tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post4375715197074968277..comments2024-03-14T07:32:30.141+09:00Comments on Marketing Japan: Rock and Roll and a Reason Why American Musicians No Longer Capture the World's Imagination?mike in tokyo rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04977446676243085409noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-20388834526950831002012-05-16T18:42:29.630+09:002012-05-16T18:42:29.630+09:00Hello,
Regarding the costs of US military spendin...Hello,<br /><br />Regarding the costs of US military spending, it brings to light the idea of the boiling frog. The claim is that one can put a frog into a water filled pot, and boil it to death, because by gradually raising the temperature, it will never escape by jumping out of the pot. The reason that is given is because the rise in temperature is gradual, the frog is never aware that it is boiling to death. <br /><br />The same can be said I believe of deficit spending, waste, and mal-investment. Which is more palatable to a population, increased taxes, or decreased spending power through inflation? Who benefits more from inflation? The public or the government? If the US budget actually had to be in surplus, how long would military spending remain as large as it is currently? Put another way, without deficit spending, how long can the military-industrial-complex last?<br /><br />I think to a large degree with tough economic times already here, and much worse times on the horizon, why would someone in Japan want to study English? I will try to find a statistic that I found rather worrying. It stated that of Japanese men who were university graduates under the age of 30?, ca. 80% earned less than 3 man a month. <br /><br />What can the US generate in growth culturally and economically? Is it possible to generate more than 3% growth in the US? What can China generate in growth, 9%? 10%? Culturally/musically, is there any group/singer on the US horizon that is better than say Lady Gaga? <br /><br />What "bet" looks like a winner or a loser? The US or China? Or even the UK vs. Germany? My general point is that yes, culturally, but especially economically, the US is declining, (and to some degree Japan), and that many people don't want to be on a sinking ship...Mr. Nobodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-37018530741053049922012-05-16T15:32:55.935+09:002012-05-16T15:32:55.935+09:00I thought of this thread while reading this paragr...I thought of this thread while reading this paragraph:<br /><br />"... The voters are committed to irreconcilable goals, all over the world. They do not trust the state, yet they rely on the state for welfare payments. They perceive the corruption, yet they do not want to de-fund this corruption by spending cuts. They see that their liberties are being taken away by the state, yet they call for more action against undefined terrorists. They are, in a word, schizophrenic." ...<br /><br />http://lewrockwell.com/north/north1138.html<br /><br />I am surrounded by warmongering schizophrenics,... great, just great.<br />What could possibly go wrong?<br /><br />- clarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-87872936617439790032012-05-16T13:52:41.456+09:002012-05-16T13:52:41.456+09:00Mr. Nobody wrote, "It seems that the most of ...Mr. Nobody wrote, "It seems that the most of citizens of the US aren't pro-war"<br /><br />I was thinking about that today, if that were true, more People would be turning out to support Ron Paul, no? <br /><br />Or at least not be supporting RoBama, and there wouldn't be numerous variations of, 'God bless our snipers, and thanks to them' bumper stickers all over the place.<br /><br />Every single Person I've met in real life or read their comments online who say they like some of what Ron Paul says, but they won't vote for him, they All say it's due to his foreign policy views.<br /><br />That says a lot.<br /><br />Warmongers, the whole lot of them.<br /><br />Also, Anonymous @ 1:04 PM wrote, "perhaps young Japanese people are less interested in general in other countries these days."<br /><br />Man, I don't think this Person understands how Deeply permeated American culture is there. It's something you have to go there to understand, imho.<br />I think the shift has very little to do with, "less interested in general".<br /><br />Hmm, I'm writing about two different things in this comment, but maybe they are the same?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-61167752664346331932012-05-16T13:04:52.140+09:002012-05-16T13:04:52.140+09:00Well perhaps young Japanese people are less intere...Well perhaps young Japanese people are less interested in general in other countries these days. If so, it would put in question the degree of causality you are suggesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-46927132265251935812012-05-16T12:41:36.156+09:002012-05-16T12:41:36.156+09:00The question about China is a total and complete n...The question about China is a total and complete non-sequitur. This is an article about American music and art. Japan lost the war to the USA, not China and it was American culture that permeated Japan for 6 decades.... Not Chinese culture. I don't understand how anyone could relate a question of the collapse of American music and rock sales in Japan with China.mike in tokyo rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977446676243085409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-56999267408436965822012-05-16T12:17:10.805+09:002012-05-16T12:17:10.805+09:00I'm not sure I'd use Japanese youth as a l...I'm not sure I'd use Japanese youth as a litmust test for these sorts of things. That being said has interest in going to China, learn Chinese, or listen to Chinese music increased a commensurately?