The American Dream--Japanese Style

I just got back from a vacation in Tokyo--I'd never been before. I'm also in the middle of a polemical book by Paul Stiles called "Is the American Dream Killing You?" Mr. Stiles' premise is that we are living in a hyper-market and that the market seeks to kill all human traits that don't lead to consumption. Along the way he recommends Alan Bloom and trashes day care providers. Mr. Stiles is far from credible but he does make an interesting point about capitalism which contrary to popular belief is not pro-mother, pro-homemade apple pie, or pro-democracy.

Tokyo is a hard nut to crack--especially for a foreigner who spent all of 5 days there. Lost in Translation does provide a sense of the place but skipped the bland and endless malls, department stores, and other shopping opportunities. Tokyo seems to be a place of endless and exhausted consumption. According to economists, the problem with the Japanese economy is too little consumption and too much saving. And as a tourist, my role in the eco-system was consumption and not production. But still, it did seem that a lot of time must be spent in malls.

It was downright depressing imagining the typical Japanese day of working and consuming. Of course that isn't that far off from the typical American day and that's depressing too. Adults and especially adults who never were lucky enough to get a quality education are mostly workers rather than thinkers. And however loony-bin Mr Stiles may be, we do lose something incredibly precious when life becomes an endless cycle of working and buying.

I think I'll probably have to do a blog after this one explaining why I am not a communist. But markets do not have ethics. If we want more out of life than buying and selling, we need to value it enough to make it happen.