Every modern country is struggling to deal with the pressures of new technology, pressures which are accelerating exponentially as new technologies accelerate in number, sophistication, and appeal. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, games, smartphones, tablets are all in the mix, offering on the plus side unparalled opportunities for learning and communication, quick and easy ways of getting things done, but on the negative side pulling our focus, scattering our energies, wasting our time, and attenuating our capacity for deep, extended concentration.
We deal with this as adults. Similarly kids are more distracted and tempted with the fun, ease and convenience of technology than ever before. With each passing day, there are more and more technical shortcuts for just about any task.
Now with AI, we apparently have at our fingertips a tool to get just about anything done . . . EFFORTLESSLY! Type, hit enter, BINGO! A new song, a new poem, a novel, an article on just about any topic, a plan to conquer the world!
Maybe I’m too stuck in a legacy paradigm — after all, I am a product of celebratory mating prompted by victories over Germany and Japan . . . a Baby Boomer! — or maybe there are truisms which simply are timeless.
Here’s one I believe makes sense: Human satisfaction and personal reward is not necessarily in getting something done, but in doing that something, i. e. the effort to do it.
You can buy a computer program that plays an incredible game of chess. But the real reward comes from playing an incredible game of chess.
Same with music. I know I could buy some AI software which writes on command whatever kind of song I might want to hear. Is that supposed to somehow compare with the incredible child-like joy, the exhilaration I get from writing — however good or bad it turns out — a song myself?
That concept is not lost on teachers here in Japan. My wife, Masumi, teaches music in a nearby school system. She competes with computer games, the internet, iPhones, yes the entire array of distractions which her elementary students carry around with them — and the increasingly pervasive levels of ADHD which the foregoing produce — still manages to teach her kids how to play and how to appreciate music. She deserves a medal!
Masumi loves to show me success stories she comes across, examples of how the educational system in Japan serves the real needs of students and doesn’t abandon its core mission by pandering to the latest technological fads.
Here are two such examples. These are not Masumi’s students, because she teaches grades 2 through 6, elementary level. These examples are — are you ready for this? — nursery school kids! That means 5 and under! Try to process that as you watch the Yayoi Nursery School orchestra play a piece from Phantom of the Opera.
Here is a performance at the Toddler Music Festival, playing excerpts from Camina Burana.
I’ve lived in Japan, coming and going, for sixteen years, and I’ve discovered that every major city in this country has a unique personality. This really should come as no surprise. Would anyone in the U.S. think that Miami and Detroit aren’t dramatically different? Cleveland and San Francisco? Seattle and Washington DC?
But we carry preconceptions, prejudices when we go to foreign lands. We are at first probably overwhelmed by the dramatic shift in scenery and gravitate toward cultural commonalities, seeing all the things that cities and communities and the culture in general have in common, meaning in this instance, identifying and focusing on what we expect to see wherever we go in Japan: those cultural, social, religious, architectural features which make Japan . . . Japan.
Eventually, hopefully sooner than later, the scales fall from our eyes and the perceptual filters are replaced with more sensitivity and perceptiveness, a clear and objective view.
It took a while for me. I’m no different than anyone else who grew up in the West, saddled by prejudices and misconceptions, stereotypes we are relentlessly bombarded with in the bubble of U.S. “exceptionalism”. We get these from every direction: the media, movies, television. For example, I imagined Japan pretty much all looked like downtown Tokyo. The amazing truth is, 70% of this country is covered with forests. This is a land of stunning natural beauty, not cement, glass and glaring lights.
Eventually, I began to objectively “process” what I was seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting — this last one being very important in such a food-centric society.
As anyone who follows me here knows, I live in Hyogo Prefecture with my Japanese wife, Masumi — we just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! We live close to three major cities: Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka. Talk about distinct personalities! Kobe is our favorite, though Kyoto is the one best-known by international travelers for its geishas, and exotic temples and shrines. Osaka is exciting and fun, to say the least. But Kobe is originally the home of Masumi’s family, though they’re now scattered about.
Over the course of our courtship and marriage, we’ve been all over Japan, from Hokkaido in the north — a stone’s throw from Russia — all the way down to Hateruma, the southernmost island in Okinawa — a stone’s throw from Taiwan.
Even so, there was one place 13 hours west of us by car, we yet had to visit.
NAGASAKI!
It’s easily the most Westernized city in Japan. See for yourself.
