The "golden" years of the U.S. economy in the immediate post-WW II period, along with the recovery and expansion of the economies of other industrialized countries, afforded the working class of these countries a decent, even middle-class, standard of living. Combined with extensive social safety-net programs such as the New Deal reforms in the U.S. and Social-Democratic reforms in Europe, the economic recovery and high employment rates of that period paved the way for a relatively cooperative relationship between the working and capitalist classes in these countries.
This led many pundits of historical developments to argue that perhaps Karl Marx had underestimated capitalism's ability to carry out reform and share the fruits of economic progress with the poor and working class, thereby obviating revolution. They pointed to guaranteed employment and labor-management cooperation in a number of industrialized countries such as Germany and Japan as indications of "erroneous" Marxian judgment of the antagonistic capital-labor relationship.
More...
March 12, 2010
March 8, 2010
Is Toyota Still Different?
Tokyo -- I'm here in Japan as part of a California State Blue-Ribbon Commission set up by Treasurer Bill Lockyer to see whether we can persuade Toyota to change its plans to shut down its plant in Fremont and to keep it open to produce hybrid cars. I've been part of the Fremont story since before Toyota opened this plant (in a joint venture with GM) as its first foray into making cars in the U.S. The Fremont plant has served as tangible evidence to Californians -- who are Toyota's best market -- that there is a "Toyota Way," and that it's different.
More...
As the San Francisco Chronicle put it, "the plant has won myriad awards for its quality and productivity, is in the heart of Toyota's key U.S. market and has an experienced workforce with a union that time and again has proved willing to work in partnership with the company." But in announcing -- for very flimsy reasons -- that it plans to shut down the Fremont plant in April, Toyota is sending a signal to its best market that maybe Toyota is no longer that different.
I served for decades as an informal environmental adviser to the joint venture, and was consistently impressed by how Toyota handled environmental issues. And for decades U.S. automakers really didn't offer Toyota any competition for environmentally motivated auto customers like myself (Corolla, Camry, now Prius). But that's no longer true -- so Toyota is taking a big risk.
More...
The Case of Japan’s Princess Masako Shows Us the Value Still Placed on Sons Over Daughters
The other day, I was reading this article about how Japan's Princess Aiko has been missing school because of bullying by some boys at her elementary school. While this news is disturbing in itself, what caught my attention was the reference the article made to Aiko's mother, Princess Masako. Anybody remember this woman? Her story still makes me emotional.
When I was a little girl, it was the glamor of England's Princess Diana that captivated my sisters and me. Yes, a huge stereotype I know for young girls to be infatuated with princesses, but there is something about real live ones, especially when you are just a little girl. As I grew older however, it was Princess Masako who really captured my imagination.
More...
When I was a little girl, it was the glamor of England's Princess Diana that captivated my sisters and me. Yes, a huge stereotype I know for young girls to be infatuated with princesses, but there is something about real live ones, especially when you are just a little girl. As I grew older however, it was Princess Masako who really captured my imagination.
More...
March 2, 2010
Will Global Natural Disasters Compound Global Financial Disasters?
Every enduring agrarian society learned to store surplus harvests for infertile times. Conversely, during the last global credit bubble, most countries followed an unwise philosophy of simply spending more.
As the global economy has somewhat stabilized for the moment, the global environment has not. Recent large-scale tragedies include earthquakes and tsunamis in Haiti, Chile, China/Russia/North Korea, Hawaii, and Japan. All of these damaged regions require aid from those more fortunate.
More...
As the global economy has somewhat stabilized for the moment, the global environment has not. Recent large-scale tragedies include earthquakes and tsunamis in Haiti, Chile, China/Russia/North Korea, Hawaii, and Japan. All of these damaged regions require aid from those more fortunate.
More...
March 1, 2010
February 19, 2010
Australia To Japan: Stop All Whaling Or Face International Legal Challenge (VIDEO)
Australia is turning up the heat on Japan's whaling practices. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that unless Japan reduces all whaling activities to "zero" by November 2010, it will face an international legal challenge, Reuters reported.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada responded to the ultimatum at a press conference in Tokyo.
More...
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada responded to the ultimatum at a press conference in Tokyo.
More...
February 18, 2010
Japan and NATO Are Ready for the U.S. to Reduce Nuclear Weapons
It has been nearly a year since President Obama's now famous Prague speech, announcing America's commitment to a nuclear weapons-free future. A key test of that commitment is at hand: the current U. S. Nuclear Posture Review. The Obama administration might use it to announce a plan for a deeper reduction in nuclear stockpiles, a shift in nuclear policy to "sole purpose" (i.e., retaining nuclear?weapons solely for purposes of deterring others from using such weapons) and begin the process of phasing out nuclear deterrence itself.
The Obama administration can take any or all of these steps, but it can't take them in a vacuum. They would have profound and complex effects on the rest of the world, an important litmus test for which is how they would be received in Japan.
More...
The Obama administration can take any or all of these steps, but it can't take them in a vacuum. They would have profound and complex effects on the rest of the world, an important litmus test for which is how they would be received in Japan.
More...
February 16, 2010
Arnold’s Inflating Head, Nic Cage’s Hoedown, and More: The Craziest Japanese Ads With American Celebs (VIDEO)
Japan has a tendency to take normal things (game shows, toys, etc) and cover them in crazy. It's what they do. Japan's ridiculousness has been well-documented here at HuffPost Comedy, and if there's something we've learned, it's that there's no escaping it. As you'll see by this collection crazy Japanese ads, even American celebrities can get sucked into the Japanese vortex of insanity.
More...
More...
February 5, 2010
Massacre in an Occupied City
TOKYO, Jan. 26, 1948 -- The third year of the U.S. Occupation of Japan. The Teikoku (Imperial) Bank near Ikebukuro in downtown Tokyo is closing for the day. A man knocks on the door. The man says he is a doctor sent by the U.S. Occupation authorities. The man says there has been an outbreak of dysentery in the neighbourhood. The man says he must inoculate all the employees of the bank. The assistant manager of the bank gathers together the fifteen members of his staff, including the bank's caretaker, his wife and his two children. The doctor pours out the vaccine into their sixteen tea-cups. The sixteen people drink the medicine. Two minutes later, twelve of them are dead, four unconscious and "the doctor" has disappeared along with some, but not all, of the bank's takings.
More...