"as the hypocrites do in the synagogues" - The Rich Never Get Poor?

Tokyo & Shinkansen Railway

The Rich Never Get Poor?

Rich men rarely become poor if a 2008-type of financial crises occurs.

But they will mind if they lose even a dollar in a financial crisis.  They will think that they are challenged.  They will get angry.  They will try to find an enemy and they surely will: the poor.

When rich people lose a dollar or $1 million in a financial crisis, they will take it grave.  They will try to find an enemy to regard the poor as their enemy.  So, they ask the government to supply big money to the financial market in sacrifice of national budget for social welfare to support living of the poor.  But as rich and very rich guys regard the poor as their enemy, they do not mind how much poor people are adversely influenced.

Accordingly, after a financial crisis, the rich continue to be rich but the poor become poorer.

What is worse, some rich men tend to think that they are special and they are blessed by the God.  Some rich people think that it is their privilege to be rich and neglect the poor, which is given by the God.  And when they face a financial crisis, they are offended as if their sacred privilege is harmed.  So, they try to find their enemy and find one in the poor.  So, as if following a crazy religion, they enthusiastically try to make themselves richer at the expense of the poor.

This is one of major reasons why problems in this world cannot be solved.  Because a problem is mostly related to the poor.  And rich people do not want to help their enemy, namely the poor.

Even without a financial crisis, egoism wrongly justifies the cold mind set of the rich.  And, competitive society further wrongly promotes their sense of victory over the poor.  Once they accept  a philosophy that it is natural that there are only two types of people: the rich and the poor.  They will feel no remorse over their being rich while others are poor.

Ultimately, a widening gap between the rich and the poor endangers safety of the world.  It might even destroy civilization since it is linked to a mad philosophy.

And finally any sound people will be surprised to find how foolish rich men become eventually.  And, they will be convinced that it is so dangerous to allow such fools to keep such a great amount of money.

But, only Christ can condemn and punish the rich, since the poor have no money to buy any effective weapons.

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/02/21/god-is-no-excuse/1420482487_72787df2c5_o/

Rich vs Poor contrast

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Mat 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

"do not your alms before men" - Japanese Politics around Tax Increase

Tokyo Bay...

Japanese Politics around Tax Increase

Now Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Yoshihiko Noda is fully gearing up for increase in the consumption tax rate, namely from 5% to 10%.

As fiscal deficits of the Japanese Government have reached 200% of Japan's GDP, many parties concerned expect that the Japanese Government will collect more tax to cover the deficits.  However, it looks superficial.  There are many conditions and complicated backgrounds for this situation.  Some economists claim that there is no need at all to increase tax.  Japan has sufficient assets domestically and overseas.  The point is economic growth, they argue.  Or the true agenda must be deflation but not fiscal deficits, they assert.

From the beginning, performance and behaviors of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan are highly biased.  Tax increase is very advantageous for them.  With an increase of tax revenues realized so easily, they will not have to make full efforts to fix financial problems and address economic challenges.  In other word, a tax increase is a very easy way for bureaucrats to get money which will eventually make them rich.

Nonetheless, it is thought that it would be impossible for PM Mr. Noda to get full support for his tax increase policy from the ruling party DPJ.  One of leading politicians of the DPJ, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, is strongly against raising a tax rate at the present time.  Among 290 Lower-House lawmakers of the DPJ, 80 reportedly belong to the Ozawa faction.  Among these 80 lawmakers, if 60 should vote against the consumption-tax rate increase bill, PM Mr. Node will lose.  So, the DPJ is faced with a crisis of a split in the party.

On the other hand, the conservative opposition party LDP also adopts a policy to increase tax.  But more than that, the LDP wants to come back to power which they lost in the summer of 2009 after their monopoly of power that had continued almost half a century.  So, it is reported that the LDP requests the head of the DPJ, namely PM Mr. Noda, to hold a snap election soon in exchange of their support for the tax increase bill PM Mr. Noda is proposing,   But how foolish PM. Mr. Noda looks if he accepts the counter-proposal, since results of any polls show that PM Mr. Noda and the DPJ will surely loose the election.  It is highly expected that a regime change will occur again through the next general election.  And, in the history of the Japanese politics, a ruling party always suffered a poor outcome from a national election held after the party increased tax.  Accordingly, the capitalist LDP wants the socialistic DPJ to raise the tax rate before the LDP seize power.

