lalapaloser replied to your post: Though, to me, its an interesting idea to destroy all the past as a religion

I think historians look at the past to understand the present and future, not so much out of a sense of nostalgia. My own bias.

It’s kinda hard to consider past few thousands years of human stuff as ‘History’ - as something really serious. 

It shouldn’t have much meaning. It’s only ‘few thousands years’.  

The actual problem is more of - how probably much of the population today - across the world is conditioned to really not to think and do stuff for better and different future. 

Carefully, collaboratively, intellectually, and responsibly. With the spirit of ‘pluralistic experiments’ (not dogmatic - ism/ist spirit thing: there is ‘One’ righteous direction. Hell no.) 

That kind of change in orientation, focus, inclination should be doable. But we are just So stuck with things we should have left behind - and also we aren’t really venturing into - intellectually - much more forwarding paradigms and explorations. 

How massively we are conservative and repetitive - and dormant, and rather repeating excuses forever.

I think that’s the point I always wonder and get really frustrated probably. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: I mean Politics is fascinating

List under: Reasons I dont study politics.

It’s like people rushing to the spot where they can stop using their brains. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: Vent/Log: More misconceptions about Japan and China continue to circulate …

It’s a big problem, really don’t know how to fix it either though.

You know we just have to create typology about brain capacity/inclination on this. 

1. Type who just generates those distorting bubbles about other cultures/peoples
2. Type who just buys into those ‘commodities’ without any 2nd thoughts
3. Type who are capable of dodging these ‘projection culture’ and somehow manage to find other ways of communicating/interacting with other cultures/peoples
4. And other types. Some can be even worse than 1 (typical ‘tourists’). Some can be really more capable than 3. etc. 

Probably these typology should work - 

• and we are going to scan the brains of all those academics and professionals working on foreign cultures or plural domains (culture, nation etc) 
• and expose 
• How all this is just fucked up - boring - ‘trapped in bubble’ thing. 

Someday we will need those typologies. And if we can find ways to how to convert/educate/reprogram/retrain 1 and 2 into 3 -  (if that’s possible) - then all these writings and books and stuff can be seen as some kind of pre-historic, primitive, insular , closed ritual thing. 

I mean, it’s all so closed-circuits, generating all these distortions discreetly - and no one is questioning how all this - all this totality - are ever going to make sense. Incredible. 

But yeah, it’s spreading to non-Western type of people, even living in non-First world locations. 

It’s our brains’ inclinations’ fault, I think, Something almost innate.

So probably we can’t blame on people. :( 

Just hope someday, science and technology reaches to the point and expose how inaccurate and unreliable our brains are on these issues. 

lalapaloser replied to your quote: U.S. intelligence has linked North Korea with…

Not ~extremely~ surprising, but still, this is getting ridiculous.

Over or around Eurasia - since 1970s or maybe earlier (maybe from 1950s)  ’nuclear/missile technology’ market (now ‘drones’ included I guess) always existed - 

the intelligence community’s report to Congress, “Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions,” has named “entities” in China (plus North Korea and Russia) as “key suppliers” of dangerous technology that could contribute to WMD and missile programs. China’s “entities,” including state-owned defense industrial corporations, have been “associated” with Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs and Iran’s missile programs. 

China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues, Shirley A. Kan (Nov 27 2012)

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL31555.pdf

North Korea, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran. 

It’s not ridiculous, it’s a long term thing for ‘geopolitics’. Doesn’t mean no one can steer/affect it, or hawkish leaning pays most, but - nonetheless that’s the kind of world we live in and we are keep going to live in. 

It’s just a long term trend - we can’t get out but have to live with. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: Log: If the piece is without all those abstract, reification stuff

I get the feeling that you’re not going to like my research paper.

It’s fine. If Anglo-Saxons (English speaking types) thinking is making sense out of Foucault, Said etc and finding or developing applications - 

something positive might turn up someday. 

• But don’t forget: E Herbert Norman

He really cut through all the clutters and reached the darkest part of Japan’s political psychology, social memory - and depicted how Japan moved towards modern state. 

