From: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.MIL (Wm. Douglas Withers -- math  FACULTY <wdw@sma.usna.navy.mil>)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Sex, Power and the Decline of the White American Male [LONG]
Date: 7 Oct 92 15:47:53 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: U.S. Naval Academy

In article <SHAW.92Oct6204751@au-bon-pain.lcs.mit.edu> shaw@au-bon-pain.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw) writes:
>
>If you've never been to Japan, I think it's difficult to understand the
>degree to which the US is _already_ way behind.  If we don't get our shit
>in gear soon, we're going to be in *big* trouble.
>
I just can't resist responding to this.  Perhaps you could clarify just what
you mean by this remark?

Pending such clarification, I think this type of remark reflects a myth of
`invincibility' that has grown up around the Japanese during the past decade.
I've spend a fair amount of time in Japan.  While it is true one could
describe the Japanese as being `ahead' of us in many areas, it is also true
that we are `ahead' of them.  I think that an opportunity to swap our set
of problems for theirs would be a poor deal for us.

A few examples come to mind:

The Japanese seem to have never even heard of accessibility for the disabled.
If you move around to any extent in Japan, you climb lots and lots of stairs.
I've seldom seen a person in a wheelchair in Japan; I really think they're
afraid to leave their homes.

While we in the U.S. are still struggling with problems of racism, the
Japanese have not even begun to confront this issue.  It might be interesting
to compare the experiences of Korean-ge Japanese-cu in Japan and Korean-ge
American-cu in the U.S.

I think the Japanese have started to pay attention to the environment, but
they are definitely lagging behind us in this respect.  The Japanese have
been enthusiastic consumers of whales and tropical hardwoods.

I remember spending a trying period in the Kyoto train station when the
temperature inside the station was at least 90 (Fahrenheit).  There were
air conditioners inside the station but these were so configured as to
cool an area of about a hundred square feet.  A sign posted nearby made it
clear that this arrangement was deliberate.  It strains belief that one
could find an airport in the U.S. which would be sweltering simply because
the designers decided to make it so.  Similarly, while one can buy
nicely designed add-in air-conditioning units for the home, the circuitry
in many houses is not robust enough to cool more than one room at a time.

Similarly, there are still quite a few homes in Japan without sewer hookups.

And then we come to the schools.  I find it generally true that products
of Japanese high schools are better educated than those from American high
schools.  However, many in Japan are becoming interested in reforming their
school system to become more like the American system (the Japanese system
is awfully hard on the kids).  And when it comes to colleges and universities,
many believe the U.S. has quite an edge on Japan (including me).

And excuse, me, but I think the phenomenon of business executives travelling
overseas so they can find cheap hookers represents a problem in itself.

I could come up with much more.
-- 
Els Withers                   email: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.mil
Department of Mathematics     phone: (410)267-3192 / fax: (410)267-4883
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD  21402-5002     Senri no tabi mo ippo yori...
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american