Maybe I should have called this article ‘Life In Japan: Culture Machine’. As you can see, we weren’t just transported in time, but were given a taste of a completely different culture, that of Europe in the 19th Century.
While I thought Masumi looked spectacular, I can’t tell you how ridiculous I felt in that outfit. At the same time, I’m generally feeling pretty ridiculous these days. Should I embrace a whole new persona on Facebook? To heck with peace. Fire the cannons!
By the way — and I’ll make this short and sweet — the reason for the “Westernization” is very straightforward. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan finally opened itself up to trade with the West. The influx of traders was led by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, who carted everything they needed to feel at home in the Land of the Rising Sun: clothing, diet, churches, religion, architecture, etc.
This is not to suggest the Japanese welcomed the cultural “pollution”. In fact, at first visitors were confined to an artificial island in the harbor of Nagasaki, so they couldn’t mix with the local population. This area is called Dejima. It has been reconstructed near the original wharf, which is where we took a few photos. When ships arrived, the sailors and businessmen had a military escort take them to directly Dejima. Obviously, there was some interaction within the confines of the island, as the traders made deals with the local Japanese. Also, since there were no women accompanying the travelers, Japanese consorts were allowed in to service the needs of the all-male population. But for a long time mobility was extremely limited.
As we all know from the McDonald’s restaurants in Paris and Beijing, cultural creep can be insistent. Eventually, more and more of the West infiltrated Nagasaki. Houses and churches — though for many years Christianity was aggressively oppressed by the Japanese — eventually were built outside of Dejima on the mainland, and it is these remaining structures which give Nagasaki its truly distinctive Western character.
Japan is among the most technologically advanced countries in the world. It has phenomenal IT, the most efficient transportation system, including 3,384 km (2103 miles) of high-speed rail lines, with beautiful sleek “bullet trains” traveling at up to 320 km/hr (199 mph).
Japan has a robust high-technology manufacturing sector, which includes many world-class electronics firms like Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Sharp, NEC, Canon, Nintendo, Toshiba, Casio. And it’s home to many major automobile manufactures — Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki.
At the same time, it is a “hybrid” society which is protective of age-old customs and traditions, preserving those legacy institutions and practices which are defining characteristics of Japan as a nation and culture.
I had a dramatic reminder of this ability to balance the efficiency and appeal of the modern with the utility and charm of the traditional, in my first-time visit to Nagasaki last weekend.
Streetcars!
There are dozens of streetcars — also called trams — rumbling and squeaking and clanking all throughout downtown Nagasaki. And it’s definitely the best way to get around. They’re fun and very inexpensive. Regardless of distance, it’s 140 yen ($1.05) for adults, 70 yen for children. You get on. You get where you’re going. You get off. And how convenient! No descent into the cavern of a subway. Just stand at one of the many stations spaced every two or three blocks — which are everywhere — climb aboard, check in with a pre-pay electronic card like the one I have (beep!), which incidentally works on every public train, subway, bus or tram everywhere in Japan . . .
Then pay on your way out (beep!), smile at the driver, step down to the station platform. You’re on your way. To Chinatown, Glover Garden, Peace Park, the central train station, wherever.
Mind you, the streetcar system is over a century old. But it still works and apparently city planners regard it as a part of Nagasaki history they see no need to retire.
The message is this: You can leave your heart in San Francisco. No problem.
Just come to Nagasaki! They have streetcars, no homeless and nobody is packing a gun.
The Peace Dividend strategy is a practical plan for achieving a very specific goal. That goal is regime change in Washington DC, i.e. replacing the pro-war, pro-Wall Street, anti-democratic, power-drunk megalomaniacs now in control, with individuals who reflect the real values and priorities of real people living real lives. It’s about getting rid of the lapdogs and liars and electing honest individuals who will answer to and serve the people who put them in office.
Until WE THE PEOPLE seize power from those who now commandeer the machinery for setting foreign policy, who shape our military priorities and agenda, who view themselves as the indispensable, infallible rulers of the planet, until WE THE PEOPLE are able to decide the direction of our country, create a legal and economic framework which serves all of the people, not just the rich and powerful, the U.S. will continue to bully other countries, topple governments, kill innocent people for geopolitical advantage, create conflict and chaos, inflict untold misery and suffering on everyone on the planet (including increasingly its own citizens), and provoke Russia and China into a major, possibly human life-ending conflict. The rich will just get richer and our best and finest will be sent into battle to protect their portfolios.
