I have many many many things to blog about at this point in time, but I have to get this one out NOW!
I just watched the finale for Season 4 of Dexter!
For the uninitiated, Dexter is a drama about "everyone's favourite serial killer". When first starting to watch him only a year ago, I had the same reservations that you have right now, but the show, the acting, the lead actor, Micheal C. Hall, is BRILLIANT! That is on top of an apparent incident when they first made the show on Showtime in the US, that, Jeff Lindsay, the author of the books by the same name that the TV show is based on almost quit because he didn't like the actor!
The books themselves are also amazing, and good reads. I am aware of only three so far, but I'm sure there are more, if not on the way.
Anyway, to my original point: The series from 1 to 4 were amazing. No.2 seemed to drag a bit, but in the end I think the point was made, though somewhat deceptively, in relation to the ongoing story of that season. No.3 was definitely back on track, and No.4 was stellar, and in no small part thanks to John Lithgow as a truly fucked up and twisted psycho serial killer, Trinity.
I don't want to ruin any of it for anyone who has not seen or read, but know these things: the books are different in story from the TV series, so double the fun!
And the finale for Season 4 was breathtaking? Flooring? Amazing? Heart-breaking? I can't think of the best word right now, I just gotta write something about it.
If you look around, you can attain it by well-lit or shady means, and if you can, watch it! Watch it ALL!
From The Tominator.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Self-Deception
In keeping with the theme of this blog, as set out by the original adoption of the phrase that is now its title, I want to return to my roots here and comment on the remarkable ability that all humans have to plunge themselves head first and often irrevocably into a quagmire of self-deception.
Barring certain psychological parameters that may be breached by psychological disorders (in effect crossed wires inside a machine that would work perfectly well if the wires were not crossed, all our problems are our own damn fault.
If you will ever take the time to look back at what you've just done to yourself, you'll realise that any eventuality that was not the result of your making an informed, mature decision was in fact the result of your deep-seated reluctance to make such a decision.
People cheat, lie, and steal because they are dishonest with themselves. More often than not, they wish to punish themselves, a mentality that is reinforced by ALL major and minor religions, cults, and sects (effectively lumping all such organisations into the same category of existence).
At any given time, at any given mishap in your life, it may well have been your fault, but there is much less warrant for self-punishment than your feeble mind may think. It was your fault in the sense that you were not honest with yourself on some fundamental point - be it your opinion on a matter, or your feelings of "love" or any other emotion.
If it was not your fault, it was then a result of a situation brought about by someone else not being honest with themselves. In a truly free and utopian society, all people are honest in their own minds, and all are honest towards others. There would be no such thing as a misunderstanding, because no-one would ever misunderstand - we would all strive to make ourselves functionally clear.
And because all of our biggest problems are caused by misunderstandings - famine, war, pestilence, and death - there would be no such problems.
But such ideals are idealism and are labeled as quixotic and utopian, with the clear and intended meaning that it shall never come into being.
This is a sad reality of the human world - there are just too many of us around, and too many of us being dishonest with ourselves.
Any many or woman who would seek to take advantage of this sad reality is inevitably seen as "evil" - devilishly taking advantage of the probelms that other human beings have, and turning the situation to his own advantage. This is why Machiavelli was called evil as such, and his name was posted as synonymous with the Devil itself for centuries.
But is Machiavelli really so evil?
Is he not just a realistic man, seeing through a fantastic cloud of idealism and self-deceptive smoke-screens, and taking advantage in his own life where others have been to weak, or too stupid to take it themselves?
The description of the human state that I gave just moments ago would see us ALL wallowing in the muck. This is why our world needs leaders, and this is why we are not as strong a race of beings as we could really be. There is no god, and no unseen force holding anyone back. No culture is so pure and righteous that it should be upheld, and all other ideas that do not correspond be forsaken. Adaptablility is the only way for anything, be it tangible or intabgible, to survive in this world. Darwin was right, but on so many levels more than he himself first thought.
Honesty, true honesty, on all things, and in all hearts, is the perfect world. But the pursuit of perfection is endless, and our lives are not. This is why so many people are turned to "evil" in their lives. They have seen a step to get ahead, an taken it. Many times they have gone about it the wrong way, and not employed proper thought. This has led to worse consequences, and it is because there was no honesty at any step.
This may not make sense as I have poured it out through the keyboard right now, but one day I hope to sit down and mete it out properly.
For now, I will re-iterate that honesty is the endless pursuit of perfection, and the only reason that pursuit is endless is because we are incapable, in our small, human minds, of thinking mroe than 10 minutes into our own future, and being honest with ourselves about it.
As these parameters of reality become clearer to me, I shall perhaps have to resort to an existence whereby inside myself honesty reigns supreme, and outsided myself onyl adaptability can trupm all - Machiavelli was right. He was persecuted for it, and the underlying motive of that persecution was the reason he was right.
It's a funny thing, this thing we call 'life'.
Barring certain psychological parameters that may be breached by psychological disorders (in effect crossed wires inside a machine that would work perfectly well if the wires were not crossed, all our problems are our own damn fault.
If you will ever take the time to look back at what you've just done to yourself, you'll realise that any eventuality that was not the result of your making an informed, mature decision was in fact the result of your deep-seated reluctance to make such a decision.
People cheat, lie, and steal because they are dishonest with themselves. More often than not, they wish to punish themselves, a mentality that is reinforced by ALL major and minor religions, cults, and sects (effectively lumping all such organisations into the same category of existence).
At any given time, at any given mishap in your life, it may well have been your fault, but there is much less warrant for self-punishment than your feeble mind may think. It was your fault in the sense that you were not honest with yourself on some fundamental point - be it your opinion on a matter, or your feelings of "love" or any other emotion.
