Thoughts
It has been almost a week since I posted last, but I finally feel like I have some things to relate. I've been doing a fair amount of reading, both for school, but also for my own enjoyment. I finished Underground by Murakami Haruki, which if you are able to, read it. It is Murakami's attempt to identify the Japanese social pysche within the tragedy of the Sarin gas attacks perpetrated by the religious group Aum. In the first section of the book he interviews 34 victims of the attack. Keep in mind that there were over 5,000 victims over all, but Murakami was only able to get 34 of them to speak to him, for various reasons. They paint a very interesting picture of the attacks. One of the quotes that sticks out in my head,

there were people foaming at the mouth where we were, in front of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. That half of the roadway was absolute hell. But on the other side, people were walking to work as usual. I'd be tending to someone and look up to see passersby glance my way with a "what-on-earth's -happened her?" expression, but not one came over. It was as if we were a world apart. Nobody stopped. They all thought: 'Nothing to do with me.' Some guards were standing right before our eyes at the ministry gate. Here we had three people laid out on the ground, waiting desperately for an ambulance that didn't arrive for a long, long time. Yet nobody at the ministry called for help. They didn't even call us a taxi."

There was another quote from one of the doctors involved, "The paramedics...deserve praise. As one American expert said, to have had five thousand sarin gas victims and only twelve dead is close to a miracle. All thans to the extraordinary efforts of the local units, because the overall emergency network was useless... I called the tokyo Health Bureau, but nobody answered. It was after 8:30 by the time I got through. The person who came on the line said something like, 'Well, we all have our jobs to do.'"

And a final quote from a doctor from the Toho University Omori Hospital Emergency Care Center, "Around 11:00 the police department confirmed it was sarin. Again I found this out on TV. Did anyone think to contact us? Not a word. All our information came from TV."

I find it hard to fully describe the ideas that are running through my head about the first section, the whole situation seemed completely otherworldy, not only in the attacks, but the responses. Most of the victims report trying to get to work normally and just assuming that they caught a really bad cold, even though everyone on the train was coughing, some foaming at the mouth, some just collapsing on the ground. The second part of the book entitled, The Place That Was Promised, was even more interesting in that Murakami spent time trying to interview members of Aum. In the preface to the second part Murakami quotes,

The system reorganizes itself so as to put pressure on those who do not fit in. those who do not fit into the system are "sick"; to make them fit in is to "cure." Thus, the power process aimed at attaining autonomy is broken and the individual is subsumed into the other-dependent power process enforced by the system. to pursue autonomy is seen as "disease."

If you can guess where the quote come for you get 10 points, though Aku Ender is excluded from the guessing process as I've already told him the answer. Regardless, I can see any number of my friends maintaining the same sentiments. What makes it interesting is that in America there is the belief that one should strive towards autonomy. One of Murakami's more interesting points is the focus of media on "Us" vs. "Them" mentality, which allows people to divorce themselves from questioning themselves or even trying to understand "Them," which is why Murakami undertook the second part of the book. Murakami poses the question, despite the "utter nonsense" offered by "their" side, is normal society able to offer "them" a more viable narrative? That, I think, is the crux. Murakami goes on to say, "Haven't we entrusted some part of our personality to some greater System or Order? And if so, has not that System at some stage demanded of us some kind of "insanity"? Is the narrative you now possess really and truly your own? Are your dreams really your own dreams? Might no they be someone else's visions that could sooner or later turn into nightmares?" Thinking once again in terms of culture, society, and pull, I think it is very possibly. Over break I talked with a person whom, initially I had very little contact, but after they left Grand Rapids, felt I could converse with in a much deeper manner, Hobbes. We discussed the "American Dream," that is the dream that you will aquire wealth. It seems now that the dream has become a prison and if someone does not follow that dream they become one of "them." Of course, there are many healthy ways to be "them," but there are numerous instances where the less healthy way has been taken, but the question still remains, does "our" society offer a narrative that is viable. More later.

In regards to other reading, I've also been reading a book called Z (Zed, not Zee): An Introduction to Formal Methods, and I've really been enjoying it. It is one of the first mathematical texts that isn't afraid to deal with things outside of itself. It discusses the semantic arguments of various logic schools as well as the philosophical and linguistic debates surrounding certain areas of formal logic. It has been really great to actually have those things laid bare within the text itself, and while the authore, Antoni Diller, doesn't go into these areas in great detail, he does a good job directing the reader to resources that he has discussed. It is far too easy, in my opinion, to focus a lens overly much to miss the understandings of a field by people in other areas of study, and I think this book does a good job of addressing it. I doubt many of my readers will actually pick the book, but I'm enjoying it.

I also started Dogs and Demons a look at modern Japanese societial problems, written by Alex Kerr. I'm not very far, but it is quite revealing to say the least. In fact, I'm not even done with the first chapter yet, but here is something interesting, in 1998 the construction industry employed 6.9 million people, more than 10 percent of Japan's workforce, and more than double the relative numbers in the United States and Europe. I do want to point out that I think Japan is a cool place, and living here I've experienced a lot of great things, but I also think that finding problems and attempting to fix them is a big part of living and taking part in culture, and so while there is a large number of books on the great history of Japan, the great culture, and the great economy, I think it is necessary to also look at the problems, and I tend to focus on those, not only in Japan, but also America. It is important to realize that no country is doing it right, and it is good to look at both the good and bad aspects of a culture, so, if you find good culture things feel free to put them up in the comments. I know they're out there; I just feel as if the good things can overshadow the faults and let them fester.

And finally some security news...

• "Homeland Insecurity"
• I know what you bought last summer
• Foreigners' Fingerprints