Thus, the Peace Dividend strategy is about seizing power, putting it into the hands of a democratically-empowered citizenry, reversing the disastrous trajectory of our foreign policy and aggressive pursuit of world domination, and implementing peaceful solutions for the monumental problems confronting the world in these challenging, tumultuous times.
To lay a foundation for citizen participation and activism, the Peace Dividend strategy focuses on the abuse of political and military power from 1992 to the present. This time frame is chosen for a very specific reason. To achieve its stated goal, the Peace Dividend strategy lays out a carefully constructed but entirely truthful message which the general public, or at least 150-200 million of them, can grasp, appreciate, and embrace. The message is the impetus for very simple and achievable action.
Why take this approach?
Most peace messaging unfortunately is too abstract, too broad, too philosophical. It might seem noble and inspiring to those already in the peace movement, good folks dedicated to achieving a world without war. But to everyday citizens who are bogged down and preoccupied with the more practical pursuits of survival, raising a family, holding down a job, making it from one paycheck to the next, most of the appeals currently wielded by peace activists sound like hippie slogans and pie-in-the-sky pining. Often such activists are viewed as misfits who are out of touch with reality.
The reason is obvious. People can’t feel much empathy for cholera victims in Yemen or refugees in Syria, when members of their immediate family are suffering. Everyday folks can’t pay attention to our aggressions in the South China Sea and Russia’s borders, when they need to pay attention to keeping a job and food on the table.
The approach of the Peace Dividend strategy is simple and direct: Just tell the truth! Tell the truth about our endless wars and bloated DOD budgets! Expose the whole “defense industry” game for what it is: an enormous con, a rip-off, a massive fraud perpetrated on the American citizenry. The Afghanistan War was based on lies. The Iraq War was based on lies. Destroying Libya was based on lies. Attacking Syria was based on lies. The need to upgrade our nuclear weapons is a lie. The need for a Space Force is a lie. The need to go to war with Russia is a lie. The need to go to war with China is a lie. It goes on and on. Trillions and trillions of dollars wasted! Manufactured crises. Manufactured consent.
And then crucially, we connect all this fraud and waste to the rough times people are going through . . .
WAR IS MAKING US POOR!
People should be very angry. When they see what’s really happening, THEY WILL BE VERY ANGRY! Trillions of our taxpayer dollars have gone up in smoke. OUR MONEY has been squandered and our future mortgaged. The facts don’t lie. It’s even on the nightly news now! How $2.3 trillion was wasted in a 20-year war in Afghanistan, which to rub salt in our wounds WE LOST!
The Peace Dividend strategy doesn’t stop there. The war criminals and their puppets in Congress and the White House have stolen our money.
We want it back!
We want back at least some of the trillions taken from us as good, decent citizens under false pretenses, then used to fight unnecessary wars and buy military junk we never needed. Money which just ends up in the coffers of the defense industry, and ultimately in the bank accounts of wealthy investors who profit from the never-ending wars. It’s a pipeline right from the pocketbooks of everyday citizens and their meager family budgets, to the already incomprehensibly rich.
WE DEMAND OUR MONEY BACK!
The Peace Dividend refund currently totals $20,544 for each and every living U.S. citizen.
That’s over $82,000 for a family of four. Everybody gets the same amount. Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos get the same as you and your 10-year-old kid, your grandma and the guy who picks up your trash.
This is not helicopter money. It’s not Covid relief. It’s not UBI. It’s not a bribe. It’s not socialism.
IT’S A REFUND!
It’s everyday citizens getting back money which NEVER should have been taken from them in the first place, and putting that money back in their bank accounts where it belongs.
Our case is clear and our logic unassailable. The public for the past 30 years have been victims of the greatest rip-off in the history of the world!
Another way to look at this: We are demanding “war reparations” in the form of a Peace Dividend Refund, for the war the power-drunk, war-crazed lunatics have been waging, not just on our alleged enemies, but on us, our families, our communities, our schools.
FOR THE WAR THEY’VE BEEN WAGING ON THE TRUTH!
Will our establishment politicians, now in the pockets of defense industry and Wall Street, beholden to the imperial fantasies of the neocon fanatics, go along with this?
Probably not. THAT’S THE POINT OF THIS STRATEGY. If they can’t serve the people, send them packing. They are fabulously talented. They can become an Amway distributor or a greeter at Walmart. Their phony smiles are perfect for any number of job opportunities.
