral Perry of the US Navy forced his
way into the country and demanded they open up there markets etc .
Isolation died at that moment and the Japanese culture felt backward and
threaten by a modern industrial culture/state.
Form that
moment the Japanese material culture decided to modernize their culture
and their nation. Lacking to resources to Build a modern nation , they
open their borders and invited the world to come and help them (trade
etc) . The Japanese crashed anyone in Japan who opposed these changes. So
from that day onward it took only about 50 years early 1900 to take on
Russia, invade and take over Korea all resource wars. At this time they
also imported metal scrap from America to supply the needs of steel, when
the US cut off the supply of scrap metal in 1937 over invasion of China
in 1937, this probably was one of the main reasons Japan attack Pearl
Harbour, all wars tend to be resource wars.
It is lesson about isolation and culture that feel threatened by powerful
forces, can we learn from the Japanese who for awhile lived within their
resources and then changed
I am still trying to figure this out myself. Would an open free trade
world that is happen right now solve this problem, that connects and
exploits culture at the same time/ That is way I am so interested in
permaculture as a way of approaching theses human dilemmas. There is an
energy happen right now that permaculture is part of . Just heard
Mohammed Yunus talk about his book Creating a World Without
Poverty
Please also email "Dave Wann" <davewann@comcast.net> and
find out his thoughts and cc me , I would like to hear his answer, we
sometimes blind ourselves with presenting solutions and no following them
through history to find out what they morph into. , glad you caught this
one
wes
Revolutionary economist Muhammad Yunus’s new book Creating a World
Without Poverty outlines his vision for an original business model
that combines the power of free markets with the quest for a more humane
world – and tells the inspiring stories of companies that are doing this
work today. Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, a pioneer of
microcredit – an economic movement that has helped lift millions of
families around the word out of poverty – and the author of Banker to
the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against
At 09:00 PM 1/25/2008, you wrote:
"Wann points to the
transition Japan made in the 18th century as a model for what
America can become. “Land was in short supply, forest resources were
being depleted, and minerals such as gold and copper were suddenly scarce
as well. Japan went from being resource-rich to resource-poor, but its
culture adapted by developing a national ethic that centered on
moderation and efficiency. An attachment to the material things in life
was seen as demeaning, while the advancement of crafts and human
knowledge were seen as lofty goals. Ritualistic disciplines like fencing,
martial arts, the tea ceremony, flower arranging, literature, art, and
skillful use of the abacus all fluorished. Most people had access to
basic education and health care, and the three largest cities in Japan
had 1500 bookstores among them. “We can make that kind of transition in
America,?says Wann."
I just want to point from a historical stand
point (not to belittle what Japan has accomplished), the depletion and
scarcity of resources is what drove Japan's conquest of many of the Asian
and South East Asian countries during WWII. And this is also
perhaps the fundamental reason for many wars throughout human
history.
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Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
- Lao Tzu
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