"for he was before me"

To Tokyo...
Over Tokyo Bay...
From Kamakura...?

Japan Plus China So Threatening?

Mencius said:

"Shun (a legendary king of ancient China in 23rd-22nd century BC) was not truly duped.

Some people say that even the great king Shun was lied to by his younger brother.

But the truth is that his brother had come to King Shun pretending as if he had been so happy to see his great elder brother, so that Shun accepted his brother's trick.

King Shun could easily see that his brother was trying to play him false, but he also saw that his brother was really behaving as if he had truly respected and loved his great brother Shun.

Accordingly, King Shun decided to believe what his younger brother said, since he was truly glad to see his younger brother looking happy to see him, if it had been a play for a hidden intention King Shun could easily see.

In this way, King Shun was not duped. But, more importantly, the great king did not pretend to be happy to see his brother looking happy, though it was a fake. King Shun was really happy to see his brother look being glad, but he was not duped.

In this way, the master would rather accept a lie, if it accorded with reason. But, the master can see a lie to reject it if it does not accord with reason."


Nowadays, the people and voters of a nation must become King Shuns, since political leaders look like the younger brothers of King Shun of ancient China.


(In addition, Christ Jesus was more greater than King Shun, since He even accepted the cheap play by one of His disciples, eventually sacrificing His life.)



CHAPTER I: The Senkaku Islands Belong to Okinawa (Japan)

Even if the Chinese Communist Government today is one of the legitimate successors of the Ching Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, it has no right on the Senkaku Islands, since the two classic empires had not established their presence in the East China Sea.

If the Chinese Communist Government today is not (as some theory tells), their claim on the Senkaku Islands is just an invasion of the East China Sea (like in the South China Sea), the Senkaku Islands, and Okinawa and beyond by the Chinese Communist Government.

Even if the Ching Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty once acknowledged the existence of the Senkaku Islands, their imperial courts in Beijing had not officially announced its legal occupation of the Islands, since they knew that the sea area had been within the active range of the Okinawa people who belong to the Japanese race and the Japanese authority (if indirectly) since the era of the Ryukyu Kingdom of Okinawa.

Please check the following "Historical Analysis of the Senkaku Islands" which seem to have been viewed by many people in the world since I posted it last October.

http://eereporter.blogspot.com/2010/10/yesterday-two-miracles-however-you.html

Yesterday it was the Day of the Senkaku Islands as some local municipality of the Okinawa Prefecture institutes.

For your reference, the Far East 2000 years ago looked like below:

(Click to enlarge.)
http://www.worldhistorymaps.info/images/East-Hem_001ad.jpg)

Even 2000 years ago, Ryukyuans, part of the Japanese race, were sailing around the East China Sea, while the Han Chinese were deep in the Chinese continent and other non-Han tribes were living on coastal ares on the Sea but far from the Senkaku Islands and the Ryukyu (Okinawa) Islands.



CHAPTER II: No Chinese Analysis Meaningful without Respecting Japan

There are many arguments nowadays on China in America, England, and Continental Europe. But, all those politicians and journalists cannot discuss the matter about China in relation with Japan.

They look like being rejoiced by the rise of China and the fall of Japan. How foolish the Western elites are!

The foolish Western elites are afraid of China who is afraid of Japan. Check facts, data, reality, and history as well as truth when discussing the so-called great power of China.

Japan has been the most reliable sponsor to the U.S. Government.
(http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt)

Japan has been the most reliable investor into China.

Of course, the U.S. itself has been helping China get great.



Have you heard that China imports from Japan most?


Have you heard that China exports to Japan as the third largest destination?
(http://www.rieti.go.jp/users/china-tr/jp/100224world.htm)

So, the Western media have never informed you that Japan is more closely related and associated with China, as you can confirm in the above figures.



*** *** *** ***


A Korean woman living in Japan said that Mr. Barack Obama was elected as president because he has no ancestors who lived as slaves before the end of the Civil War. European Americans are not afraid of Mr. Obama, because he has no reason to retaliate against European Americans for his ancestors' sake.

In this context, Mr. Obama is so exceptional. And, what is exceptional cannot last long without facing a critical challenge.

My standpoint is that it is more strange and irrational that no single person in nearly 200 million European Americans can show his or her ability and competence enough to serve America as president better than Mr. Barack Obama, the incumbent President.

Anyway, it should be noted that the 2009 regime change in Japan from the conservative LDP-led government to the socialistic DPJ-led government occurred after the Japanese voters had fully observed the 2008 American Presidential Election.

By the way, which is better to change a president or a prime minister every year or once a decade while there are one million people eligible for the highest office in a nation? The seat of a president or a premier should be rather a symbolic one. This is not an era of Caesar. A president or a prime minister should obey ten of his aids who should obey 1000 of lawmakers who should admit superiority of the one million voters eligible for presidency or premiership.




Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

"his voice as the sound of"

Consideration on Defense of Japan

Mencius said:

"The master has three pleasures:

He is rejoiced by the well-being and longevity of his parents and brothers and sisters.

He is rejoiced by his confidence that he is honest to Heaven and fair to people.

He is rejoiced by his efforts to educate bright youths and make them matured.

But, to be a king in the world is not included in his pleasures. "


If you do not fulfill these conditions, you have to try to do it. Otherwise, you cannot be regarded as a master even by ancient Chinese philosophers.



CHAPTER I: Japanese Female Patriots


Section I: Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai

Notable Japanese journalist Ms. Sakurai presented an English version of her posting to a Japanese magazine, alarming Japanese, Asians, and Americans and others global citizens of China's harmful expansion policies.