Then again, maybe a few of the establishment politicians will come around. That’s fine. It’s entirely their choice: But either they commit in writing with the Peace Dividend candidate contract to GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK or . . . we don’t vote for them. We vote for someone who will. Then we’ll get a government that works for all of us and Walmart or Target will get a bubbly employee at the front entrance, just in time for Black Friday.
Is such an ultimatum really necessary?
YES! It’s come to this. The reason is simple. The war machine will continue to accelerate until we stop it.
However, there’s hope. There’s a very proven method for stopping our out-of-control government from further squandering. It’s a proven method! Works every time . . .
Empty the vault! No money. No money for military expansion. No money. No money for imperial wars.
This is exactly what the conservatives have done to us for years, only we’re turning the tables. THEY spend all the money on war and military. “Oh gosh, folks. We ran out of money. Sorry. We have to cut social programs. And there’s nothing now to fix our infrastructure.”
Ah hah! We see how this works! So . . .
We do exactly the same thing to them. THE REFUND (now we’re getting to the real reason for such an outrageous, drastic approach) EMPTIES THE VAULT. Refund $6.832 trillion to THE PEOPLE. No money for war. “Oh gosh, warmongers. We ran out of money. Sorry. You’ll have to close the bases. Start with Guantanamo and Okinawa. And we’ll have to cancel all that silly militarization of outer space. And the upgrading our nuclear weapons? Out of the question. Building more ships and tanks and missiles. FUHGEDDABOUDIT!”
Do you folks get this? This is so obvious. This could work!
But instead we flounder around talking about trimming this and trimming that. SCREW THE TRIMMING! Get people angry! Show them the LIES! The outrageous waste and fraud. Get people to DEMAND THEIR PEACE DIVIDEND REFUND … $20,544 for every single citizen! Spend the money on THE PEOPLE! No money for senseless wars!
How can the people get the power back?
How can we get our military, our economy, our government back on track?
ONLY VOTE FOR PEACE DIVIDEND CANDIDATES!
If we get a veto-proof majority in the House and the Senate, and these newly elected representatives go to DC and pass the Peace Dividend legislation, EVERYTHING CHANGES! Just sit back with a glass of your favorite evening comfort drink and think about it. EVERYTHING CHANGES … at least for now. People get a windfall. The DOD is stopped in its tracks. The MIC has to completely rethink and retool. And we can actually talk about things that matter to most Americans. The entire two-party duopoly gets turned on its head. Why? Because 99% of the establishment candidates from the two major parties will refuse to go along with this. They’ll fight it tooth, nail, cloak, dagger, go nuclear, go INSANE! I already know the kaka that they’ll be spewing. You do too. You hear it every time anybody wants to do something for THE PEOPLE of this country.
Listen, folks. We’ve got nothing to lose here. Here’s the worst case scenario . . .
Even if we don’t get our refund, if we got this in front of the public, if we got media to pay attention to this idea — and yes, if in 250 congressional races THIS was a big deal, it would be headline news on MSM — for the first time in decades we’d be talking about the insanity and waste and lies surrounding the endless wars. We’d be talking about PEACE for a change! And maybe have a serious discussion about how truly screwed up the priorities are right now.
Please keep this thought front and center at all times: The Peace Dividend Project has a very specific goal. Stop the war machine before it destroys the country and possibly all life on the planet. Of course, I feel horrible for the people in Yemen, Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and all the other victims of U.S. military aggression and twisted foreign policies. But none of them are HERE in the belly of this horrible beast. None of them can vote. We start here and if we can stop the hate and lies inside our borders, we can start spreading the love and truth outside our borders. Maybe the world will forgive us our sins and we can get a fresh start.
By the way, if you want to participate in the Peace Dividend Project, please sign up here . . .
There is not a single war or serious military confrontation since WWII involving the U.S. that needed to be fought. Every single conflict where soldiers and civilians suffered death or injury was — and is in the case of the ongoing fighting — unnecessary. These battles for territory, control, resources, subjugation, spite, are the direct result of greed, hubris, racist arrogance, ideological fanaticism, sometimes just pure ego. Predictably, we hear high sounding rhetoric in every instance about spreading democracy, safeguarding freedom, responsibility to protect, defending our national interests, rules based international order, yakkety yak blah blah blah. It’s all just spin to manufacture acquiescence and consent, to get us sheeple to stand down and let the warmongers and empire builders, the MIC and the war industry, have their way.
Those in the peace movement know the specific details rendered with this next graphic well. People who are preoccupied with living life and overcoming its many obstacles might dismiss it as fake news. But very tragically, it’s entirely factual. The U.S. just can’t stop attacking others.