If it was not your fault, it was then a result of a situation brought about by someone else not being honest with themselves. In a truly free and utopian society, all people are honest in their own minds, and all are honest towards others. There would be no such thing as a misunderstanding, because no-one would ever misunderstand - we would all strive to make ourselves functionally clear.
And because all of our biggest problems are caused by misunderstandings - famine, war, pestilence, and death - there would be no such problems.
But such ideals are idealism and are labeled as quixotic and utopian, with the clear and intended meaning that it shall never come into being.
This is a sad reality of the human world - there are just too many of us around, and too many of us being dishonest with ourselves.
Any many or woman who would seek to take advantage of this sad reality is inevitably seen as "evil" - devilishly taking advantage of the probelms that other human beings have, and turning the situation to his own advantage. This is why Machiavelli was called evil as such, and his name was posted as synonymous with the Devil itself for centuries.
But is Machiavelli really so evil?
Is he not just a realistic man, seeing through a fantastic cloud of idealism and self-deceptive smoke-screens, and taking advantage in his own life where others have been to weak, or too stupid to take it themselves?
The description of the human state that I gave just moments ago would see us ALL wallowing in the muck. This is why our world needs leaders, and this is why we are not as strong a race of beings as we could really be. There is no god, and no unseen force holding anyone back. No culture is so pure and righteous that it should be upheld, and all other ideas that do not correspond be forsaken. Adaptablility is the only way for anything, be it tangible or intabgible, to survive in this world. Darwin was right, but on so many levels more than he himself first thought.
Honesty, true honesty, on all things, and in all hearts, is the perfect world. But the pursuit of perfection is endless, and our lives are not. This is why so many people are turned to "evil" in their lives. They have seen a step to get ahead, an taken it. Many times they have gone about it the wrong way, and not employed proper thought. This has led to worse consequences, and it is because there was no honesty at any step.
This may not make sense as I have poured it out through the keyboard right now, but one day I hope to sit down and mete it out properly.
For now, I will re-iterate that honesty is the endless pursuit of perfection, and the only reason that pursuit is endless is because we are incapable, in our small, human minds, of thinking mroe than 10 minutes into our own future, and being honest with ourselves about it.
As these parameters of reality become clearer to me, I shall perhaps have to resort to an existence whereby inside myself honesty reigns supreme, and outsided myself onyl adaptability can trupm all - Machiavelli was right. He was persecuted for it, and the underlying motive of that persecution was the reason he was right.
It's a funny thing, this thing we call 'life'.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A New (Better) Social Darwinism - Quick Explanation
To all ye who read this:
I have just done a marathon posting session, the first of its kind for me.
I assure you that it was worth the time spent, and it will be worth the time you take to read it. If it makes your head hurt, that is just sheer awe and awesomeness, an understandable reaction, and perfectly natural, I assure you.
In all honesty, it is the most lengthy assessment of my situation here in Mito, Japan to date that I have allowed anyone to actually SEE. --Like I said, inside my head it's all a mile a minute.
I will apologise only for the fact that it may well be difficult to read, but I will qualify that with the fact that it was indeed spur of the moment, with a little pre-thought, and it hence an excellent look into my mind at this present point in time, after midnight on Thursday, December 10, 2009AD.
The final points are made in Part 4 (Conclusion), but it will ALL make much more sense if you wade back through parts 1,2, and 3. Please try to stick with it. Make a night or several nights out of it, if you want to.
Good luck, and I'll see you on the other side!
From The Tominator.
I have just done a marathon posting session, the first of its kind for me.
I assure you that it was worth the time spent, and it will be worth the time you take to read it. If it makes your head hurt, that is just sheer awe and awesomeness, an understandable reaction, and perfectly natural, I assure you.
In all honesty, it is the most lengthy assessment of my situation here in Mito, Japan to date that I have allowed anyone to actually SEE. --Like I said, inside my head it's all a mile a minute.
I will apologise only for the fact that it may well be difficult to read, but I will qualify that with the fact that it was indeed spur of the moment, with a little pre-thought, and it hence an excellent look into my mind at this present point in time, after midnight on Thursday, December 10, 2009AD.
The final points are made in Part 4 (Conclusion), but it will ALL make much more sense if you wade back through parts 1,2, and 3. Please try to stick with it. Make a night or several nights out of it, if you want to.
Good luck, and I'll see you on the other side!
From The Tominator.
A New (Better) Social Darwinism Part 4 - Conclusion
((((((((((((This part 4 should bring it all home. If not, I'll add coda after coda until I get there!)))))))
I am glad to say that the term "race" does not have to be applied to this problem that is Japan. For you see, I do know, in excellent authority, that there is proof that these people are indeed people, and not some alien race that landed on a archipelago and is different from the rest of us.
I say this because I have met, myself, in person, Japanese people who are, at varying degrees of openness, critical of their society and some are even desperate for an escape.
This in itself disproves any realistic association with a "race" concept, because to be part of a race means certain restrictions on deviation from the mean - and this kind of deviation is certainly irreconcilable with those restrictions. (However, in Part 3 I used the term "race" purely to help me speed it along. If you think this is long now, in all 4 protracted parts, then imagine what could have been, had I tried to make a better term and justify it for you!)
For those would-be escapees, there is an easy option: emigrate to a country, probably one of the free-new-world, such as Australia or the USA or Canada. Immigration may not be possible to Japan (and if it were, it would take some time convincing the smart ones to move into the festering hole of cultural discontent), but you can skedaddle out if you really, really want to.