Japan in Search for the Road to Survival in a Turbulent 2011

...
Unmistakably, China has declared its intention to become a hegemonic power. The Chinese have thus created for themselves a serious and delicate problem embracing the possibility of territorial disputes with almost all of its neighbors, including Japan, India, Russia, and Taiwan. And yet, this is what the Chinese are prepared for, now that they have decided to “do what it takes,” instead of keeping a low profile...

China has blatantly challenged the dollar-dominated international monetary system, as was demonstrated by an open proposal by Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the People’s Bank of China, that his country “keep away from the dollar as the world’s key reserve currency.”

In other words, China has set the strategic objective of eventually making the RMB the key currency of the world...

In 1982, China with Deng at the helm worked out a long-term strategy aimed at securing mastery of the seas inside the “first island chain” stretching from the Japanese archipelago to Borneo by 2010. It further set out to command the area along a line in the western Pacific linking the Bonin Islands with Guam by 2020, and end the exclusive control of the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean by the U.S. Navy by 2040...

Obviously, Obama too has come to recognize China as the source of many of the serious problems involving the Eurasian continent, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific. Undoubtedly, the president is revising U.S. strategy towards China, as well as South Asia based on such a perception. Once again, the South Asian balance of power is undergoing a significant change...

It is critical that Japan become a stronger nation unafraid of squarely tackling Chinese imperialism. With this in mind, it is high time for the good people of Japan to join hands and set clear objectives in working out a grand strategy for future generations – not only in Japan but in the rest of Asia.

http://yoshiko-sakurai.jp/index.php/2010/12/30/japan-in-search-for-the-road-to-survival-in-a-turbulent-2011/

Section II: Ms. Yuriko Koike

Ms. Yuriko Koike, former Defense Minister of Japan under the LDP regime, visited Taiwan recently to deliver an address in English on her view about China provoking peace-loving nations internationally and contaminating environment domestically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgodtM3a08c&feature=player_embedded

Lawmaker Ms. Koike's twitter is followed by more than 100,000 viewers in Japan.




CHAPTER II: JAPAN PROBLEM?

Since 1992, prices and wages in Japan have not increased, which is called deflation.

The GDP deflator (nominal GDP divided by real GDP) shows this situation as presented in the figure below.



Since 1992, the gap between the budgetary spending and the tax revenue has been expanding in Japan. Accordingly, the Government has to issue public bonds more and more year after year. This is the so-called Japan Problem.

(Click to enlarge.)(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/etsuyoshi/files/%E7%A8%8E%E5%8F%8E%EF%BC%8F%E6%AD%B3%E5%87%BA%EF%BC%8F%E6%96%B0%E8%A6%8F%E5%9B%BD%E5%82%B5%E7%99%BA%E8%A1%8C%E9%A1%8D%EF%BC%8F%E7%A8%8E%E5%8F%8E%E3%81%8C%E6%AD%B3%E5%87%BA%E3%81%AB%E5%8D%A0%E3%82%81%E3%82%8B%E5%89%B2%E5%90%88%E6%8E%A8%E7%A7%BB%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%95.pdf)

Now, you see that deflation in Japan caused the decrease in prices and wages, which led to less and less revenues from tax in the Japanese Government. Inevitably, this financial deficit forced the Government to issue more and more bonds to lend money from the market and the private sector.

This is the core of the lost decade of Japan. But, FRB and the central banks of Europe could not find the true major factor of the financial deficit and the deflation in Japan. The Bank of Japan and the Finance Minister of Japan could not comprehend the true core of the problem, either.

It is the "China factor."

But, the background can be found in the trend of export from Japan, since Japan lives on trade so as to buy a huge amount of natural resources from the world and sell industrial products to the world market.



As the prices of goods and salaries of workers were going down and the tax revenue was dwindling, Japan had to boost its economic engine, export. But, in this period from early 1990's, the Japanese export did not rise but kept almost the same level till early 2000's.

What was going on? Japan was investing into China.



But, Japan could get fruits from this large-scale investment into China and other aid in various business fields only from early 2000's when the domestic market in China came to fully grow and expand. So, the export from Japan started to expand, but import from China surpassed the export to China. It means ever cheaper goods came to flow into the Japanese market.

It should be noted that Japan imported from China 1.5 times more than its export to China every year after 1995 till 2002. Accordingly, ever cheaper goods came to flow into the Japanese market in this period of the lost decade or the early era of deflation.

Conversely, after the burst of the bubble economy in 1990, the floods of cheap goods from China decided the persistent course of deflation and the budgetary deficit in Japan. It is not a failure of monetary management by the Bank of Japan that triggered this deflation and state's deficit, but the "China factor."

(Click to enlarge.)(http://www.tokai-center.gr.jp/economy_trade/niccyu.html)

So, Japan's export started to rise again from early 2000's when the domestic market in China came to fully grow and expand and the U.S. economy entered the sub-prime loan boom. But, the GDP deflator for Japan has continued to fall. The deflation and the state's deficit in Japan has not been improved. But, take a look at the above figure. Though Japan's export to China started to drastically increase, its import reached a $100 billion level. More and more cheaper goods have come to flow into Japan than in 1990's.

It means that Japanese makers and other businesses have made huge profits from export to Japan. But, prices of commodities and the pay level for Japanese workers have been kept low. The Government cannot take tax as much as they want. It has to issue bonds to borrow money from the financial institutes and other wealthy organizations.

Though the number of very rich men and super rich men in Japan has been increasing all through 1990's and 2000's, ordinary consumers and workers as well as the central and local governments of Japan have come to be poor. This is the reality of Japan and the truth of the lost decade and the 15-years long recession.