Anyway, it is Japanese voters that decide the case.

http://www.business-i.co.jp/featured_newsDetail.php?218
Ichiro Ozawa, a national lawmaker of Japan since 1969

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Mat 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

"Whosoever shall put away his wife" - A Silver Rule?

Tokyo Station District

A Silver Rule?

If you become a rich man to make yourself rich, it doesn't mean anything to others and the God.

But if you save or help one poor man, it means a great thing to other poor men and the God.  If you can help a poor man get rid of poverty, it means a great thing to other poor men and the God.  Indeed, by chance or through a conspiracy, you can be rich, but it is not so easy to help a poor person conquer his or her poverty.  But it is an act that can be highly acknowledged by the God.

If you have $100, you might be expected to help one poor man.  But if you have $1 million, you might be supposed to save 1000 poor man.  In the case that you possess $1 billion, you would not be respected at all unless you support one million poor men.  Indeed, the more you are given, the more you are required to give.

So, a rich man is usually ordered by the God to go to the hell when he completes his life in this world.  And the only way for him to seek a retrial is to observe the above rule.  If he has gained $1 million in his life time, he would be requested to save and help 1000 poor men before a retrial.

Some people think that there is neither the hell nor Heaven.  They think that there is only Wall Street and the like.  They think they are not requested by the God to save and help the poor.  But, there are the hell and Heaven while the God requests rich men to save and help the poor.

From a different point of view, it is really dangerous that we allow such Wall Street guys as would not believe existence of the hell, Heaven, and the God to handle such a huge amount of money.  The big money must be entrusted to pious people but not to faithless guys.  Those irreligious guys do not respect laws and regulations as they do not respect morals because they do not have faith in God.  It is like entrusting nuclear weapons in the hand of servants of the Devil.

http://cybervisionz.jugem.jp/?month=200810


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Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

"if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off" - New Financial Scheme

Paddy Fields and a Park around Tokyo

New Financial Scheme

The Japanese Government has issued a huge amount of bonds, since its tax revenue cannot cover expenditures.

The scale of the outstanding bonds reaching about 790 trillion yen or $1 trillion requires Japan to adopt a new paradigm of finance, though assets of Japan can still well cover this liability.

In any country, the government collect tax as a resource for enforcement of the budget.  If the government spend more or less in accordance with an increase or a decrease of tax revenue, its financial condition is well balanced without deficits.  But, in most cases, an amount of expenditures increases steadily while tax revenues do not grow or even fall due to recession or deflation.  Therefore, the government has to issue and sell bonds to collect or borrow money from its citizens or foreigners.

As for Japan, about 95% of government bonds have been purchased by Japanese citizens, Japanese businesses, Japanese financial institutions, etc.  So, it is different from Greece.  And Japan has of course its own currency the yen that is highly appreciated in market.  But it may be time to propose a new financial scheme for Japan which is very unique with a large size and high quality of industrial capability unlike any other countries.

1.  The Government sells bonds to buyers in the private sector.

2.  The buyers in the private sector sell the bonds to the Bank of Japan (central bank).

3.  The Government refunds the bonds with government notes as the Government has a right to issue its own paper money (like the central bank).

4.  The Bank of Japan buys the US dollar or other foreign currencies with the yen backed by the government notes it has received from the Government in exchange of the government bonds.

5.  Finally the Government can decrease its deficits.  The public dos not have to pay more tax to the Government.  The central bank can maintain its balance sheet with the US dollar as long as the value of the yen is kept reasonably being backed up by the strong Japanese industry.  

6.  Subsequently the yen is expected to get weak to a reasonable level, thus driving Japanese export more.  The value of Japanese government bonds might fall but the state of economy supported by less tax will compensate it. And eventually deflation Japan has suffered for decades will be conquered; moderate inflation will expand Japanese GDP.

http://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/5170
Yearly Issuance of Japanese Government Bonds by their Type
 (Unit: trillion yen or $12.5 billion)

(to be continued...)


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Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

"not that thy whole body should be cast into hell" - Brothers of the Showa Emperor

A View from a Tokyo Train

Brothers of the Showa Emperor

The Showa Emperor (1901-1989; unpleasantly called Emperor Hirohito) had three younger brothers: Prince Chichibu (1902 - 1953), Prince Takamtsu (1905 – 1987), and Prince Mikasa (1915 -).