In his books, you can feel - how brutal and bloody were the pressures Japanese people endured in the first few steps of modernization project. 

At least his works have been highly regarded. 

Though no one ever like him shows up :P

lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser replied to your post: Question: Name…

I’d say those words are generally used. But I think it’s possible to feel guilty about even considering doing a bad act.

I’m just wondering how much English language/culture naturally allows us to focus on - 

someone’s internal process before that person commits ‘bad’ act. 

Guilt can be used for both - before and after. 

“Did you hesitate?”

“I did hesitate” - 

Yeah in Japanese there is a word ためらい (tamerai) but - that’s more like ‘indecision/indecisive’. 

Anyway, thanks all! :)

lalapaloser replied to your post: Question: Name for A Particular Feeling

hard to feel guilty about thinking about doing something. Guilt at just thinking about doing it?

It’s BEFORE 

that person actually act/commit the bad act. 

That person might be feeling doubt, anticipation, second thoughts etc. 

Does English have one, clear, particular name for it? 

Or you express those feelings/process using just regular words? 

lalapaloser replied to your post: It is true that every day Iranian regime is almost…

You might like this: amazon.com/The-Dev…

My thinking is aiming at - 

How to secure Sunni-Shia dialogue space insulated from all these ‘geopolitics’ stuff. 

Insulated methodologically or procedurally - or institutionally. 

I have to jot down more details. But. 

• Kind of feel like this is one of the ‘missing link’ as I’ve been looking around. 
• Also another thing which preceding generations (past over at least like 20 years?) should have prepared, established already - for younger generations. So another ‘deficit’ of this global politics thing, in a sense. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser replied to your post: Searching:…

You see this kind of postmodernism a lot in Japanese history. I’m getting kind of used to it at this point. Nice to see that I can understand the language in the case of “Islamic architecture” as well.

Yeah. 

But not sure about Japan’s case. ‘Difference’ part really gets contaminated or replaced with ‘agendas’. 

Need to say something we don’t know, we can’t know, we can’t set/control - very clearly and plainly. But I tend to see ‘agendas’ planted all over and forming ‘closure’.

lalapaloser replied to your post: Searching: Postmodern Judaism, Postmodern Islam

something’s bound to appear

It’s not exactly your thing but - the way ‘method’ is put down was neat on this one (just posted) - 

and applicable to many other subjects - I bet. 

• http://akio.tumblr.com/post/30188554493/islam-postmodern-cosmology-and-architecture-in

And it looks like from a series supervised by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

Something going on. It looks. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser…

Yeah, I’m raised in Bay Area and did hs in Marin, so it’s kind of normal for me by now. Going to Tokyo it was kind of a slap in the face, but you get used to that too. Materialism issue was stronger in Seoul I feel. Gotta observe more though.

Try Walnut Creek and Atherton/Palo Alto/Stanford/San Jose area.

To see ‘Actually Really Golly Aristocratic Materialism’. (I still don’t understand what’s the heck with Walnut Creek. Well, it’s just a copy of Palo Alto/Stanford area but - why in the middle of East bay?)

Or

1. Karachi (tho gated and stuff. Need rich friends to go in and see.) 
2. Anywhere Gulf
3. Ramallah (before its bubble bust)
4. Shanghai 

etc -

lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser…

Definitely random but I think you captured some really important aspects on materialism and social desire for raising your own class. Still can’t discount how important image is for young Japanese people now though. Tokyo especially.

Yeah. But still, compared with how materialism and sense of entitlement (I deserve) is strong around the world

- those Japanese concern about looks and appearance is pretty small thing. 

And almost cute. It’s negligible. It is ‘detachable’. 

But as I live among other human groups - I notice these people have demands, sense of I deserve, sense of acquisition, entitlement - in almost all aspects of their lives - and it’s existentially strong ‘built-in’ thing.  

We don’t hear about how to drop desires, greeds, wants and needs from these people. 