*** *** *** ***


Japan's Prime Minister Mr. Naoto Kan carried out shuffle of his Cabinet today, though most members of incumbent ministers were reassigned.

But, yesterday the screen of my TV set suddenly turned dark as I continued to have it turned on for so long. It was the first incident since I purchased this flat panel TV a few years ago.

The formation of the new Cabinet might not work well for improving the Japanese economy, enhancing security of Japan, and boosting approval rating for the ruling DPJ and P.M. Mr. Kan.

So, it is very likely that another general election is held this year in Japan, resulting in a reversal of the standings between the governing and opposition parties.

However, there must be many young politicians in the DPJ who have learnt precious lessons since the regime change in 2009.

But, if the socialistic, half-leftist, and pro-Chinese/Korean DPJ of Japan should lose the next election, a regime change in the U.S. in the 2012 Presidential Elections might become very possible. It is so, since there is a kind of correlation between the two democratic and free-market countries.




(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJN0hCW0GZw&feature=related

This is a 1.2-million seller song in Japan of late 1960's.

It depicts the setting sun over the horizon of the sea which looks like crying.)



Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

"in the wilderness forty days" - Japanese Economy

Kamakura City...
Kanagawa Prefecture...
Japan
Though no floods and a great earthquake have happened in Japan in these months, it is cold. Northern half of the Japanese Islands, especially regions facing the Sea of Japan, are suffering big snow. For homeless people, however, some people are colder than the winter.

Identified Cause? (Japanese Economy)

Mencius said:
"Grow your true self with all of your heart and strength, and then you will realize that your true nature is good.

If you realize that your true nature is good, you will eventually understand the mind of Heaven that gave you the true nature.

Accordingly, to know, keep, and grow your true nature, which is good, is to serve Heaven.

If you follow this teaching, you can be short-lived or live long, since you will reach Heaven in either case."

So, belief in the innate goodness of man is a holy way.



CHAPTER I: Causes of Deflation in Japan

Prime Minister Mr. Naoto Kan today said that he read a book titled "Identified Cause of Deflation (Defure-no Shotai)" written by a Japanese economist.

(http://sankei.jp.msn.com/culture/books/101002/bks1010020753005-n1.htm)

The book is said to "prove" that deflation in Japan started with a decrease in economically active population and a drastic increase of retired people.

Accordingly, P.M. Mr. Kan seemed to claim that deflation cannot be conquered by adopting any policies, so that voters should not blame him, since it is a natural phenomenon of the decrease in population in Japan.

But, it is controversial, though I also recently introduced the following chart in this blog.

(The blue columns are for Japan's nominal GDP; the red curve is for the Japanese population.)

GDP is affected by the size of population. But, the issues are:
Why does the Japanese population decrease?
How much has the decrease of the population have an influence on the deflation?
Are there more decisive factors?

Anyway, it is not good for the prime minister of Japan publicly suggest that we cannot do anything to improve economy because our populations is getting less and less.


CHAPTER II: Decreasing Productive-Age Population Ratio


It is true that the ratio of the productive-age population in Japan has been decreasing since 1990.

(http://www.geocities.jp/yamamrhr/ProIKE0911-133.html)

But, in a larger view it does look different.


As the author tells in an interview, the absolute number of the productive-age population in Japan is more stable than its ratio in the whole population, but the point at issue is on the ratio.

The following figure shows the absolute number of the productive-age population in Japan in a unit of 10,000 persons.

(http://homepage2.nifty.com/tanimurasakaei/roudou.htm)

In the above figure, the economically active population in Japan is divided into the three groups:
15 to 29 (green), 30 to 59 (pink), and above 60 years old (blue).

It is apparent that the total absolute number of economically active population in Japan has not clearly decreased. As they are also a major part of consumers in Japan, their decline in a ration to the whole population cannot fully explain why 20-years long recession/deflation has occurred in Japan.

Again, without taking into consideration the "China factor," you cannot see the truth of the economic state of Japan.

There is even a possibility that the "China factor" is one of major causes of the decreasing ratio of the productive-age population in Japan.



CHAPTER III: Japanese Investment into China

It is clear that Japanese businesses have not helped Japan increase its population.

They have opted for increasing investment into China so as to use cheaper labor force in the country with the population 10 times larger than Japan's.

(http://www.21ccs.jp/china_performance/performance2007_01.html)

The Japanese Government controlled by the pro-capitalist party LDP has helped the Japanese corporations shifting their manufacturing operation to China.

Even today, Japan is the No.1 exporter to China over the U.S., which means Japanese makers are sending components to their plants or contracted plants to China, though nowadays China has grown up as a big market for final products. (Japanese import from China is almost half of America's. But, as the U.S. has 2.5 times more population, Japanese are using more Chinese products per person than Americans.)

A major incentive for expanding the Japanese society has been thus blocked by the "China factor."

Specifically, a salary rise stopped in Japan before 1995, actually in the wake of the burst of the economic bubble around 1990. Domestic makers came to compete with other manufacturers producing goods at lower costs in China, so that they were also forced to cut labor costs in Japan. Young Japanese workers and couples came to face a difficulty in having more than two children.

This is the truth of the decreasing ratio of the productive-age population in Japan and thus of 20-years long recession/deflation.




CHAPTER IV: Truth of Recession/Deflation in Japan

Around 2003, Japan recorded a 2% GDP growth.

It is when Mr. Junichiro Koizumi was prime minister of Japan. Some people said that Koizumi's reformation on the supply side, namely the business/production/supply environment, succeeded.

But, the truth is:
Around 2003, China became a big market. It was no more a simple manufacturing base. Accordingly, Japanese exporters were boosted, as their investment came to be returned. Those exporters ordered many components, material, and services to domestic companies, improving the total economy in Japan.