But my own option is, I sincerely think, the better course of action to take.
My option is to in fact TAKE A COURSE OF ACTION!
As Parts 1 through 3 have told you until now, the primary problem, epitomised by shikata ga nai, is the fact that whenever a real problem presents itself, be it of an origin brought on by the self, or imposed by an outside force, the Japanese have an overwhelming propensity to DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!
This has led to one of many absurd cultural facets which is the shunning of all forms of complaint. For you see, complaining, even in its most benevolent and steam-letting-off form, is considered to be a kind of negativity. And this perceived negativity is taken to be an unnecessary excess to the negativity that wells within each Japanese person, sourced from as diverse places as work disgruntlement to personal and relationship issues. For anyone to express their true feelings of negativity is seen as a selfish manoeuvre whereby one seeks attention for one's own problems, ignoring the fact that everyone else has problems and has the decency not to talk about it, but to let it boil up inside, vomit into your mouth, and then swallow it again. And again and again.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, FIX IT!!!!!!!!
But given the drastic state of things now, the Japanese who still have a hope will be "doing something" drastic.
I am NOT calling for an extermination, a genocide, or a culling, or anything eugenic or Nazi here. I am not calling for violence and activity that will plunge Japan into chaos - for me to call for such a thing would mean me calling for Japan to follow the SAME damn course of history it followed into the Meiji Civil War, and the Second World War. I am calling for a political and social revolution. If you are to avoid the fate that you are laying out before you, you must take drastic social action, inlike any ever seen inside Japan, and revolt against your culture! You can keep the food and the kimonos and the little bonsai trees and any other damn trinket of culture you want to keep. You must revolt against the mentality that your culture has mutated into. It is a dead-end sidestreet from social evolution, and it is inevitably the end of the Japanese race, the Japanese people, and the Japanese culture itself because what is happening on this course IS my new Social Darwinism.
Other countries have it bad, big problems, etc. too, but none have instiutionalised it as much as the Japanese, and none have taken it to heart so much that to try to change it is shameful and worthy of suicide! For goodness' sake! Wake up and revolt against shikata ga nai!
SHIKATA GA ARU!!!!! SOMETHING CAN ALWAYS BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
..... And if nothing is done, then someone will look back one day, digging through some old archinves long after this blog vanishes from cyberspace, and will make a quirky little note of a quirky little culture that once existed on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, will make note of facts like maid-cafes and guys marrying videogame characters (check THAT one out, I dare you!), and will maybe, maybe not note how they imploded themselves into a cultural black hole and vanished from the face if the Earth, just another victim of New (Better) Social Darwinism.
From Tom.
PS. Thanks for sticking with me to the end :)
I am glad to say that the term "race" does not have to be applied to this problem that is Japan. For you see, I do know, in excellent authority, that there is proof that these people are indeed people, and not some alien race that landed on a archipelago and is different from the rest of us.
I say this because I have met, myself, in person, Japanese people who are, at varying degrees of openness, critical of their society and some are even desperate for an escape.
This in itself disproves any realistic association with a "race" concept, because to be part of a race means certain restrictions on deviation from the mean - and this kind of deviation is certainly irreconcilable with those restrictions. (However, in Part 3 I used the term "race" purely to help me speed it along. If you think this is long now, in all 4 protracted parts, then imagine what could have been, had I tried to make a better term and justify it for you!)
For those would-be escapees, there is an easy option: emigrate to a country, probably one of the free-new-world, such as Australia or the USA or Canada. Immigration may not be possible to Japan (and if it were, it would take some time convincing the smart ones to move into the festering hole of cultural discontent), but you can skedaddle out if you really, really want to.
But my own option is, I sincerely think, the better course of action to take.
My option is to in fact TAKE A COURSE OF ACTION!
As Parts 1 through 3 have told you until now, the primary problem, epitomised by shikata ga nai, is the fact that whenever a real problem presents itself, be it of an origin brought on by the self, or imposed by an outside force, the Japanese have an overwhelming propensity to DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!
This has led to one of many absurd cultural facets which is the shunning of all forms of complaint. For you see, complaining, even in its most benevolent and steam-letting-off form, is considered to be a kind of negativity. And this perceived negativity is taken to be an unnecessary excess to the negativity that wells within each Japanese person, sourced from as diverse places as work disgruntlement to personal and relationship issues. For anyone to express their true feelings of negativity is seen as a selfish manoeuvre whereby one seeks attention for one's own problems, ignoring the fact that everyone else has problems and has the decency not to talk about it, but to let it boil up inside, vomit into your mouth, and then swallow it again. And again and again.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, FIX IT!!!!!!!!
But given the drastic state of things now, the Japanese who still have a hope will be "doing something" drastic.
I am NOT calling for an extermination, a genocide, or a culling, or anything eugenic or Nazi here. I am not calling for violence and activity that will plunge Japan into chaos - for me to call for such a thing would mean me calling for Japan to follow the SAME damn course of history it followed into the Meiji Civil War, and the Second World War. I am calling for a political and social revolution. If you are to avoid the fate that you are laying out before you, you must take drastic social action, inlike any ever seen inside Japan, and revolt against your culture! You can keep the food and the kimonos and the little bonsai trees and any other damn trinket of culture you want to keep. You must revolt against the mentality that your culture has mutated into. It is a dead-end sidestreet from social evolution, and it is inevitably the end of the Japanese race, the Japanese people, and the Japanese culture itself because what is happening on this course IS my new Social Darwinism.
Other countries have it bad, big problems, etc. too, but none have instiutionalised it as much as the Japanese, and none have taken it to heart so much that to try to change it is shameful and worthy of suicide! For goodness' sake! Wake up and revolt against shikata ga nai!