Especially, Prince Takamatsu and Prince Mikasa left some interesting legends or remarkable performances in the era of WWII.

The Pearl Harbor Attack, carried out on December 8, 1941 (Japan Time), was officially authorized in conference held in the Tokyo Imperial Palace before the Showa Emperor on December 1, 1941.  But before this decisive day, namely on November 30, Prince Takamatsu met with his elder brother the Emperor in person.  The Prince told the Emperor that the Pearl Harbor attack plan should be abandoned because some leading admirals of the Imperial Navy had revealed to him that there was only little chance for the Empire to win the US since national power of the US far exceeded war capability of the Empire.  This opinion startled the Emperor who had been given assurance by other admirals and generals and politicians that the Empire could well carry out war against the US.  So, the Emperor within the day called the Minister of the Imperial Navy and the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Navy for inquiry.  But the two top admirals of the Imperial Navy said simply that there was no miscalculation in their war plan against the US, showing their confidence in their vision of the coming war.  They thought the US would agree with peace negotiations with the Empire of Japan after one or two year battle on the Pacific Ocean.  The Emperor accepted their comments, so that he would not try to stop proceeding toward the Pearl Harbor Attack.  Accordingly, the Emperor authorized the opening of the war against the US and the UK on the next day.  Nonetheless, on November 30, 1941, that is a week before the Pearl Harbor Attack, there was a chance to avoid the war, since Prince Takamatsu informed the Emperor of a doubt on the war some influential admirals of the Imperial Navy had.  And it is said that one of such anti-war admirals was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was in charge of leading the Imperial combined fleet and thus planning of the Pearl Harbor Attack.

Prince Mikasa was an officer of the Imperial Army during WWII.  The Prince was sent to China or specifically to Nanjing several years after the fierce battle of Shanghai-Nanjing having been fought in 1937.  In China the youngest brother of the Emperor saw and heard many examples of deterioration of discipline of Imperial troops fighting in China.  Some officer said to the Prince that the best way to train soldiers is to make them kill Chinese prisoners of war with sword bayonets.  The Prince also saw a record film showing Chinese prisoners of war were used for a lethal gas experiment on the human body by a special unit of the Imperial Army.  Prince Mikasa was strongly alerted: Something was wrong in the Imperial Army troops occupying major part of China for years.  When he made a business trip to Tokyo during his assignment in Nanjing, the Prince brought a film to the Emperor to show it which the Chinese Government had made to expose atrocities conducted by the Imperial Army.  So, the Prince, when he finally left Nanjing, addressed soldiers and officers stationed in the city, asking them to correct their behaviors to Chinese people, though this fact was concealed by the Imperial military.  After WWII, he even wrote his experiences in Nanjing in his book.  His testimony is regraded as one of proofs that the Imperial troops corrupted their morals to the extent that they are accused of having carried out a large scale killing of Nanjing citizens, though the true number of victims and its scope are still unknown.

So, the Imperial family of Japan was not so warlike during WWII.  Some of them did not want to support the plan to attack the Pearl Harbor or did want to stop wild behaviors of Imperial troops in China.  However, the Empire of Japan was a country ruled by law and institutions.  The Showa Emperor had to act as a constitutional monarch.  But the Imperial Government was actually under strong influences of the Imperial Army and Navy and samurai-spirited generals and admirals, very unfortunately.

http://kukikei.sakura.ne.jp/yamato.htm
The Emperor on Battleship Musashi

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Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

"whosoever looketh on a woman to lust" - Imperial Rescript on the Declaration of War

A Tokyo Downtown View

Imperial Rescript on the Declaration of War

In the evening edition released on December 9, 1941 (Japan Time), Japanese newspapers supplied the Declaration of War delivered by the Emperor as the Imperial Navy attacked US naval bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the US, just a day before in the Japan time.

Imperial Rescript on the Declaration of War
(released by the Cabinet at 1100 hours on 8 December 1941)

We, by grace of heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal, enjoin upon ye, our loyal and brave subjects:

We hereby declare war on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war, our public servants of various departments shall perform faithfully and diligently their appointed tasks, and all other subjects of ours shall pursue their respective duties; the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of our war aims.

To insure the stability of East Asia and to contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by our great Illustrious Imperial Grandsire and Our Great Imperial Sire succeeding him, and which we lay constantly to heart.