Rather it’s about joining ‘circles’ of ‘how many items (careers, partners (sex/sexual and romantic etc), friends, and social status and material wealth) I [a person] actually possess’ - (*And how they struggle to join, attain - in some cases.) 

while talking about piety, spirituality, religion, heaven - or family legacy, family name, ‘identity’ - collective memory, vengeance (and/or ‘pride’) [and political ideologies of ‘my preference’].

I just remember how I felt disgusted in Berkeley and then felt how crazily people are ingrained with all these stuff - in place like Marin. (Both are richest, wealthiest parts of Nor Cal.) 

New immigrants in Northern California. And what’s their ‘new elite’ generations embodies and bring about - and how they are creating ‘new America’- 

Compared to that, some Tokyoites caring about their fashion is like - vapor. There is no blood and muscle and real greeds and sense of real (cannibalistic) entitlement etc in it. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: lalapaloser replied to your post: Re: America US…

Some people talk about looking at their roots, but they really do forget. Also, Japan might not be ‘class’ society now, but it definitely used to be though. A lot of these populist ideas, or populists themselves just kind of die off.

This is going to be such a random response. 

Japan somehow got pretty equalized. It feels - we really aren’t segregated as USA. 

• To me American English has ‘class’ feature - upper class to lower class/under class

Probably because - we (Japanese) speak more - … same language from top to bottom. There are differences but - it doesn’t get twisted and complicated as variations of American English. (Strange adjectives, Latin bits here an there, classical expressions, etc etc. Language is the place - prove your - your class and statue - ‘breed’ and rank. In English.) 

Yeah - but it got pretty equalized in Japan. Somehow. We lost much of feudal consciousness. (How that happened? I don’t know. But it happened. All of a sudden since 1945.) 

We don’t decorate richer or upper stratification of our societies too. Some kind of Zen or  Shinto - or Confucius? originated frugality permeating our society. 

In place like DC, SF and NYC - you have political, governing elites and riches having social parties. Putting their daughters in gorgeous dresses, arriving in gorgeous cars, and - 

just like aristocrats having party served by slaves.

That’s how you prove your success to your society. 

And people, population look up to it. I’ve met many Left leaning, say Pro-Palestinian etc NGO workers - but they love to get paid better, they love to live in Manhattan, they love to dress up and have parties at weekends. (I’ve never really met educated activists who shun wealth and status). 

NGO, Charity, Human Rights type - especially International Relations, Global and even Anthropology types love to party and have more money and status - 

But - that ‘scene’ and aspiration to live in such scene really doesn’t exist in Japan. Few has it and they are around but - we look down on those who chase money. That strong culture is still around. 

And with this, we Japanese really don’t have compatibility with USA, UK, and Middle East, South Asia etc too. Where rich and educated and powerful have no hesitation in showing off their monetary and material wealth (or whatever ‘decorated’ that is) - and populations have aspiration to live like King and Queens. (They want it both. Material wealth and devotion to God/Allah.) I really haven’t witnessed strong non-materialistic ideals - in these regions and people. 

Only few Christian ideals, and some Japanese tradition, and some European societies indicate - egalitarian and frugal idealism. 

The rest is all opportunistic and - hypocritical, too materialistic, greedy - too much facades - from my Japanese perspective. 

But it’s tradition - dreaming to be rich like Sultans or Maharajahs. And also - hoping to get to Jannah. Material wealth, family thing, social status, and then spiritual gain/goal. All wanted. 

That simply looks too demanding for Japanese. 

And yeah, place like Berkeley and Marin is filled with people sitting on few million dollars real estate, and eating damn expensive organic foods - and talking about Palestinians - and interfaith - or Sufism and spirituality - or Buddhism and Zen. 

How people live - and what their basic expectations and motives were - and how they achieve it (selfishly, of course) 

And then ideals, priniciples like - democracy, republic, or Christianity, Islam (and Judaism etc). 

Organized around the core focus of ‘my life’ ‘my survival’ - selfishness. (How that can avoid just being a thick bunch of hypocrisy?) 

To me it looks only like we all need own slaves and few more extra planets for natural resources. 