SHIKATA GA ARU!!!!! SOMETHING CAN ALWAYS BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
..... And if nothing is done, then someone will look back one day, digging through some old archinves long after this blog vanishes from cyberspace, and will make a quirky little note of a quirky little culture that once existed on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, will make note of facts like maid-cafes and guys marrying videogame characters (check THAT one out, I dare you!), and will maybe, maybe not note how they imploded themselves into a cultural black hole and vanished from the face if the Earth, just another victim of New (Better) Social Darwinism.
From Tom.
PS. Thanks for sticking with me to the end :)
A New (Better) Social Darwinism Part 3
(((((((((I'm segmenting this because I do realise that too much of Tom may indeed literally blow one's mind (yes, I admit it is a euphemism). I take no responsibility for janitorial costs to clean up bits of your mind from the wall behind your head right now.))))))))))))))
Part 3: The Oblivion of the Japanese Race
I never wanted to use the term "race" in this analysis, but I will show you why it is necessary to bring it up here now.
In only the most concise terms for now (and if you wnat more info, ask me!) I will say that the Japanese really, really DO consider themselves to be a race separate and different from the rest of humanity. Never mind that fact that WE ARE ALL HUMAN: their centuries of government-enforced isolationism, their government-fostered disniterest in the world outside their archipelago, and the government's own completely irresponsible handling of social issues since time immemorial, has all clashed with the shocking reality of gloablisation and the modern impossiblity of cutting an entire country off from the rest of the world. In the ood ol' days of the Edo period when Samurai killed themselves, a history was produced that is so boring even I cannot stand to read it for fear of my brain seeking refuge by liquifying itself so as to escape the room by osmosis.
So they see themselves as a race, so that is a term I am willing to use this one special time only.
Back to it:
In the eyes of Darwinism (the regular, scientific kind), when cut down to the phrase we all remember "survival of the fittest", we sohuld be careful not to assign that fascist view of "who is the fittest" (which I mentioned back in Part 1). There is no race that is master above the rest, and there is no 'fittest' subspecies among us nor class of nobility in society that will one day rule us like the aristocracies of yesteryears.
I am redesigning Social Darwinism in a BETTER way by saying something which has taken me three Parts to this Blog entry to spit out:
They are, on a personal level, driven primarily, and rather forcefully by culture, making BAD decisions that are weakening the very form and future of their "race".
NO BABIES! Come ON! All matters of how hot the women are and what kind of a twisted fuck a man must be to not capitalise BIGTIME on it aside, there are some clear and simple scientific facts:
A birthrate is a number that reflects the physical fabric and future of a race, a nation, an anything. Scientifically speaking now:
Given that in a sexual society procreation requires the copulation of TWO members of the population, it is the simplest maths in the world that in order to maintain a population's numbers, TWO babies must be born and raised to child-bearing age by every TWO adults already of child-bearing age. For growth to happen, more that TWO must be born.
This means a birthrate of 2:1 ie 2 children to one woman (the men provide the genetic material, and are still important, despite what militant feminists say).
The Japanese birthrate is currently recorded at 1.37:2. So, given that you cannot actually have 37% of a child due to impossibility, there are some couples having one child, very few having 2 or more, and MANY having none - more to the point, there are MANY single Japanese people who are not even getting married, or even bothering to think about having kids.
We must acknowledge that in amongst the ardent bachelors and spinsters there are women and men who dream of having a family; but I think this too is an equally big problem.
For all the reasons of a developed society to slow its birthrate: TV, lower infant mortality rate, women seeking careers and childcare (among many, many others), Japan is facing this drastic problem. The problem, to make it clear, is that with a rate of 1.37:1, and dropping, this means that a couple (TWO people) with one child creates a future where the TWO die off and the ONE is left to carry on population numbers. Only the dumbest of you cannot see that this means a literal halving of population, inside ONE generation!!!!
And as the single, childless people die off, the generation is cut down to even smaller fractions at an even faster rate. The only reason we are not seeing the effect now is that Japan has historically had a large population to begin any analysis with, and also has the longest life-expectancy. The oldies are making up the numbers on the number-charts, but once they all drop off and the bachelors and spinsters drop off, we will actually see the problem emerge.
(This concept in itself is a massive general-human problem - we more often that not do not like to acknowledge that there is a problem until it taps us on the shoulder, slaps our faces, beats us to the ground, and continues to rape and torture us until we do something about it..... as opposed to using a little bit of foresight (evidence is clearly visible in our history - from the Great Depression to Hitler and the current 2009 Great Recession)).
The whole issue of the Japanese birthrate is one that, if it is going to be discussed, should be explored with more detail that I want to give it here right now.
For now, I want to focus on those bachelors and spinsters.
WHY are they wishing they are mothers and fathers, but still living at home with their own parents, or in a shoebox apartment or in a dorm with other Bs and Ss? Why are the choosing, those that are, not to even get married or date?
The reasons are various, but simplistic, and usually reroute back to this: It is easier, in the society that they have, to stay at home with the parents (and this is being seen more and mroe in the West now, too).
See the price of food, the proce of petrol, the price of housing in this country, the cost of living in general, and top the rickety tower with a few metric tons of WORK WORK WORK!
What you get is a dream built of sticks and crushed by a reality they weighs as much as the moon. It's just too damn hard.
The current 'new' government is attempting to address the issue, but it is for the mostpart too little too late. Something CAN always be done (even THIS is not shikata ga nai time), but drastic times call for drastic measures, and something drastic must be done.
And now we come: Why has Tom decided to steal and re-shape the term "Social Darwinism"?