Also, around 2003, the U.S. entered a boom period. Accordingly, Japanese exporters were boosted. Those exporters ordered many components, material, and services to domestic companies, improving the total economy in Japan.

Accordingly, sales of makers in Japan increased remarkably around 2003, as observed in the figure below:

(http://www.meti.go.jp/report/whitepaper/mono/2010/g00601a02j-2.pdf)

Unlike in 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's, Japan needs both the gigantic markets, America and China, so as to sustain its growth since 1990's. And the two markets must be steadily growing.

Without meeting this condition, Japan has to face recession/deflation, since it is so closely linked to China and America in terms of business, economy, and human relationships.



CHAPTER V: Truth in Economic Truth of Japan

Of course, from the beginning, it must be stated that the population growth in Japan would be sooner or later halted in order to protect and preserve natural and spiritual environments of Japan. Too much plants and factories in Japan would damage the Japanese land whose size is almost equal to California's. But, a sound growth of nominal GDP would offset the effect of an expected gradual decrease in population.

The sharp decrease in the birth rate in Japan is still not sound. Deflation in Japan forces many young people to live in semi-poverty as they receive less salary. And, recurring recession really makes people unhappy and feel anxious about their future.

To point at a decrease in economically active population as the cause of unhappiness or deflation in Japan and make people give up a hope of improvement (since it is a natural phenomenon) is not a sound attitude.

P.M. Mr. Naoto Kan must read this posting of EEE-Reporter if in a Japanese-translated version.


(Even Hitler succeeded in increasing the German population before WWII.)

*** *** *** ***


The best policy realized by the ruling DPJ, in power since the fall of 2009, is full support for student fees in public high schools all over Japan and special aid for private high-school students.

Only to realize this measure, the regime change in Japan in 2009 might have been necessary.

But, the Kan Cabinet looks being under strong guidance of the Finance Ministry who aims to increase the consumption tax rate from 5% to 10%. Elite bureaucrats of the Ministry must have suggested that P.M. Mr. Kan should ask veteran lawmaker Mr. Kaoru Yosano to join his Cabinet, though Mr. Yosano, an ex-LDP member, was finance minister in the Aso Cabinet, the last LDP Cabinet before the regime change.

Just one and a half years ago, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama and Mr. Kan were fiercely competing with the then P.M. Mr. Aso and the then F.M. Mr. Yosano in the general election held on August 30, 2009. But, now it is highly expected that Mr. Yosano, currently an independent Lower-House member, is going to be a state minister of the DPJ Cabinet to be reshuffled soon.

Probably, those who support P.M. Mr. Kan will support him more but those who deny the Kan Cabinet will deny the Kan Cabinet all the more, for this expected new assignment.

Anyway, this was a big news item in Japan today.




(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KtsxswKZII

Maybe when you come to a tropical coastal area, you should not keep looking back to your old hometown in the winter, though not everybody can casually fly to the south on holidays...)



Mar 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

"But the angel said unto him, Fear not"

Gold is still...
Left on the face of the statute of...
The Buddha in Kamakura, the first samurai regime's capital, Japan.(Once this great statute was inside a temple building which had gone long time ago, though it might be a reason why I feel this place is very unique even in Japan. Kamakura is also a city where Japanese cultural figures love to live like in Kyoto.)

America, America, & the Roman Empire

It is said that if you belong to the real middle-class of America, your life is full of comfort.

It is so, since the American society has been designed and built so as to make members of the real middle-class of America live a comfortable life based on the applied European/Christian Civilization.

It is just like the Roman Empire was designed and built so as to make Roman citizens live a comfortable life based on the applied Greek Civilization.

But, the Japanese people should not risk their life to join the American Empire if they are so qualified and given a chance to do so. In this context, the language barrier between Japanese and English serves well for Japanese as a deterrent factor. In this context, I have checked the state of the U.S. again.



CHAPTER I: American Economy

Roughly speaking, around 2006, the U.S. had a current-account deficit of $200 billion. But, the 2008 financial crisis reduced this trade-related deficit half to $100 billion.

Roughly speaking, the peak of U.S. import was recorded at $670 billion in 2008; U.S. export at $480 billion in 2008. (And, the U.S. is without doubt recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, which can be seen in its export/import trends.)


(http://www.murc.jp/report_pdf/20100630_170440_0929204.pdf)

Compared with Japan, the U.S. imports 8 to 9 times more and exports 5 to 7 times more.

(Source: The Japanese Government, http://www.customs.go.jp/toukei/suii/html/time.htm)

As the U.S. has 2.5 times more population, the U.S. imports 3.5 times more and exports 2.5 times more per person than Japan.

The land size of the U.S. is 25 larger than Japan's. The U.S. has natural resources more than Japan beyond comparison. Yet, the difference in the per-person import and export between the U.S. and Japan is impressive.

This difference, 3.5 times more in import and 2.5 times more in export per person, against Japan tells that the U.S. is a kind of world empire, while Japan is a big kingdom.

But, this world empire America is not stand-alone like the Roman Empire. America needs money from other countries as the Roman Empire needed foods from other regions.

(http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt)

The top three US Treasury bonds/securities holders, China, Japan, and the U.K., hold in total $2250 billion or $2.25 trillion. This amount is almost half of the total money the Department of Treasury received: $4310.2 billion.

The American economy is bolstered this huge amount of money invested by foreign countries into America.

In 2010, the U.S. spent about $700 billion for its defense, which is apparently supported by total $4310.2 billion from those countries who purchased US Treasury bonds and securities.