There are three fundamental reasons why the U.S. is a belligerent, bullying aggressor, or as Martin Luther King, Jr. famously summed it up, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world: my own government … I cannot be silent.”
Thus there are three reasons we are perpetually at war. These will be explored in greater depth in subsequent articles. But for now . . .
IDEOLOGICAL DRIVERS OF ENDLESS WAR
There has never been a shortage in recorded history of master race ideologies. We find them even enshrined in religious texts. The U.S. has its share of such doctrinal canons, each couched in marvelous language and noble-sounding rhetoric, promoted by a host of noted individuals and organizations, e.g. Paul Wolfowitz, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Council on Foreign Relations, Project for the New American Century, all anointing the U.S. as the indispensable nation, the world’s rightful heir as the master overlord. There is no ambiguity or nuance here. America has formally declared itself as the supreme authority over the entire planet. The latest buzz phrase is “rules-based order”, which effectively means the U.S. will make the rules to establish the order in the world, everyone else will obey or face the consequences. Those consequences take the form of economic or military terrorism, buttressed by the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency and the awesome might of the largest military in the history of the world.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTROL DRIVERS OF ENDLESS WAR
Defending the homeland and war command our attention. They focus our energy, steel our resolve, unify us, add purpose and drama to otherwise mundane day-to-day life. They play on our most basic instincts for survival and protection of what’s dear to us. But on the flip side, they also shut down critical faculties, create a visceral bond with the worst aspects of human nature, and open the door for tyrannical control and elimination of basic freedoms and rights. War unites us alright . . . in fear, suffering, misery, deprivation, shame, anger, suspicion, hate, paranoia, dehumanization and death.
ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF ENDLESS WAR
There are huge fortunes to be made with war. Conquered nations can be plundered. At home, those who invest in war industries will see magnificent returns. The more war, the greater the profits. It’s no secret that military conflict is encouraged, in fact driven, by profiteers on Wall Street and from within the defense contractors themselves. There’s a rotating door between those who head up defense companies and those who sit at the seats of power shaping policy and making the decisions which countries will be demonized, intimidated and attacked. Our current economic/political model incentivizes an unruly, aggressive, confrontational foreign policy and generously rewards the creation of war zones and arenas of conflict.
WHO NEEDS FRIENDS IF WE CAN HAVE ENEMIES?
It is often said that the U.S. cannot be without an enemy. This is only partially accurate. More to the point, it is the military-industrial complex that can’t be without an enemy. NATO’s massive bureaucracy and whole reason for existing cannot be without an enemy. What’s the point of the enormously bloated U.S. military, with its 800+ overseas bases, its vast fleets of battle ships and submarines, its vast array of military satellites and surveillance centers, its psyops and special ops and secret ops, its carving up the entire world into combatant command zones if there isn’t an enemy? Here’s how the U.S. sees the world.
Let’s bear in mind what all of this means by looking at the big picture.
The entire Imperial Project — world rule by the U.S. as a self-declared hegemon — is at its core and at every layer anti-democratic. It replaces self-determination in the countries we dominate with our authoritarian control — a polite phrase for totalitarian subjugation — making it ironic and odiously cynical that the U.S. claims to spread democracy in the world, when it regularly overthrows democratically-elected governments, then replaces them with despots which do our bidding.
Just as tragically, the decision to be an empire, the entire program of global domination, mocks the idea of democracy in America itself, It was conceived of and initiated by a tiny minority of power-drunk, monomaniacal, avaricious psychopaths, supported by a ruling elite which sees conquest and plunder as just another day at the office. Put simply and directly: We as citizens never voted for any of this. And if we understood the true nature and agenda of the Imperial Project, we would without hesitation or equivocation entirely reject it and the misery and impoverishment it ultimately entails, both domestically and overseas.
Right here at home, the Imperial Project by forcing its agenda on U.S. citizens, obliging us to underwrite it every single day of our lives with in-kind and out-of-pocket cash payments of our hard-earned dollars, coupled with the loss of freedom and opportunity, a complete silencing of the voice and priorities of everyday citizens, is at its core and at every layer anti-democratic, despotic, and exploitative. We as citizens have become an ATM machine for the warmongering lunatics trouncing other countries across the globe. We are indentured slaves to a militarized economy which requires war to function, frightened subjects of a regime that creates enemies everywhere, pawns of a power game and calculated strategy to set us against one another, a social/political climate intentionally engineered to maintain “total spectrum domination”, meaning totalitarian control even within our own borders.