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-73526848265074041562012-05-16T07:51:09.448+09:002012-05-16T07:51:09.448+09:00Dear Mr. N. Yep. If people are so concerned with p...Dear Mr. N. Yep. If people are so concerned with putting food on their plate then I can understand them thinking they have other, more pressing concerns... It is a lack of education that they can't figure out that a massive military expenditure overseas causes this economic hardship at home.mike in tokyo rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977446676243085409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-58571119095049130352012-05-16T07:43:10.653+09:002012-05-16T07:43:10.653+09:00A few things are interesting to me regarding the m...A few things are interesting to me regarding the media and culture at the current time. During the US wars in Indochina, Uncle Sam was destroying more people and things at a much more prodigious rate than currently, and yet outside the US, I'm rather surprised at how much goodwill, mostly undeserved, the US had at the time. It seems rather amazing how strong the music and anti-war movement were in the US. <br /><br />It seems during the current era, things have flip-flopped. There is virtually no goodwill towards the US, in fact I think that there is a reserve of ill-will that has developed. Plus as I said before, that with a democrat in power, the antiwar movement has almost completely disintegrated in the US, and fizzled out abroad. How many protests in the world have there been, after O got into the White House? It seems that after he got in, the world collectively shrugged. O even got the Nobel Prize for not doing anything, except not being GWB.<br /><br />Many people are hypocrites, especially in the US, where it doesn't matter very much what someone in power does, but mostly who does it, and to whom. There are always sycophants to power. Some view it as unpatriotic to say anything wrong about one's own "dear leader". I'm unsure how many people in the US are willfully ignorant, versus just plain ignorant, but combined, I believe it is a not insignificant number of the population.<br /><br />It seems that the most of citizens of the US aren't pro-war, but on the other hand, aren't willing to protest, or do much about it, considering that they are more concerned about putting food on their plate. Plus, it's generally poor people who are getting killed and crippled, from both the US and abroad, and Democratic White House doesn't seem to be helping matters. Finally, in these economic times, and with the repression that is going on, who wants to get beaten and arrested with the chances of high bail, losing ones children, losing ones employment, and years of imprisonment, to march somewhere?Mr. Nobodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-90650987427090058302012-05-15T22:33:03.591+09:002012-05-15T22:33:03.591+09:00I figured that the real name is too difficult for ...I figured that the real name is too difficult for average American with little or no interest in Japan... Hence, the name change to a simpler name.... Maybe I should have picked "Suzuki" or "Yamaha"? ....mike in tokyo rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977446676243085409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-63635325092434379662012-05-15T22:28:39.608+09:002012-05-15T22:28:39.608+09:001)Its interesting you change the last hypothetical...1)Its interesting you change the last hypothetical name to Tanaka in the LewRockwell reprint. <br />2)While it would serve my ego to think Japanese youth are more antiwar and political than American youth, maybe its because US culture is all played out. Young people especially the ever curious Japanese are always looking for the 'new'. Something different that the last generation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-48594379453001095962012-05-15T14:04:59.339+09:002012-05-15T14:04:59.339+09:00Mr. Nobody wrote, "I think that most US citiz...Mr. Nobody wrote, "I think that most US citizens dislike the idea of dropping bombs on children,"<br /><br />That's not the impression I'm getting from the People around my neck of the woods. ...And online too.<br /><br />Of the "apolitical" People I've known, it's not due to not knowing, it's about not caring. And most of the them when pried let out they are ok with things as they are.<br /><br />There's enough guys out there like myself who are filling the gap left open by the main stream media, so they know, er they know some anyway, or call it, enough they ought to know better.<br /><br />I read one guy sends his clueless relatives and friends print outs from the internet and mixes them with print outs from .gov websites and sends them in a manila envelope without a return address.<br /><br />I thought that was cool,... and funny. Especially when he said those relatives and friends ask him if he got one of those manila envelops too.<br /><br />- clarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-88560454732134987952012-05-15T08:59:44.759+09:002012-05-15T08:59:44.759+09:00Hello Mike,