Conversely, by leveraging $0.7 trillion military, the American Empire took $4.3 trillion from the world.

With this $4.3 trillion, more than $43 trillion credit must be generated, enabling the American economy. The rest of figures and data is very minor in discussing the American economy.

If this $4.3 trillion is paid back to China, Japan, the U.K. and so on, how will they run the federal government with that huge current-account deficit?

Anyway, Japanese people can measure wealth and power of the U.S. with the information: the U.S. imports 3.5 times more and exports 2.5 times more per person than Japan.


(Anyway, as the Japanese Government has issued 740 trillion yen ($8.9 trillion) bonds, if it should sell all the US Treasury bonds/securities it holds, it can cover only 10% of its debts, though most of the debts are owed Japanese citizens. But, if this 10% is compared with an current interest rate of 2% or so for its outstanding bonds, the selling of U.S. bonds would allow the Japanese Government to survive for five more years without financial aggravation, though circumstantial condition would not easily make it possible.)



CHAPTER II: American Class

Academic Class Models
Dennis Gilbert, 2002

Capitalist class (1%)
Top-level executives, high-rung politicians, heirs. Ivy League education common.

Upper middle class (15%)
Highly educated (often with graduate degrees), most commonly salaried, professionals and middle management with large work autonomy.

Lower middle class (30%)
Semi-professionals and craftsmen with a roughly average standard of living. Most have some college education and are white collar.

Working class (30%)
Clerical and most blue collar workers whose work is highly routinized. Standard of living varies depending on number of income earners, but is commonly just adequate. High school education.

Working poor (13%)
Service, low-rung clerical and some blue collar workers. High economic insecurity and risk of poverty. Some high school education.

Underclass (12%)
Those with limited or no participation in the labor force. Reliant on government transfers. Some high school education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States#Dennis_Gilbert

American rich people (46%):
Capitalist class (1%) + Upper middle class (15%) + Lower middle class (30%)

American poor people (55%):
Working class (30%) + Working poor (13%) + Underclass (12%)

For example, a manager of a medium or small size company, such as a local GM dealer, can live rich in America, though he can fall into poverty when fired and unable to find a new job at the same level as the previous one. But, as long as he can secure his position, he cannot be regarded as a member of the poor.

In the Roman Empire, the total population was 50 million, the number of Roman citizens was 5 million, and the number of troops was 300,000.

So, members of the capitalist class (1%) and the upper middle class (15%) of the U.S. might correspond to the Roman citizens.

The 5 million Roman citizens took responsibility for maintaining the whole Empire, but 45 million local subjects showed their loyalty to their families, relatives, and friends in their regional communities.

Today, in America, however do those members of the capitalist class (1%) and the upper middle class (15%) take responsibility so as to sustain growth of the American Empire?

But, what is required for them is not only responsibility for America but also for the world.

Yet, it seems more likely that those 16% of very rich Americans can make at most 16% of the whole mankind, namely 960 million (16% of 6 billion), very rich.



CHAPTER III: Consideration

The U.S. today does not look like the sole super power which it was a decade ago.

But, no other country can replace the U.S. Rather, the American way of business and life has prevailed so widely. Especially, as long as the U.S. maintains its superiority in the IT sector, it can lead the trend of the global civilization. If not the American way of thinking, the American value and the American view of the world are prevailing. By using, for example, Apple devices, Microsoft OS, and the Google Internet service, everybody in the world is acting like a member of the American Empire.

In conclusion, today's America should be overcome by another America or a different kind of new power, since it is basically based on the same paradigm of the Roman Empire in terms of class-consciousness.



*** *** *** ***


Mencius said:

"The eyes, the ears, and the stomach are all called the minor self.

The mind is called the major self.

If your mind works well as you think, no temptation to the eyes, the ears, and the stomach would mislead you. Accordingly, there is such a distinction between the major and the minor.

If a man is honest to his major self, he is called a great man."

What was good about Former President Mr. George W. Bush is he ate a cheeseburger with his Secretaries or other high-level aids.

What was good about Former British Premier Mr. Tony Blair is he once ate a hamburger in a fast-food shop in Ginza, Tokyo.

What is good about Japan's Foreign Minister Mr. Seiji Maehara is he ate something at McDonald or the like when he recently flew to Florida for sales of the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train system.

However, do they follow suit, say, in Taipei, Seoul, (Pyongyang,) and Shanghai where Shinkanse-like express trains are operated?




(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avlXvb9sBXI&feature=related

Believe or not "No * Problem.")




Luk 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Luk 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

"and his own received him not"

Do We Need Global Economy?

What we need is global charity but not global economy.

America provides beef for Japan, Japan provides components for China, and China provides iPhones for America, all on the charity basis.

You do not even need money to adjust differences in economic value in exchanged goods and services, since it is charity but not economy.

Then no world empire will emerge in the world.


CHAPTER I: Global Economy


The Roman Empire:

The global economy for the Roman Empire was to use military force and conquer other tribes, so that the Empire took foods and goods, in addition to gold and silver, produced in colonized lands.

Typically, they colonized Egypt and other regions surrounding the Mediterranean, so that foods and goods produced in those regions were brought free to Rome and other cities of the Empire.

In this scheme, input is superior military forces as hardware and a high level of application of the Greece Civilization as software. The circumstantial element is the lack of rivals.

When favorable conditions of its hardware, software, and circumstantial conditions were lost, the Roman Empire and its global economy collapsed.

Middle-Age Europe:

Economy for the Middle-Age Europe was not global except minor trade with or through Islamic regions. However, due to the Renaissance, hardware and software Europeans could use for future expansion to the world were developed based on legacies of the Roman Empire and the Greece Civilization.