Maybe the idea of a benevolent, enlightened, inspired and visionary U.S. leading the world into a new age of affluence and harmony, guided by the best principles of democracy and driven by shared humanitarian values seems appealing. But it’s an illusion. It’s an illusion fostered by massive deceptions, propaganda, brainwashing, engineered for our compliance and complicity in the madness that has overtaken our governing institutions. Read the speeches of the mentors for this type of hyper-nationalistic insanity, the architects of the Third Reich, and see how closely they align with the promises of our current batch of build-back-better-make-America-great-again demagogues. Creepily, ‘Aryan super race’ and ‘American exceptionalism’ are bedfellows, the spawn of the same lunatic delusions. ‘Indispensable’ is nothing but code for ‘1000 year Reich’.
Yes, that avuncular icon at the top, embraced, lauded, and emulated by the patronizers of a naive, trusting and gullible citizenry, is pointing at us, you and I, entreating us to be a part of a sinister plan to take over the world.
We better make the right choice . . . while we still can make a choice.
There are so many people in the world who do not understand what a good, kind, helpful, well-meaning country the U.S. is. Which is a way of saying there’s no shortage of haters out there!
They hate our freedoms, our democracy, our commitment to justice and human rights.
Thus, it’s no surprise that America is under constant attack by malicious actors, ruthless scum who want to destroy what has become the great beacon of hope for humankind.
There are no shortage of enemies from the outside.
But the frightening truth is, we citizens have to constantly be on guard for enemies from within as well.
The good news is that we have the best security agencies on the planet and they know about everything going on everywhere, thanks to tens of thousands of “guardian angels”, special agents with headphones and high-res monitors, who monitor our emails, phone calls, browser habits, social interactions both online and in person. No one is getting away with anything!
And boy, do they ever get the job done!
Just recently, a nefarious cabal of sick, sinister cultural terrorists were exposed for what they are and the havoc they were wreaking across our great nation. Targeting children and anyone with a sweet tooth — which I believe would be just about everyone — with their stealthy, toxic messaging, these emissaries of cultural and political filth have been apprehended and properly eliminated.
You probably know who I’m talking about. Yes . . . the M&M SPOKESCANDIES!
It’s hard to believe these subversive malcontents flew under the radar for so long. It’s also extremely difficult to estimate how much damage they did over the years, twisting the minds and distorting the reality of American citizens young and old. Oh, how clever they were, disguised as charming little candies, all cute and sweet. I have to say, it doesn’t get any more underhanded than that!
But all is well that ends well. How sweet it is to know that the homeland has been secured, the rapturous purity of American culture restored, and these existential menaces apprehended and taken out of circulation. Despite vaguely-worded announcements from Mars, Incorporated, the company responsible for manufacturing and distributing M&M candies for seven decades, it’s clear that the M&M spokescandies are history. Good riddance, troublemakers!
Their replacement by a universally-loved cultural icon, a lady who is funny and nurturing, and most important of all, a loyal American to the core, is a happy ending to a potentially catastrophic story.
The new M&M spokesperson is none other than actress, comedian, singer, and true patriot, Maya Rudolph.
This historic announcement coincided with a new commercial, debuted at Super Bowl 23.
If this doesn’t herald a fresh start and a new age for our country, I don’t know what does.
There’s nothing that can’t be accomplished when a great people has a clear vision, solid values, a historical mission, and a deep understanding why it is superior to all other nations, and thus destined to lead humanity toward the best of all possible worlds. Occasionally we Americans get off track and let diabolical culprits like the M&M spokescandies slip into the room. But we also know how to show them the door.
Japanese people are obsessed with food . . . looking at it, preparing it, eating it, thinking about it, remembering it, talking about it.
I don’t mean that as a criticism. I’m not complaining. It’s just that to my “Western mentality”, it seems odd, maybe a bit over the top.
For example . . .
There are hundreds of food and cooking shows on television here. Where in America, prime time TV — 7:00 till 11:00 pm — will consist of super-popular dramas or comedy shows, often times here in Japan, it’s some show about noodles or stir-fry or pastries. What? Making miso soup instead of riding around in a police car shooting unarmed citizens? Preparing udon — a type of Japanese noodle — from scratch instead of following the traumas tormenting the last survivors of a global pandemic sometime in the near-distant future?
Another example . . .
