Thoughts

I recently came across a very interesting article. I haven't read all of it yet, but what I did read of it was quite interesting. The article, at least what I read can be summed up with this:

"And therein lies one of the central dilemmas of political life in developed societies: sharing and solidarity can conflict with diversity. This is an especially acute dilemma for progressives who want plenty of both solidarity (high social cohesion and generous welfare paid out of a progressive tax system) and diversity (equal respect for a wide range of peoples, values and ways of life). The tension between the two values is a reminder that serious politics is about trade-offs. It also suggests that the left's recent love affair with diversity may come at the expense of the values and even the people that it once championed."

As I said, I haven't read it all so I'm not in the position to argue one way or the other, but it did strike me, as I said, as an interesting piece. I will be reading it more in depth I assure you.

There is currently an election going on for town council here in Minakuchi, so my impressions of Japan have suffered greatly. There isn't anything quite so "wonderful" as enjoying a peaceful woman gently telling you to vote for the candidate she represents, and if you replace peaceful with obnoxious, and gently telling with shouting through loudspeakers while driving past in a van, you'll get the idea. My Japanese, as poor as it is, has at least picked apart some of the message, which says something of the persistence of these aural assault vehicles. As far as I can tell the message is something to the effect of, "Please consider us kindly, Good afternoon, Our candidate X is good, thank you very much for considering our humble message." repeat ad infinitum. Today was a lucky break from all of it; our local supermarket was closed today and so the AAVs only made one pass, seeing as their audience was gone. These vehicles, I believe, are the one thing in Japan that could drive me to violence, and I don't say that lightly.