When internal potential of Europe increased enough, it needed global economy. Though it could not break through the wall of Islam, it could find ways to the New World through the Atlantic Ocean.

The Spanish Empire:

The global economy for the Spanish Empire was to use military force and conquer other tribes, so that the Empire took a large amount of silver and gold, in addition to foods and goods, produced in colonized lands.

Typically, they colonized the Latin America, so that especially gold and silver produced in those regions were brought free to Spain and then to other European areas, such as Holland, through internal commerce.

In this scheme, input is superior military forces as hardware and a high level of application of Renaissance cultural products as software. The circumstantial element is the superiority to other rival European nations.

When favorable conditions of its hardware, software, and circumstantial conditions were lost, the Spanish Empire and its global economy collapsed.


The British Empire:

The global economy for the Spanish Empire was to use military force and conquer other tribes, so that the Empire took foods, goods, silver, and gold produced in colonized lands, or imported them at cheaper prices. They also took or imported material and resources for their industry at cheaper costs and controlled markets in the colonized lands.

Typically, they colonized North America, Africa, India, and Indochina, so that especially imported material and resources boosted their industry and their industrial products were sold in the colonized lands.

In this scheme, input is superior military forces advanced with growth of the British industry as hardware and a high level of application of modern cultural products as software. The circumstantial element is superiority to other rival European nations reinforced by the Industrial Revolution.

When the superiority to other rival European nations and America was lost along with spread of the Industrial Revolution, its global economy became part of the European/American global economy.

Further, as European nations lost their colonies in Africa and Asia after WWII, their global economy became more software oriented. They came to more leverage technological superiority and advanced financial systems as new weapons.

They could import foods, goods, and resources relatively cheaply and export industrial goods and financial services at reasonable prices for them.


The American Empire:

The global economy for the American Empire was to leverage advanced military force and put other nations under its influence, so that the Empire could import foods, goods, silver, and gold produced in other countries at cheaper costs. They also imported industrial resources at favorable costs, in addition to human resources and talented people, and dominate local markets and economic systems in the countries under American influence.

Typically, they exerted strong influence on Latin America, the Middle East, Indochina, and the Far East as well as whole Europe, so that American businesses sold goods and services in local markets of these areas.

In this scheme, input is very advanced military force as hardware and a high level of application of post-WWII advanced American cultural products as software. The circumstantial element is the superiority to other rival European nations and the Soviet Union.

When the industrial superiority to Japan and Germany was lost along with growth of Japan and Germany, its first-phase of the global economy was over.

But, its second phase started well as America could succeed in building a global financial scheme. With the new monetary system, America could secure investment from Japan and other nations in return to import of goods and services from those countries. The rising economic power China is even brought into this system.

However, as America has also a large-scale industrial base inside, it still needs cheap natural resources and industrial material from overseas. By controlling the global market and economic/political systems of foreign countries, it can advantageously access natural resources and industrial material in foreign countries; its monetary system can function more widely. The whole scheme is also protected politically with support of super military power of America.


Review:

The global economy is simple in principle.

The major player in a given era tries to take foods, goods, silver, gold, natural resources, industrial material, global markets, human resources, and money with whatever means the empire can take up. It is the core or the true meaning of the global economy.

If the level of global civilization of today is similar to that of the Roman Empire, America will simply use military force to take foods and goods, in addition to gold and silver, produced in other countries.

But along with development of civilization in these 2000 years, America today takes money from foreign countries under its cultural, political, and military influence.

If America should stop taking money from other countries, the global economy of today will be drastically changed.

Put simply, the global economy of today is accompanying the fate of the American Empire in history.

But, to correct the present state of global economy so defective, the world should not simply return to the eras of the first phase of the American global economy, the British Empire, the Spanish Empire, and the Roman Empire.

Yet, this history of the global economy, namely from de-facto seizure of foods to that of money, by the leading empire of each era is so simple, wild, selfish, greedy, and anti-Christ. To tell the truth, what is needed is not new economics but new moral education and training of leaders of the leading empire of each era. In other word, without reeducation and reorientation of American leaders, the global economy of today cannot be improved.

The global economy of today is, as everybody feels vaguely, led by the seizure of money by America who issues the sole key currency, the U.S. dollar, to worldwide countries. It was just like the global economy 1700 or 2100 years ago was, as everybody knows apparently, led by the seizure of foods and goods by the Roman Empire who delivered the only meaningful citizenship of the era, the Roman citizenship, to the conquered tribes.


(Click to enlarge.)
(http://www.murc.jp/report_pdf/20101228_154605_0550594.pdf)

If you think this theory is a kind of joke, ask American rich men whether or not they want a huge amount of money even if they have to establish a global empire for this purpose. They will surely say, "We already have."

I will not be surprised if they think in their mind: "They call it the global economy; we call it our rule."


*** *** *** ***


Mencius said:

"In ancient days, each person knew what title and rank the Court in Heaven allowed him to enjoy.

Accordingly he made an effort to fulfill his duty requested for his Heavenly title. As a result, he also received a peerage in the court in a worldly kingdom that corresponded to the Heaven-endowed title.

Nowadays, a man seeks some rank in the Court of Heaven so that he can receive some title in the court in a worldly kingdom. When he gets the worldly title, he sets aside and discards the Heavenly rank.

But, such a man will eventually lose even the worldly title."

In English, they say to live with your means. In Japanese, they say to know your true position.

Yet, the Bible says, "Accumulate treasure in Heaven!"

So, I think it is reasonable to be respected and loved even in this world for your treasure in Heaven.