Every Saturday morning at 9:00, my wife and I watch a travel show. Interestingly it’s called Travel Salad and for twenty minutes they take a tour of some fascinating spot either in Japan or across the globe. Recently programs have gone to Cuba, Guam, Australia, Switzerland and Taiwan. What’s strange to my eyes is that after a few quick shots of typical tourist sights, they always end up in several restaurants. Or food stalls. Or taverns. It’s all about food and drinks!
Same with people. When I tell people here I’ve been in over 40 countries, after “Where?” it’s typically, “What was the food like?” or “What did you eat?”
Now I confess, I love food. In fact, moving to Japan has been a palate-pleasing, mind-opening, taste-expanding experience in every way. There are so many new, interesting foods I’ve learned to like. And it’s not just savoring edibles I’ve never eaten before — squid, octopus, ほっけ, 鯖, tempura, udon, ramen, soba — it’s the preparation and presentation. I’ve learned, for example, that to make something tasty does not required tons of sugar, barrels of butter, gallons of corn syrup, whip cream, ketchup, and mayonnaise.
Despite my love for food, now both Western and Eastern, I still can’t recall what the food was like or what food I ate when I lived for six months in India. Or five months in Uganda. Truth is, I have to struggle to remember what I ate yesterday!
Not so with the Japanese. And what’s my point? Stay with me. I think it’ll be mind-boggling.
Despite its reputation for “other activities”, some not very savory, the CIA researches the entire world, I guess to better understand how the U.S. can dominate and plunder other countries. It publishes something called The World Factbook. This is the first section of a chart taken from that publication on obesity rates by country.
Ever heard of Nauru? I hadn’t. It’s the smallest nation in the world with the biggest people. Here are some of the natives of that country.
I have no difficulty believing they are world leaders in obesity rates. Since ‘fat’ has come under fire from the PC Police, they certainly appear — as my mom would have said — “full-figured”. My choice would be to call them ‘pleasantly plump’, putting a cordial spin on it.
Now, please note where the U.S. stands, confirming what we all already know about its excess weight problem. Out of 191 countries, the U.S. #11. Apologies go out to those core members of Team America who believe America is #1 at everything. While the distinction of being #1 in this respect is dubious, at the rate that obesity is increasing in the U.S., it may only be a matter of time before it captures top honors.
Moving on. Here now is the last portion of that listing.
Ah hah! Now you must see where I’m going with this. YES, folks! Japan in terms of obesity is in the Bottom Ten, #185 out of 191.
Moreover, look where it sits. BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND NEPAL!
I’m personally familiar with Nepal. I lived there for three months, and it’s a very poor country, not an abundance of anything. Food is a very precious commodity. As for Ethiopia, anyone who has paid any attention to food crises in the world knows that ‘Ethiopia’ is synonymous with famine and mass starvation. There’s no mystery about why the people of Nepal and Ethiopia are ‘thin’.
Then there’s Japan, sandwiched between them. Food is incredibly abundant here. You could eat at a different restaurant in nearby Osaka every day of your life and never come close to eating at all of them. I live in a farming community. Farming is an industry, a science, lifestyle and a religion. I’ve written extensively about my awakening from a city boy to an old boy, one who belatedly discovered a lot goes on before food ends up in a can, is shrink-wrapped or boxed, and finally shows up on the shelves of a supermarket. I live in the middle of vast fields growing every vegetable and fruit that can be grown here.
Trust me, there’s a lot of food here in Japan! And by the way, this includes some of the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten, incredible cakes and pastries, an entire panoply of snacks and treats, beer and a range of other alcoholic drinks. There are a lot of unhealthy foods to choose from!
So . . .
Why are Japanese, as obsessed as they are with food and eating, so svelte? I have a few ideas. But I’d like to hear yours. Any educated guess will be welcome in the comments below.
Most recently and most admirably, Matthew Hoh ran this past election cycle for Senate, representing North Carolina. His bid was unsuccessful for the usual reasons, chiefly among them big money in politics. But I suspect there was another decisive factor. Matt ran as a peace candidate and since ‘peace’ has been expunged from the national conversation, voters may have had no idea what he was talking about. The U.S. is now 24/7/365 war and talk about cooperation and diplomacy tends to fall on deaf ears. Yet, his candidacy represented the only possible hope for a future for this country and the rest of the world. If you doubt this, just watch this interview.