I see the way the Japanese behave. I see the way they squirm with dishonesty when asked difficult questions, and I see the way that the answer for any given question is, if not shikata ga nai, then "it depends on the person". This is a phrase that has been pounded into their heads since elementary or junior high school, and is considered by the masses that use it to be a polite and discussion-ending way to answer a question the answer for which may involve honesty, self-reflection, controversial generalisation, any of the above, or anything else, really.
This is all weakness. Working from the wee hours into the wee hours, and saying that "there is nothing I can do about it! (I am the Culture's Bitch) is in my eye a fundamental, structural weakness of the race and the culture. It is leading, very fast and very truly, toward an end from which even cockroaches would not survive.
How could I not call it Darwinism? The Japanese follow this culture of giving up, maladjusted and malformed to the flows and forces of history, and it has softened them into a weak and puerile race that will not withstand the momentum of destiny. It will instead continue to follow it, lying down each time a problem comes, and getting steam-rolled.
More recent (and not coincidentally more interesting) Japanese history has shown us that this fashion is endemic to the Japanese - they followed the Edo era into the crashing halt that was heralded by Commodore Perry and his black ships, and they did it again leading into the crashing, crushing halt that was the Second World War. They are doing it again, and this time it is affecting them in a way that many people never would have thought could be anywhere near as devastating as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mass deaths are one thing, but the permanent erasure of the race by way of chosen sterilisation is something else.
(((((((((((((See part 4 for the exciting conclusion!))))))))
Part 3: The Oblivion of the Japanese Race
I never wanted to use the term "race" in this analysis, but I will show you why it is necessary to bring it up here now.
In only the most concise terms for now (and if you wnat more info, ask me!) I will say that the Japanese really, really DO consider themselves to be a race separate and different from the rest of humanity. Never mind that fact that WE ARE ALL HUMAN: their centuries of government-enforced isolationism, their government-fostered disniterest in the world outside their archipelago, and the government's own completely irresponsible handling of social issues since time immemorial, has all clashed with the shocking reality of gloablisation and the modern impossiblity of cutting an entire country off from the rest of the world. In the ood ol' days of the Edo period when Samurai killed themselves, a history was produced that is so boring even I cannot stand to read it for fear of my brain seeking refuge by liquifying itself so as to escape the room by osmosis.
So they see themselves as a race, so that is a term I am willing to use this one special time only.
Back to it:
In the eyes of Darwinism (the regular, scientific kind), when cut down to the phrase we all remember "survival of the fittest", we sohuld be careful not to assign that fascist view of "who is the fittest" (which I mentioned back in Part 1). There is no race that is master above the rest, and there is no 'fittest' subspecies among us nor class of nobility in society that will one day rule us like the aristocracies of yesteryears.
I am redesigning Social Darwinism in a BETTER way by saying something which has taken me three Parts to this Blog entry to spit out:
They are, on a personal level, driven primarily, and rather forcefully by culture, making BAD decisions that are weakening the very form and future of their "race".
NO BABIES! Come ON! All matters of how hot the women are and what kind of a twisted fuck a man must be to not capitalise BIGTIME on it aside, there are some clear and simple scientific facts:
A birthrate is a number that reflects the physical fabric and future of a race, a nation, an anything. Scientifically speaking now:
Given that in a sexual society procreation requires the copulation of TWO members of the population, it is the simplest maths in the world that in order to maintain a population's numbers, TWO babies must be born and raised to child-bearing age by every TWO adults already of child-bearing age. For growth to happen, more that TWO must be born.
This means a birthrate of 2:1 ie 2 children to one woman (the men provide the genetic material, and are still important, despite what militant feminists say).
The Japanese birthrate is currently recorded at 1.37:2. So, given that you cannot actually have 37% of a child due to impossibility, there are some couples having one child, very few having 2 or more, and MANY having none - more to the point, there are MANY single Japanese people who are not even getting married, or even bothering to think about having kids.
We must acknowledge that in amongst the ardent bachelors and spinsters there are women and men who dream of having a family; but I think this too is an equally big problem.
For all the reasons of a developed society to slow its birthrate: TV, lower infant mortality rate, women seeking careers and childcare (among many, many others), Japan is facing this drastic problem. The problem, to make it clear, is that with a rate of 1.37:1, and dropping, this means that a couple (TWO people) with one child creates a future where the TWO die off and the ONE is left to carry on population numbers. Only the dumbest of you cannot see that this means a literal halving of population, inside ONE generation!!!!
And as the single, childless people die off, the generation is cut down to even smaller fractions at an even faster rate. The only reason we are not seeing the effect now is that Japan has historically had a large population to begin any analysis with, and also has the longest life-expectancy. The oldies are making up the numbers on the number-charts, but once they all drop off and the bachelors and spinsters drop off, we will actually see the problem emerge.
(This concept in itself is a massive general-human problem - we more often that not do not like to acknowledge that there is a problem until it taps us on the shoulder, slaps our faces, beats us to the ground, and continues to rape and torture us until we do something about it..... as opposed to using a little bit of foresight (evidence is clearly visible in our history - from the Great Depression to Hitler and the current 2009 Great Recession)).
The whole issue of the Japanese birthrate is one that, if it is going to be discussed, should be explored with more detail that I want to give it here right now.
For now, I want to focus on those bachelors and spinsters.
WHY are they wishing they are mothers and fathers, but still living at home with their own parents, or in a shoebox apartment or in a dorm with other Bs and Ss? Why are the choosing, those that are, not to even get married or date?
The reasons are various, but simplistic, and usually reroute back to this: It is easier, in the society that they have, to stay at home with the parents (and this is being seen more and mroe in the West now, too).