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYpPfFOEBZo&feature=related

Sung by a China-born Japanese female singer, actress, and politician who once lived in Kamakura, since she married a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whom she met in New York.

I seldom, say once in 20 years, visit Kamakura, though I live around Tokyo.)


By the way, one of yesterday's postings was the 1700th for this blog. I think I have not lost in any one of them. But, even if it is the 1700 contiguous wins, it is still a humble record compared with 30 or 40-years long politicians or TV journalists who have made a public appearance every day.




Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

What about Your Holidays?

The tropical Buddha...
In the winter of Japan...
Though in a temple open to the world...
(President Mr. Barack Obama visited this temple last autumn to show respect for the spirit embodied by this great statute of the Buddha built in the 13th century though the samurai's reign of Japan had started just half a century before.)


CHAPTER II: Japanese Students in America

Though some states have not provided concrete information about Japanese students learning in universities or colleges therein, the following numbers are confirmed, according to a service company for Japanese students.
(http://www.hyib.jp/study_usa/data/survey-study2.htm)

No...State...Total Foreign Students...(Japanese)
1 California　93,124..... (6,844)
2 New York　74,934..... (2,576)
3 Texas 58,188 　
4 Massachusetts 33,838 　
5 Florida 30,386 　
6 Illinois　29,887 　
7 Pennsylvania 27,529 　
8 Michigan　23,617 　
9 Ohio 20,725 　
10 Indiana 17,098 　
11 Washington 15,943..... (1,901)
12 New Jersey 14,785 　
13 Virginia　14,606 　
14 Maryland　14,232 　
15 Georgia 14,026 　
16 North Carolina 12,220 　
17 Missouri　11,285 　
18 Minnesota　10,848 　
19 Arizona 10,787 　
20 Connecticut 9,153 　
21 Iowa 9,016 　
22 Kansas 8,668 　
23 Wisconsin 8,647..... (258)
24 DC 8,485 　
25 Oklahoma　8,460..... (534)
26 Colorado　6,857 　
27 Alabama 6,814..... (487)
28 Oregon 6,648..... (897)
29 Utah 6,301 　
30 Louisiana　6,213 　
31 Tennessee 5,690 　
32 Hawaii 5,275..... (1,036)
33 Kentucky　4,760 　
34 Nebraska　4,335..... (376)
35 Rhode Island 4,114 　
36 South Carolina 3,966 　
37 Arkansas　3,349..... (238)
38 West Virginia 2,732..... (81)
39 Nevada 3,006..... (506)
40 New Mexico 2,622 　
41 North Dakota 2,607..... (98)
42 Mississippi 2,589..... (82)
43 New Hampshire 2,371 　
44 Idaho 2,147 　
45 Delaware　1,672 　
46 Maine　1,256 　
47 Montana 1,227..... (120)
48 Vermont 1,022..... (72)
49 South Dakota..... (931) 　
50 Wyoming 890..... (49)
51 Alaska 596..... (12)
　　（Open Doors 2009）

The trend of the numbers of students from China (red), India (green), Korea (brown), and Japan (blue) are as follows (unit: 1000):
(http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/fri/report/china-research/topics/2010/no-141.html)
As Taiwan has now more students in the U.S., Japan is ranked actually No.5.

For the school years of 2009 and 2010, the total number of foreign students leaning in the U.S. is 690,923, up 2.9% from the previous school years.

Among them, Chinese students account for about 18.5%, and Japanese about 3.6%. So, more and more Chinese youths come to the U.S. for leaning while less and less Japanese youths come.

It should be noted that elite families in China love to send their children to American, Canadian, and Australian colleges and universities. Especially, top leaders of the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communist Party send their sons and daughters to notable U.S. universities.

Accordingly, some Japanese scholars, professors, and journalists are anxious about the future of Japan. Japanese students look like too much turning in upon domestic environments. They have to go and learn in the U.S. to get equipped with international competence and sense needed in this era of globalization.

It is also true that the Japanese population exhibits a clear declining trend. This year 1.27 million youths become 20 years old so as to get a voting right in Japan. But, 40 years ago, the number of new 20 years old was as twice as today's.

However, to tell the truth, in these 40 years, the Japanese society has virtually set its target at becoming another Switzerland rather than another America. Especially, even in the era of the Cold War, nobody in Japan thought that Japan should be also equipped with nuclear weapons to a sub-America. But, some Japanese thought that peace, prosperity, and high quality of culture should be pursued by following the example of the permanent neutral state Switzerland.

And, as 20 years ago the Soviet Union fell, the Japanese people came to think that the world was finally going to be settled as a simple stage for peaceful economic competition without a threat of another world war or any large-scale guerrilla wars. But, it has turned out that Russians are still aggressive and uncooperative; Chinese is all the more aggressive and threatening; and anti-American Muslims are surviving and intensifying their terror.

The underlying trend in Japan is still peace-oriented. Children and youths have not been taught to be aggressive and successful in learning in the U.S. Though the Japanese media report so much how rich and active Americans and foreigners are going to be after graduating from first-rate higher education institutes in America, most of Japanese students do not find much merit in going and learning in the U.S. It is probably because that Japan has been globally No.2 free economy in these 40 years. So, Japanese seniors and leaders in the society do not blame youths only for their reluctance to go and study in the U.S. In addition, with improvement of communications technologies, Japanese students learning in Japan can get information and data they need from America so quickly. When they travel to America for sight-seeing or leisure, they can also drop in some American universities to check something necessary, say, to write an article. They do not have to speak English in Japanese universities, anyway.