Matthew Hoh is currently Associate Director at the Eisenhower Media Network. He has been a Senior Fellow with the Center For International Policy since 2010. Previously he served nearly twelve years with the US military in the United States Marine Corps, as well as the Department of Defense and State Department. In 2009, Matthew resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan with the State Department over the American escalation of the war. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, Matthew took part in the American occupation of Iraq, with a State Department reconstruction and governance team and in 2006-2007 as a Marine Corps company commander. When not deployed, Matthew worked on Afghanistan and Iraq war policy and operations issues at the Pentagon and State Department.
Matthew’s writings have appeared in online and print periodicals such as the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Defense News, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. He has been a guest on hundreds of news programs on radio and television. The Council on Foreign Relations has cited Matthew’s resignation letter from his post in Afghanistan as an Essential Document. In 2010, Matthew was named the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling and, in 2021, he was awarded as a Defender of Liberty by the Committee for the Republic.
Matthew is a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Public Accuracy, an Advisory Board Member for the Committee to Defend Julian Assange and Civil Liberties, Expose Facts, North Carolina Committee to Investigate Torture, The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace, and World Beyond War, and he is an Associate Member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). He is a 100% disabled veteran and has been certified by North Carolina as a Peer Support Specialist for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder.
“Hegemons don’t have friends”, notes Margaret Kimberley. “They only have enemies and vassals.” That’s why the U.S. in its attempt to rule the world is becoming so disrespected and despised — and of course distrusted and feared. Margaret Kimberley doesn’t hold back one iota in this thought-provoking interview.
William J. Astore knows the military. He’s personally seen how the closed loop of the DOD and the commercial defense industries has exponentially grown and now dangerously and disproportionately determines direction of America’s dealings with the rest of the world. Here he offers his informed and rather bleak view of the prospects for peace under the current neocon-infested regime now in power in Washington DC.
William J. Astore is a retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, has taught at the Air Force Academy and Naval Postgraduate School, and now teaches history at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He’s a senior fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network (EMN), an organization of critical veteran military and national security professionals. He is the author or co-author of three books and numerous articles focusing on military history as well as the history of science, technology, and religion. He is a regular contributor to TomDispatch, and his own website, Bracing Views, likewise contains much of his fascinating and highly-informative political analysis.
Life In Japan: Excellence Begins Young
Every modern country is struggling to deal with the pressures of new technology, pressures which are accelerating exponentially as new technologies accelerate in number, sophistication, and appeal. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, games, smartphones, tablets are all in the mix, offering on the plus side unparalled opportunities for learning and communication, quick and easy ways of getting things done, but on the negative side pulling our focus, scattering our energies, wasting our time, and attenuating our capacity for deep, extended concentration.
We deal with this as adults. Similarly kids are more distracted and tempted with the fun, ease and convenience of technology than ever before. With each passing day, there are more and more technical shortcuts for just about any task.
Now with AI, we apparently have at our fingertips a tool to get just about anything done . . . EFFORTLESSLY! Type, hit enter, BINGO! A new song, a new poem, a novel, an article on just about any topic, a plan to conquer the world!
Maybe I’m too stuck in a legacy paradigm — after all, I am a product of celebratory mating prompted by victories over Germany and Japan . . . a Baby Boomer! — or maybe there are truisms which simply are timeless.
Here’s one I believe makes sense: Human satisfaction and personal reward is not necessarily in getting something done, but in doing that something, i. e. the effort to do it.
You can buy a computer program that plays an incredible game of chess. But the real reward comes from playing an incredible game of chess.
Same with music. I know I could buy some AI software which writes on command whatever kind of song I might want to hear. Is that supposed to somehow compare with the incredible child-like joy, the exhilaration I get from writing — however good or bad it turns out — a song myself?
That concept is not lost on teachers here in Japan. My wife, Masumi, teaches music in a nearby school system. She competes with computer games, the internet, iPhones, yes the entire array of distractions which her elementary students carry around with them — and the increasingly pervasive levels of ADHD which the foregoing produce — still manages to teach her kids how to play and how to appreciate music. She deserves a medal!
Masumi loves to show me success stories she comes across, examples of how the educational system in Japan serves the real needs of students and doesn’t abandon its core mission by pandering to the latest technological fads.
Here are two such examples. These are not Masumi’s students, because she teaches grades 2 through 6, elementary level. These examples are — are you ready for this? — nursery school kids! That means 5 and under! Try to process that as you watch the Yayoi Nursery School orchestra play a piece from Phantom of the Opera.
Here is a performance at the Toddler Music Festival, playing excerpts from Camina Burana.
Are you impressed?
I know I am!