mercedo's Journal: Enclosed Outside Japan

It was probably 1984 or 5 still I was an undergraduate student when French philosopher Jacques Derrida came to Japan to see Akira Asada, Kojin Karatani. In their talk, Derrida used French and English, Asada used French, English and Japanese, Karatani used English and Japanese. Anyway they were able to communicate whatever the tool of communication might be. In their conversation, Karatani said, 'The extremely rapid growth of Japan's capitalism that has been taking place right now is as a phenomenon an extraordinary thing, so I can't help enclose inside Japan all the more.' Derrida's replay was this, 'I'd like to rather enclose outside Japan.'

Both Philosophers were seeking for what the nature of capitalism in progress worldwide those days, but their objective of study was different.

Derrida was gone, but Karatani is now in America. For those who are interested, here're some links.

Nationalism And Ecriture
On Kant And Marx

And to think I just read an article in Asian Times

[Marxist Hacker 42]

That claimed that Japan was failing at capitalism- and is currently experiencing a very swift reversion to feudalism- seen mainly by a high unemployment rate and professional Gen-Xers thrown onto the welfare system, even as an unamed "economic recovery" shows the nation growing richer. Of course, this is the ultimate cost of privatization: concentration of wealth in the hands of the few at the expense of the many.

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[mercedo]

Yes, we are heading for feudalism again. I have no idea as to how to escape from this process unless I myself feel eager to seek for wealth. Am I corrupted?

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Yes, we are heading for feudalism again. I have no idea as to how to escape from this process unless I myself feel eager to seek for wealth. Am I corrupted?

Money is power- and power corrupts. The problem with capitalism is that being eager to seek wealth isn't enough- nowhere close. Most people living under capitalism seek wealth. The problem is to actually find wealth, you need wealth- it's a chicken-and-egg problem. That's why capitalism eventually breaks down into corporatism and feudalism- because

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[mercedo]

In our current society the very rich get richer, the so so rich get poorer, the poor become very poor. This process is just gathering speed very rapidly. If things unchanged as it is, we have another Middle Ages again. I observed that this is inevitable and we cannot change the course of direction toward this. Within two or three years many things will change.

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Reversing the direction of the flow of wealth isn't very hard- it's just very painful. Truman and Eisenhower showed us how- and between them created the first non-agricultural middle class the world had ever seen. Their method? High marginal income taxes. In 1953 America, 93% income taxes were common, to pay back bonds from the war. By doing this, the spendible income of the very rich was checked. Likewise they put in the first minimum wage the United States had ever seen- which limited the income of

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[mercedo]

I think... it is much easier for us to try to be superrich rather than trying to realise a just and fair society. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's just difficult. In peace time the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. War will occur when their chasm is unbearably widened. Human history is a repetition of the mistake.

Re:And to think I just read an article in Asian Ti

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I think... it is much easier for us to try to be superrich rather than trying to realise a just and fair society. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's just difficult. In peace time the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. War will occur when their chasm is unbearably widened. Human history is a repetition of the mistake.

The easier part is that trying to be superrich is a rare (.00003% of the human race will achieve this, worldwide) but INDIVIDUAL accomplishment (regardless of the fact that by these numbe