From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: D O E S   A M E R I C A   S A Y   Y E S   T O   J A P A N ?
Date: 11 Dec 1992 22:00:17 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu

In article <Bz3zK9.un@news.cso.uiuc.edu> irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu 
(Brent Irvine) writes:

>Well, how do you define literacy?  The Japanese define it by recognition of
>2000 Kanji characters (like being able to point out/ read 2000 words - no
>big deal), because that is the level of literacy to read the Kanji edition of 
>the newspaper.  Most Japanese do not read that paper, but simpler papers.

All the Nihonjin I know can write over 2500 kanji and read over 3000.
Obviously you aren't familiar with Chinese or Japanese.  It's not how
many kanji you know, it how many combinations of those kanji you know
which is important.

>As Americans, part of our culture is continouous comparison and angst ridden
>editorials on how we are doomed.  Turn back the clock 20 years and it was
>the Russians who were going to surpass us all and so on.  Now it is the
>Japanese.  It is too bad that our lifespans aren't longer (to see 5 or so
>'bogeyman nations' rise and fall) so we learn that while we have problems,
>AmericA is not going anywhere, not in the gutter or otherwise!

IMHO, Russian youths kick-shiri on American kids in math and science on
an average basis.  So do the Japanese, and just about everybody in the
developed world.  The Russians lack a poli-econ system in which to
prosper under.  

America in fact IS headed for the gutter and the youth are going to take
us there.  I still think the true geniuses will succeed, but their will
be even more disctinction between the haves and the havenots.  I don't
think visions of the future like in the movie BladeRunner are that far
off.  It's a paradigm thing, and the bottom line is that American youth
are lazy and poorly educated in math and science.  Akio Morita of Sony 
recognized that the key to economic success was technology and manufacturing.
We can throw a little greed into it for incentive.  The only consolation is
that Japanese youths are fast becoming just like American youths,
spoiled, lazy and materialistic.  They'll be following us into the
gutter unless the monbusho decides to take action. 

>*flame on!*
>Thank you very much, that is my generation you are slandering.  Typical
>of the older generation to trash the younger without real evidence.  \
[stuff deleted]
>*flame off!*

It ain't slandering, dude; it's good advice.  I'm young, and I'm willing
to listen.  I've got plenty of evidence.  Just go to any high school,
home, etc...observe how youth these days think.  Ask, what are their
priorities, goals in life, etc...Then ask how they plan to get there.
The youth in America need major operating system re-write..because their
priorities are just too screwed up.  Besides, your response is a good
example of how a little bad mouthing of the youth will get them riled up 
enough to prove I'm wrong.

Jaa, James
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