See the price of food, the proce of petrol, the price of housing in this country, the cost of living in general, and top the rickety tower with a few metric tons of WORK WORK WORK!
What you get is a dream built of sticks and crushed by a reality they weighs as much as the moon. It's just too damn hard.
The current 'new' government is attempting to address the issue, but it is for the mostpart too little too late. Something CAN always be done (even THIS is not shikata ga nai time), but drastic times call for drastic measures, and something drastic must be done.
And now we come: Why has Tom decided to steal and re-shape the term "Social Darwinism"?
I see the way the Japanese behave. I see the way they squirm with dishonesty when asked difficult questions, and I see the way that the answer for any given question is, if not shikata ga nai, then "it depends on the person". This is a phrase that has been pounded into their heads since elementary or junior high school, and is considered by the masses that use it to be a polite and discussion-ending way to answer a question the answer for which may involve honesty, self-reflection, controversial generalisation, any of the above, or anything else, really.
This is all weakness. Working from the wee hours into the wee hours, and saying that "there is nothing I can do about it! (I am the Culture's Bitch) is in my eye a fundamental, structural weakness of the race and the culture. It is leading, very fast and very truly, toward an end from which even cockroaches would not survive.
How could I not call it Darwinism? The Japanese follow this culture of giving up, maladjusted and malformed to the flows and forces of history, and it has softened them into a weak and puerile race that will not withstand the momentum of destiny. It will instead continue to follow it, lying down each time a problem comes, and getting steam-rolled.
More recent (and not coincidentally more interesting) Japanese history has shown us that this fashion is endemic to the Japanese - they followed the Edo era into the crashing halt that was heralded by Commodore Perry and his black ships, and they did it again leading into the crashing, crushing halt that was the Second World War. They are doing it again, and this time it is affecting them in a way that many people never would have thought could be anywhere near as devastating as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mass deaths are one thing, but the permanent erasure of the race by way of chosen sterilisation is something else.
(((((((((((((See part 4 for the exciting conclusion!))))))))
A New (Better) Social Darwinism Part 2
(((((OK, this Part 2 exists because I'm trying to succinctify myself (ie make myself succinct, whic would be much easier if "succinctify" was a real word, instead of me writing this long sentence to ensure you that I am indeed smart and literate and not a dork))))))
The Japanese work a LOT, but they work so much that a new fact is coming to my attention:
Less and less of them are having children. Now, this is NO new thing in the world of news. In fact, I found this wonderful little article about it here, and it is documented fact ( as far as I know) that Japan has the lowest birthrate IN THE WORLD! Why does this happen? Well, without tangenting off on THAT one (and you know I want to!), the standard response the Average Jap will give you is "Shikata ga Nai" - literally "nothing can be done" or "it can't be helped". Now let me tell you firstly here that I HATE HATE HATE this phrase, and the whoe mentality behind it. After 10 months of seeing the damn thing pop up all over the place, I can honestly say that it is one of, if not THE biggest problem facing Japanese society.
And let me tell you here secondly what that ever-so-loathable mentality is (in the most concise way I can). What it means is that whenever a major problem comes up, one is to simply sit there and say "I cannot do anything about it." In my mind, I liken this to, in all sincerity, lying down and prostrating yourself so that the oncoming problem may approach at whatever damn speed it likes and steam-roll you into oblivion, back up, and do it again and again and again. And once more if it feels like it. There are going to be Japanese people, and some misguided Gaijins who will argue with me, and they may - that is there right (at least where I come from).
So the brithrate problem really does seem to be et another victim of the shikata ga nai mentality. How so? Well, it is not true that Japanese people are looking at each other, not getting turned on, and then saying to their would-be lover "well, you are about as sexy as a dropped pie in dog shit, so there is nothing that can be done here (neither plastic surgery nor any drug will make me stand the act of fucking you)". No. This is NOT the case. In fact, take it on my own good authority that the Japanese of the fairer sex (the WOMEN!) are by and large smokin' hot!!!!
No, the problem is, as always, much deeper.
It is related to the work, of course. Let's do some simple mathematics: There are 24 hours in a day. If you spend 14 hours of that working, it leaves 8 hours in which to sleep, eat, shower, move your bowels, and take out the garbage (as well as all the other things we do when not working). If you got the recommended 6-8 hours of sleep that the doctors tell us to get, that means that all the other little activities that separate us from the animals are sacrificed for sake of a well-rested, high-strung and loyal employee. The sad reality of it is that Average Jap works more that 16 hours a day, especially the cultural curiosty that is the salary-man.
So, in all this, where is the copulating?
By accounts that are NOT my own, the smallest amount of time needed for the deed to be done is about 5 minutes - and that is if you have some kind of disorder you are buying a pill for.
And if you want to enjoy it, it should take well over an hour, including the act itself and all the goodness before and after. But WHERE does that fit into Average Jap's day????
"AH!" you say. "It doesn't!"
"Correct!" I say "You get a gold star!" IT DOESN'T fit in at all!!
This problem has grown so acute, festered to such a shade of green and black, that the new government (ie a new party, even if only in name - the DPJ) elected just this August 31st, has had to undertake a public policy of paying these people to get it on (in the words of the great Mr. Marvin Gaye). Imagine, a country populated with beautiful women, and the government is paying you to have sex with them. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? It does to me......
But it is not. It is a nightmare. And it is now presenting me with a clear pathway to the ultimate oblivion of the Japanese race.
