[Lapg] Re: February 3-23, 2008 California/Oregon/Colorado Book Tour for “Simple Prosperity?Dave Wann

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

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 at 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.
>
>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>Kindness in words creates confidence.
>Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
>Kindness in giving creates love.
>                                    - Lao Tzu
>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
>

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