It reflects some Japanese unique disposition. The land and nature of Japan is so limited. Japan has no vast overseas territories. Yet, 2000-year and much longer tradition of culture is live in Japan. And, the religion and spiritualism of the Japanese people (a Buddhist, Shintoist, and Confucianist at the same time) have no alternative in the world. Therefore, while the population is on a decreasing trend, the Japanese people are reluctant to accept a large-scale foreigners. In fact, Chinese account for by far the largest share among foreign criminals visiting Japan, while Chinese will be a majority of immigrants if Japan should open the door wider to foreigners. In summary, not only Japanese youths but also the Japanese society as a whole do not want to willingly take a major part to promote globalization at a personal level. And, so far, the relatively large-scale of the highly-cultivated domestic market allows for this negative attitudes of Japan, which is reflected in the reducing number of Japanese students learning in America, though still 25,000 Japanese college students are learning in America.

Nonetheless, Japan should accept foreign students, as there are some youths in the world who could find peace and truth only in Japan due to their spiritual quality.

And, in return, some Japanese youths who were created to contribute to peace and truth in America had better take some time in America.

After WWII, many Japanese visited the U.S. for the first time in their life to see Manhattan, yacht harbors in Miami, vast agricultural fields along the Mississippi, and huge surface coal mines in some remote states. They were overwhelmed so as to repent of having followed generals of the Imperial Army and Navy only to face the devastating defeat in the Japanese-American War in early 1940's.

What I want to say is that Christ Jesus said that those who believe without seeing are blessed. The No.1 Japanese student is always in Japan. The No.1 Japanese hero is never on the street of Manhattan or any other mighty place of America. They can be rather found around a humble temple or a shrine on a humble street in Japan while believing that Japan is No.1 in a field they are engaged in.

*** *** *** ***


I saw one dangerous woman sitting in a train, still young but tired.

I saw two women sitting at a counter, one in some complicated emotional depth and another with a more service-oriented mind.

I saw one foolish woman on the train platform with a more foolish guy.

And, I saw one smart Japanese elementary-school girl, finally, changing trains.

Probably, the reason for the God's anger I have felt must be related to or symbolized by this observation of today.

There is a proverb in Japan: "Iza Kamakura" meaning that you have to prepared your horse always lest you should be late for emergency mobilization summoned by the samurai shogun in the capital of Kamakura. Just like Rome, there were many roads running through various regions leading to Kamakura, since the city was the military city. The Kamakura shogunate, however, kept power somehow from the late 12th century to 1333.





(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNP23chNClk

This is not standard or typical performance of Buddhist ritual in Japan in general, though I think it appropriate to present it to the world. This Buddhist school has a longer history than the samurai's reign in Japan.)

"God saw that it was good"

CHAPTER I: USA


http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/relationship.cfm


http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/iscs10.pdf

National

Domestic violence

One in four women (25%) has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.

(The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The National Institute of Justice, Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence, July 2000. The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, 1999)

Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend to 3 million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year.

(U.S. Department of Justice, Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends, March 1998. The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, 1999)

Women accounted for 85% of the victims of intimate partner violence, men for approximately 15%.

(Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001, February 2003)

Between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year, and between 100,000 and 6 million men, depending on the type of survey used to obtain the data.
http://www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/

*** *** *** ***


Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

The Japanese national soccer team tied tonight (late on January 9, JAPAN TIME) with the Lebanese national team.

In extra time or at the 92nd minute, the Japanese team finally delivered an equalizer to settle the game at 1-1. Then, it got past the midnight of Sunday, January 8. It is now around 1 a.m. of Monday in Japan. But, the Lord God Almighty or Allah suggested me that I had to write some.


There is a genetic factor called SLC24A5 which looks like deciding the skin color of a human being. Europeans have the white skin due to this gene.

Sodium/potassium/calcium exchanger 5 (NCKX5) also known as solute carrier family 24 member 5 (SLC24A5) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC24A5 gene that has a major influence on natural skin colour variation...

The discovery of this gene has interesting social implications because the "derived" European allele was derived by mutation from the ancestral gene sequence. As noted by Penn State's Victor Canfield, the ancestral alanine is conserved in all vertebrates sequenced to date, mutant only in the European allele, but only rarely in West African or East Asian (primarily Chinese, Japanese and Korean) populations (presumably by admixture). Furthermore, the European mutation is associated with the largest region of diminished genetic variation in the CEU HapMap population, suggesting the possibility that the A111T mutation may be the subject of the single largest degree of selection in human populations of European ancestry. Selection for the derived allele is based on the need for sunlight to produce the essential nutrient, vitamin D. In northerly latitudes, there is less sun, greater requirement for body coverage due to colder climate, and frequently, diets poor in vitamin D, making lighter skin necessary for survival. Tests for this variation has obvious application to forensic science.

It has been estimated that the threonine allele became predominant amongst Europeans 5,300 to 12,000 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLC24A5

However, it is 9,000 years ago that first Sumerian arrived at Mesopotamia.

Accordingly, while Europeans were not fully white, the Mesopotamia Civilization started.

It should be also noted that the last glacial epoch was ended 12,000 years ago. At the time, the skin of direct ancestors of Europeans came to become white.

Yet, it is believed that Neanderthal had white skins like today's Europeans, though they seem to have become extinct about 24,000 years ago. Nonetheless, it is confirmed that modern Europeans have common genes with Neanderthal at a ratio of several percent.

But, the influence of Neanderthal's legacy on the skin of modern Europeans is not yet confirmed, since there is 12,000 year time gap, if the above theories are all correct.

Anyway, this is a big discovery for me on this Sunday of January 9.




"In him what he has obtained and what he is yet to obtain are not observed.
Such a man is called 'a man of final peace' who is finally free from the world."
- The Buddha -