((((((((((continued in Part 3))))))))))))))))
The Japanese work a LOT, but they work so much that a new fact is coming to my attention:
Less and less of them are having children. Now, this is NO new thing in the world of news. In fact, I found this wonderful little article about it here, and it is documented fact ( as far as I know) that Japan has the lowest birthrate IN THE WORLD! Why does this happen? Well, without tangenting off on THAT one (and you know I want to!), the standard response the Average Jap will give you is "Shikata ga Nai" - literally "nothing can be done" or "it can't be helped". Now let me tell you firstly here that I HATE HATE HATE this phrase, and the whoe mentality behind it. After 10 months of seeing the damn thing pop up all over the place, I can honestly say that it is one of, if not THE biggest problem facing Japanese society.
And let me tell you here secondly what that ever-so-loathable mentality is (in the most concise way I can). What it means is that whenever a major problem comes up, one is to simply sit there and say "I cannot do anything about it." In my mind, I liken this to, in all sincerity, lying down and prostrating yourself so that the oncoming problem may approach at whatever damn speed it likes and steam-roll you into oblivion, back up, and do it again and again and again. And once more if it feels like it. There are going to be Japanese people, and some misguided Gaijins who will argue with me, and they may - that is there right (at least where I come from).
So the brithrate problem really does seem to be et another victim of the shikata ga nai mentality. How so? Well, it is not true that Japanese people are looking at each other, not getting turned on, and then saying to their would-be lover "well, you are about as sexy as a dropped pie in dog shit, so there is nothing that can be done here (neither plastic surgery nor any drug will make me stand the act of fucking you)". No. This is NOT the case. In fact, take it on my own good authority that the Japanese of the fairer sex (the WOMEN!) are by and large smokin' hot!!!!
No, the problem is, as always, much deeper.
It is related to the work, of course. Let's do some simple mathematics: There are 24 hours in a day. If you spend 14 hours of that working, it leaves 8 hours in which to sleep, eat, shower, move your bowels, and take out the garbage (as well as all the other things we do when not working). If you got the recommended 6-8 hours of sleep that the doctors tell us to get, that means that all the other little activities that separate us from the animals are sacrificed for sake of a well-rested, high-strung and loyal employee. The sad reality of it is that Average Jap works more that 16 hours a day, especially the cultural curiosty that is the salary-man.
So, in all this, where is the copulating?
By accounts that are NOT my own, the smallest amount of time needed for the deed to be done is about 5 minutes - and that is if you have some kind of disorder you are buying a pill for.
And if you want to enjoy it, it should take well over an hour, including the act itself and all the goodness before and after. But WHERE does that fit into Average Jap's day????
"AH!" you say. "It doesn't!"
"Correct!" I say "You get a gold star!" IT DOESN'T fit in at all!!
This problem has grown so acute, festered to such a shade of green and black, that the new government (ie a new party, even if only in name - the DPJ) elected just this August 31st, has had to undertake a public policy of paying these people to get it on (in the words of the great Mr. Marvin Gaye). Imagine, a country populated with beautiful women, and the government is paying you to have sex with them. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? It does to me......
But it is not. It is a nightmare. And it is now presenting me with a clear pathway to the ultimate oblivion of the Japanese race.
((((((((((continued in Part 3))))))))))))))))
A New (Better) Social Darwinism Part 1
A new and better Social Darwinism - this small theory was really only born just the other day, but it has gestated for a net total of 10 months, and a gross total of more like 10 years.
10 months? 10 years??
---10 years is the amount of time (thereabouts) that I have spent studying all things Japanese - language, customs, culture, etc. etc.
---10 months is the amount of time I have spent, in a concentrated dosing, if you will, living here in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. the lessons are a mile a minute and every damn minute at that, too! I am still catching up, and will spend the rest of my life catching up with this and all the other experiences I will go through from here on until eternity. Such is life.
And now I share with you the latest of the latest:
What has been moth a bone of contention and discussion, as well as a major personal pain in my arse and thorn in my side, is the general way that the average working stiff in Japan must live their life. That sentence you just read is LOADED with meaning, and I will try my best not to tangent off into oblivion trying to catalogue it all now. Suffice it to say, at least for the next few minutes, that I used the words "mustlive their life" because one of the most blaring aspects of it all is this unacknowledged, yet universally known "fact" that we simply "must" do things a certain way. Some people call this "fact" "culture". What is Culture? I'm not going to answer that question right now (controlling the tangents! staying on track for once!), but I will probably answer it one day, just for a laugh!
But let me get more specific now. Given my as yet narrow perspective on the world (... or maybe "unbroad" is a better way to describe it, because it's approaching broadness as we speak), I must base all my observations on comparisons between what I know about my own culture, and what I am seeing here in Japan. "Culture shock" so so fucking cliched it ain't even funny any more, so I'm not going to mention that phrase again. And I may indeed have some rose-tinting on my perspective of Back Home - I haven't been there in 10 months, and that sort of perspective distortion/transformation/evolution is bound to happen. But I am writing this now, so I will tell you what I have now.
The Japanese work, a lot. A LOT!!!! They work so damn hard that I don't think any of them really know any other way of life. I am going to touch on this more in the future, too. But for now, let's stick with this general fact. When you ask any given Average Jap, "what did you do last weekend?" the answer is invariably "work" with a somewhat poorly hidden disdain or sorrow in one's voice. But heaven be damned if they are going to complain about it!
No no no, no complaints!
((((((((to be continued in Part 2 - so the smaller attention spans of my readership can go have a rest and come back))))))))
10 months? 10 years??
---10 years is the amount of time (thereabouts) that I have spent studying all things Japanese - language, customs, culture, etc. etc.