I heartedly encourage more articles l...Hello Mike,<br /><br />I heartedly encourage more articles like this one. Even if many US citizens become infuriated. :)<br /><br />With minor exceptions, it seems in the US that the anti-war movement is simply the protest wing of the Democratic party. Since Obama entered the Whitehouse, what happened to the the anti-war movement? It appears that they are all for killing and crippling people, so long as it's a Democrat that is doing it.<br /><br />If the PIIGS are the sick men of Europe, then the US is the sick man of the Americas. Who wants to be around a leper, even if he currently has all of their fingers? How vibrant economically, and even culturally, do you think that PIIGS and the US will be in the next decade, with both negligible growth and rampant unemployment? <br /><br />From a career angle, what is a better option for a young Japanese, learning English, Chinese, or even German? <br /><br />How much responsibility do the citizens of any country bear because of their government? I believe it is in direct relation to how representative the government is the the wishes and aspirations, of its people. In the US, I think that the citizens generally do not live under a representative government, as compared to say Germany, Japan, or Canada. It seems that in effect, it is a gerrymandered plutocracy that gives the illusion of a representative government.<br /><br />In regards to Bob Dylan, he may have gotten even further, especially for a short period of time, if he acted more like Pat Boone. For example, who do you think would sell more products in JP, another AKB48, or a punk band that calls the parliament a bunch of wannabe-Yakusa, but without the coolness?<br /><br />People, at least in the short term, seem to want clean cut, and benign if not sweetness, compared to rough and scathing. That being said, over the long term, there is a reason why Bob Dylan has a long term resonance with people and is still touring in 2012, compared to Pat Boone, whom as I believe, never tours.<br /><br />I think that most US citizens dislike the idea of dropping bombs on children, just like they dislike the idea of aborting them, but feel basically powerless in both cases in doing much of anything about it. I think that in times of both economic and political repression, the only option many people have, is in some way keeping one's head down by being apolitical.<br /><br />I think that ignorance has always been an excuse for one's knowledge and behaviour, if one was never inculcated of educated properly. If one is illiterate, had the desire to read, and isn't mentally challenged, who is to blame, the individual, or the educational system/government? Couldn't the same be said of the individual with the media? Is it the job of the media to to act as the fifth estate, or to be the mouthpiece of the powerful? What does the media do in the US?<br /><br />All the best...Mr. Nobodynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-3680312728015215932012-05-15T03:00:09.779+09:002012-05-15T03:00:09.779+09:00American music has, just like the rest of America,...American music has, just like the rest of America, come to be dominated by big corporations. Big Corporations install gatekeepers to keep any subversive messages out of the mainstream media outlets. There are some anti-corp and anti-state songs on the internet, but they are not well known. The corporate money producing new music seeks formulas based on past big hits, not groundbreaking or edgy new sounds. Finally Hip Hop/Rap is considered the new standard bearer of "protest music" which is very repetitious, monotonous and difficult to understand being largely just angry rants trying to rhyme unrelated words. We could certainly use another new wave of talent who has had enough of the same old crap.Mark Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-58856404605175487682012-05-14T14:26:20.321+09:002012-05-14T14:26:20.321+09:00That last good music movement that scared the esta...That last good music movement that scared the establishment and actually meant anything was Punk Rock of the late 1970s and the Sex Pistols. I thank god that I was there to witness it...mike in tokyo rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04977446676243085409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-11030372214136041432012-05-14T14:01:29.528+09:002012-05-14T14:01:29.528+09:00This post covers a lot of ground, but on the origi...This post covers a lot of ground, but on the original point of interest in English, foreign education/experience is not generally a good career move. Even if the company offers to pay for a Stanford MBA, a career-oriented employee would have to consider the opportunity cost of being out of the loop for two years while colleagues set themselves up for promotion. <br />In the 1980s, jobs were plentiful so one could easily take a few years out without worrying. Not the case anymore.Boonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-58464429750214873012012-05-14T14:00:27.256+09:002012-05-14T14:00:27.256+09:00It - is - crazy over here.
It's almost as if ...It - is - crazy over here.<br /><br />It's almost as if the CIA dumped a bunch of Scopolamine on the population. The results seem about the same.<br /><br />That is some wild stuff, the zombie drug, a.k.a. 'The Devil's Breath':<br /><br />http://lewrockwell.com/spl4/zombie-drug.html<br /><br />- clarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207076947655236975.post-26096535202133991702012-05-14T12:13:12.382+09:002012-05-14T12:13:12.382+09:00It's true... where are the protests songs? Why...It's true... where are the protests songs? Why isn't music disturbing to the older generation? It should be edgy, full of opinion, lots of angst, politics. <br />Mike... the times... they are a-changing. And, you are correct... it's not for the better.<br />Oh... as a Canadian, I apologize Beiber.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com