Hope next time on this, I can put more visibile structure in this lump of ideas. (And more reliable observations and guesses.) 

lalapaloser replied to your post: Re: America

US used to be about local gov’t held together by a weaker federal. Then Civil War, WWII, building up the military, Cold War, etc. Just grew for some reason. I think it could be out of control now. Too much bureaucracy and not enough thought.

But I also don’t know - 

like how people like Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin would talk to - say average farmers, or say low-income type Americans they came across on the streets. (They might never have?) 

Exceptionally idealistic elites  - but yeah, some had regular or poor backgrounds. 

Then people like Colin Powell. Where he started and how he climbed up. And then where he is now. How he’d reflect on layers of stratifications or ‘class’ (Lefty term wise) thing he passed through? Corners of Brooklyn to then - woodsy million dollar houses stuck in some of the most expensive suburb. (Bill Clinton is that way too. He didn’t start as upscale white.) 

That also can be said about many musicians and artists and stuff too. 

*In place like Japan - we aren’t this ‘class’ society - so what we feel don’t have basis for comparison. 

Once you reach the top you never look back on where you started from? 

I think that’s also some major weakness of this ‘Western’ thing. Especially a place like USA where social mobility is higher than other places (these days it’s not). 

Such discourse could really fill in - charge people’s hearts and minds - what kind of place this really should be. Maybe.

Something about ‘image of the place’ - people strongly feel about and hold in their chest - and then how each individual responds to it and act - in what kind of ways. 

Something ‘Communal’ is broken and long gone. And that’s the normal. People don’t bother. 

I always felt and feel strange about American people on this aspect. 

lalapaloser replied to your post: I’ve actually been wondering about history of…

Extremely interesting for me. I’m going to have to tie this into my own research. No real figures of “liberty” or American foundation. Only extreme left movements and extreme right funded by the CIA.

Not sure about CIA :| Do they still bothering? (That’s probably some ancient episode.)

But as chief, main ‘public’ level issues are:

• The most basic idea - like ‘Separation of powers’ is not grasped by (even educated) Japanese population in vivid and dynamic - contextual manner. 
• These days there are ideas like ‘Independent/Third party enquiry (took from UK recently?)’ - and bit of ‘Transparency’ (Disclosure) are used by public. But still it’s lacking fundamental, healthy vibrant quality. 

Quick search on “Jefferson”, “Biography” on Amazon Japan basically returns no result. Using more comprehensive database such as WebCat (Japan) also returns basically no result. (cf: http://www.american-presidents.info/ : more private attempt to list resources available in Japan. But it’s also proving that there is ‘nothing’.) 

Assume that some good basics ideas about how modern democratic society supposed to function - can be taught in Junior High school age - and some of them would grasp that pretty solidly and continue into High school. 

Then when they reach college, they should be able to access or read about even translation of biography of Jefferson, Madison, Adams etc - and also books about how American democracy’s basic architecture was sought and agreed etc. 

But those ‘path’ or ‘stream’ is really not existing in Japan. There is no introduction, no clues for making move to intermediate level - and then advanced level. 

In United States, even most of the Left’s vocal people understand advanced level stuff about the designs, features and whys of mechanism of American democracy. They have clear grasp of analytical relation between what they are seeing happening in actual society, and then how there are ‘normative’ architectures have been placed in - corresponding to steer those phenomenons. 

But Japan as a society, as a whole entirely lacks those ‘basic muscles and reflexes’. On the side of people who come to govern - via bureaucracies or politics. And on the side of people who are governed. Both just are lacking basic, toned modern muscles and reflexes. 

And this condition just has been eating up - degrading almost all aspects of Japanese society. 

What means to be ‘powerful’. What means to have ‘power’. Pre-modern Japan had some ‘restraining’ ‘reflective’ philosophies on this. To make one think and reflect. And that tended to ‘save the day’ for Japan. There is some distant memory of this. People still remember. But this really doesn’t get us out of the feelings of ‘(Somehow) All is lost’ and now it’s all becoming significantly irrecoverable for us.