---10 months is the amount of time I have spent, in a concentrated dosing, if you will, living here in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. the lessons are a mile a minute and every damn minute at that, too! I am still catching up, and will spend the rest of my life catching up with this and all the other experiences I will go through from here on until eternity. Such is life.
And now I share with you the latest of the latest:
What has been moth a bone of contention and discussion, as well as a major personal pain in my arse and thorn in my side, is the general way that the average working stiff in Japan must live their life. That sentence you just read is LOADED with meaning, and I will try my best not to tangent off into oblivion trying to catalogue it all now. Suffice it to say, at least for the next few minutes, that I used the words "mustlive their life" because one of the most blaring aspects of it all is this unacknowledged, yet universally known "fact" that we simply "must" do things a certain way. Some people call this "fact" "culture". What is Culture? I'm not going to answer that question right now (controlling the tangents! staying on track for once!), but I will probably answer it one day, just for a laugh!
But let me get more specific now. Given my as yet narrow perspective on the world (... or maybe "unbroad" is a better way to describe it, because it's approaching broadness as we speak), I must base all my observations on comparisons between what I know about my own culture, and what I am seeing here in Japan. "Culture shock" so so fucking cliched it ain't even funny any more, so I'm not going to mention that phrase again. And I may indeed have some rose-tinting on my perspective of Back Home - I haven't been there in 10 months, and that sort of perspective distortion/transformation/evolution is bound to happen. But I am writing this now, so I will tell you what I have now.
The Japanese work, a lot. A LOT!!!! They work so damn hard that I don't think any of them really know any other way of life. I am going to touch on this more in the future, too. But for now, let's stick with this general fact. When you ask any given Average Jap, "what did you do last weekend?" the answer is invariably "work" with a somewhat poorly hidden disdain or sorrow in one's voice. But heaven be damned if they are going to complain about it!
No no no, no complaints!
((((((((to be continued in Part 2 - so the smaller attention spans of my readership can go have a rest and come back))))))))
A better Social Darwinism - prologue
Going off, at this point in time, merely my residual knowledge of the theory from secondary and tertiary education studies, and a quick refresher course from Library Thinkquest (( here:: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004367/eh4.shtml )) I want to expound to you my own revised version of Social Darwinism, based of course upon my own observations these past 10 months living in Japan. And, of course, it shall be a better theory, too.
How is it better? Well, from the offset, I choose to categorically and forthrightly deny any links to a Nazi, genocidal, racist view of any kind - that's just not me, and it is certainly not my point. I have to say this now because the term "Social Darwinism" has been cliched over the decades to mean just that - something like some sort of master race of some such fascist bullshit that makes 'ordinary' people either fall in love with it and march outside the White House, or switch their minds off immediately at the first mention of the concept.
Stay with me on this one! (as you should on every post I put here!!!!)
The body of it will be in the next post I make, immediately after finalising THIS one. standby, and prepare to have your minds blown.
From Tom.
How is it better? Well, from the offset, I choose to categorically and forthrightly deny any links to a Nazi, genocidal, racist view of any kind - that's just not me, and it is certainly not my point. I have to say this now because the term "Social Darwinism" has been cliched over the decades to mean just that - something like some sort of master race of some such fascist bullshit that makes 'ordinary' people either fall in love with it and march outside the White House, or switch their minds off immediately at the first mention of the concept.
Stay with me on this one! (as you should on every post I put here!!!!)
The body of it will be in the next post I make, immediately after finalising THIS one. standby, and prepare to have your minds blown.
From Tom.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Confronting history
Whether everyone agrees or not, Australia is confronting the dark chapters of the past, and maybe it is necessary to do so due primarily to the multicultural aspect of our population.
This can be debated, of course, but the fact remains that it is a confrontation that I think will be ultimately beneficial. And it is far more than can be said for the Japanese - who never mention the Ainu, never mention wars with China and Korea, and still maintain this aura of separate-ness from the rest of the human race (superiority complex?? --> still heavily sprinkled with inferiority... It's a psychologist's field day here!!!!)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Leisure
"Leisure" --this and Many Many other words eist in japanese, but only in Katakana. Due to the nature of Katakana and its use, this means that there never was any original Japanese word for "leisure". Due to the one-in-the-same nature of language and culture, that means that there is NO concept of "leisure" in the Japanese culture!
Similar to Western concepts of freedom (almost every form) and personal property, leisure was a word used quite a lot especially since the Enlightenment, and has come to form a basis for all Western (Democratic) societies today!
And the Japs never had it. To them, it is a foreign concept, and one that will forever remain so; at least for as long as they insist on keeping with the segregation of their language, which is the clearest form of segreagation of ideas and their origins. Unlike English, which spells all things in the same 26 latin letters, and therefore inevitably draws in and absorbs new ideas and concepts.
Which will last longer, dear people? The culture with historically self-destructive properties (yet an equal habit of continuing anyway ,perhaps due to sheer force of numbers alone), or the idea and the concept, which is, in all reality, utterly bulletproof?
Similar to Western concepts of freedom (almost every form) and personal property, leisure was a word used quite a lot especially since the Enlightenment, and has come to form a basis for all Western (Democratic) societies today!
And the Japs never had it. To them, it is a foreign concept, and one that will forever remain so; at least for as long as they insist on keeping with the segregation of their language, which is the clearest form of segreagation of ideas and their origins. Unlike English, which spells all things in the same 26 latin letters, and therefore inevitably draws in and absorbs new ideas and concepts.
Which will last longer, dear people? The culture with historically self-destructive properties (yet an equal habit of continuing anyway ,perhaps due to sheer force of numbers alone), or the idea and the concept, which is, in all reality, utterly bulletproof?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)