To cultivate friendship among nations and to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations have always been the guiding principles of our Empire's foreign policy. It has been truly unavoidable and far from our wishes that our Empire has now been brought to cross swords with the United States and Great Britain.

More than four years have passed since China, failing to comprehend the true intentions of our Empire, and recklessly courting trouble, disturbed the peace of East Asia and compelled our Empire to take up arms. Although there has been reestablished the National Government of China, with which Japan has effected neighborly intercourse and cooperation, the regime which has survived at Chungking, relying upon United States and British protection, still continues its fratricidal opposition.

Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambition to dominate the Orient, both the United States and Britain, giving support to the Chungking regime, have aggravated the disturbances in East Asia. Moreover, these two powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of our Empire to challenge us. They have obstructed by every means possible our peaceful commerce, and finally resorted to a direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of our Empire.

Patiently have we waited and long have we endured, in the hope that our Government might retrieve the situation in peace, but our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement and, in the meantime, they have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel thereby our Empire to submission.

This trend of affairs would, if left unchecked, not only nullify our Empire's efforts of many years for the sake of the stabilization of East Asia, but also would endanger the very existence of our nation. The situation being such as it is, our Empire for its existence and self-defense has no other recourse but to appeal to arms and to crush every obstacle in its path.

The hallowed spirits of our Imperial ancestors guarding us from above, we rely upon the loyalty and courage of our subjects in our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by our forefathers will be carried forward, and that the sources of evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Asia, preserving thereby the glory of our Empire.

Imperial sign-manual and seal.

8 December 1941. 

Prime Minister, Home Minister
and War Minister,                        Tojo Hideki
Education Minister,                      Hashida Kunihiko
Minister of State,                       Suzuki Teiichi
Agriculture and Forestry
Minister and Overseas Affairs
Minister,                                Ino Hiroya
Welfare Minister,                        Koizumi Chikahiko
Justice Minister,                        Iwamura Michiyo
Navy Minister,                           Shimada Shigetaro
Foreign Minister,                        Togo Shigenori
Communications Minister,                 Terajima Ken
Finance Minister,                        Kaya Okinori
Commerce and Industry Minister,          Kishi Nobusuke
Railways Minister,                       Hatta Yoshiaki

http://homepage1.nifty.com/sira/war/index.html
The Main Body of the Declaration of War against the US and the UK

The portion in boldface was not originally specified in this imperial note when the Tojo Cabinet decided to launch war against the US on December 1, 1941.  (An Imperial Navy fleet including six aircraft carriers had already started to sail on the North Pacific Ocean from a bay in Etorofu island of the southern Kurile Islands on November 26.)  This decision of opening war was made in conference held before the Emperor on December 1, where the above declaration was officially adopted there.  But on December 5, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, a full general of the Imperial Army, visited the Imperial Palace to talk with the Emperor.  When he returned, Tojo called grand chamberlain Shuichi Inada to come to his office.  Then Tojo asked Inada, the administrative head of the imperial house, to change the declaration, since the Emperor said to Tojo, "The Empire of Japan and the UK have been in friendly relationship since the era of the Meiji Emperor.  When I was the crown prince, I traveled to England and was welcomed very kindly by the British royal family.  I never forgot their hospitality.  It  is very hard for me to get adversarial with England.  Therefore, I order you to make it clear in the declaration that it is not my will to make this war." But Inada replied, "As there is the sentence,  "It has been truly unavoidable," it is clear that the Emperor does not want the war.  Isn't it enough?"  General Tojo pressed, saying, "Not it isn't.  It is an instruction by the Emperor."  Accordingly Inada proposed to add the expression: "and far from our wishes that our Empire has now been brought to cross swords with the United States and Great Britain."

In 1948 in the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals held after surrender of the Empire of Japan, the above explanation was made by General Tojo as a proof that the Emperor did not want the war and thus was not responsible for the Pacific stage of WWII.  Accordingly, prosecutors of the Tribunal never tried to indite the Emperor. 

Nonetheless, the above English translation is not so correct.  It must have been translated from the original Japanese sentence in the following way:
"There is condition that has made it unavoidable to cross swords with the United States and Great Britain; Indeed, nonetheless, how can it be true will of the Emperor?"

http://tamutamu2011.kuronowish.com/gozennkaigi.htm
Conference before the Emperor in the Era of WWII


(to be continued...)


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Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.