6 ms·

The mention in the article of the false perception by people vacationing in japan of describing the japanese as just naturally, culturally happy to serve whites

The mention in the article of the false perception by people vacationing in japan of describing the japanese as just naturally, culturally happy to serve whites/foreigners well into old age reminds me of how black people were depicted in America (and their depictions are still around here and there...) (fairly similar notions of “just culturally/inherently happy to serve”). I think this may be a part of othering or being able to live on cognitive dissonance? Edited for clarity; I think people thought I was saying Japanese people are white serving, not that there is a false perception of such.

goldenkey 9y ago
Maybe it's just true... Why does everything objective have to fit into "what is nice." Nature isn't nice. Some cultures aren't nice. Is it nice that dogs and cats are stacked in cages in China for consumption? I'd say no. Is the American meat industry nice? I'd say no. But why do you want to assert this "nice" conformity onto anything about cultures? Those have objective characteristics just like anything else.
- senthil_rajasek 9y ago
  Being "nice" is being cultured though nature may be cruel.
  - em3rgent0rdr 9y ago
    "Nice" has interesting etymology. Used to mean foolish/ignorant in middle ages, and now somehow has a vague meaning along the lines of agreeable. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/nice https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/nice
g09980 9y ago
As someone who only spent a fraction of his life in America, I'm always at wonder at how Americans try to find racism/oppression in every situation. As another poster below alludes, life isn't always pleasant. We can't all be equal, but inequality != servitude.
- scarmig 9y ago
  We can't all be equal, but we can build a society where old people don't have to work long hours until the day they die, and young people don't have to struggle to pay for electricity or healthcare. I'm just noting that so we don't fall into the trap of letting our Randian overlords pre-emptively limit the bounds of our imagination.
  - ci5er 9y ago
    > but we can build a society where old people don't have to work long hours until the day they die Why would we? I note that my father is deteriorating faster now that he does not work. Is it unreasonable to think that work is actually "good for us"?
    - scarmig 9y ago
      I agree that work fosters social interactions and meaning, and older people who continue to maintain those fare a lot better than those who don't. But there's a world of difference between working because it gives you meaning, and working because if you don't you'll starve to death in your unheated apartment. No older person is benefiting from having to dig through trash for bottles to recycle for nickels.
      - ci5er 9y ago
        > No older person is benefiting from having to dig through trash for bottles to recycle for nickels. Agreed. But I think we are squandering the wealth of experience that old people can bring to the work-place by essentially aging them out. They have something to offer - and we need it - and (in Japan) the safety net, it ain't so safe! EDIT: I lived in Japan a long time, but I realized (at some point), that no matter how much I payed into the retirement system, as a retiree, I would lose my visa and be kicked out (just the way it is). So I moved "back home", so that I would have the opportunity to work until I die.
        g09980 9y ago
watwut 9y ago
Tourists does not have to be white. The niceness has nothing to do with race, if anything Japanese see themselves above us. It has a lot to do with fact that if you won't be nice, you will be punished.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  > Tourists does not have to be white. The niceness has nothing to do with race, if anything Japanese see themselves above us. No, that's not really true. Many Japanese do not treat white Americans and Philippine people the same, for instance.
ci5er 9y ago
> the japanese as just naturally, culturally happy to serve whites What are you talking about? The Japanese are preternaturally polite, but they aren't necessarily any "nice"er than anyone else. And they aren't there to serve "the white man". If anything, they believe that they are the most evolved race of humans (or some think 'not even the same species as normal humans') on the planet. Look - their society is rough and tough. But it has nothing to do with race. It's just a tough gig being Japanese.
- SolaceQuantum 9y ago
  In the article it outlines a false perception of foreigners that japan is great because all the people there are happy to serve you.
  - ci5er 9y ago
    It does. I apologize.
  - jackvalentine 9y ago
    I think that was sarcasm?

goldenkey 9y ago

Maybe it's just true... Why does everything objective have to fit into "what is nice." Nature isn't nice. Some cultures aren't nice. Is it nice that dogs and cats are stacked in cages in China for consumption? I'd say no. Is the American meat industry nice? I'd say no. But why do you want to assert this "nice" conformity onto anything about cultures? Those have objective characteristics just like anything else.

senthil_rajasek 9y ago
Being "nice" is being cultured though nature may be cruel.
- em3rgent0rdr 9y ago
  "Nice" has interesting etymology. Used to mean foolish/ignorant in middle ages, and now somehow has a vague meaning along the lines of agreeable. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/nice https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/nice

g09980 9y ago

As someone who only spent a fraction of his life in America, I'm always at wonder at how Americans try to find racism/oppression in every situation. As another poster below alludes, life isn't always pleasant. We can't all be equal, but inequality != servitude.

scarmig 9y ago
We can't all be equal, but we can build a society where old people don't have to work long hours until the day they die, and young people don't have to struggle to pay for electricity or healthcare. I'm just noting that so we don't fall into the trap of letting our Randian overlords pre-emptively limit the bounds of our imagination.
- ci5er 9y ago
  > but we can build a society where old people don't have to work long hours until the day they die Why would we? I note that my father is deteriorating faster now that he does not work. Is it unreasonable to think that work is actually "good for us"?
  - scarmig 9y ago
    I agree that work fosters social interactions and meaning, and older people who continue to maintain those fare a lot better than those who don't. But there's a world of difference between working because it gives you meaning, and working because if you don't you'll starve to death in your unheated apartment. No older person is benefiting from having to dig through trash for bottles to recycle for nickels.
    - ci5er 9y ago
      > No older person is benefiting from having to dig through trash for bottles to recycle for nickels. Agreed. But I think we are squandering the wealth of experience that old people can bring to the work-place by essentially aging them out. They have something to offer - and we need it - and (in Japan) the safety net, it ain't so safe! EDIT: I lived in Japan a long time, but I realized (at some point), that no matter how much I payed into the retirement system, as a retiree, I would lose my visa and be kicked out (just the way it is). So I moved "back home", so that I would have the opportunity to work until I die.
      - g09980 9y ago

watwut 9y ago

Tourists does not have to be white. The niceness has nothing to do with race, if anything Japanese see themselves above us. It has a lot to do with fact that if you won't be nice, you will be punished.

emodendroket 9y ago
> Tourists does not have to be white. The niceness has nothing to do with race, if anything Japanese see themselves above us. No, that's not really true. Many Japanese do not treat white Americans and Philippine people the same, for instance.

ci5er 9y ago

> the japanese as just naturally, culturally happy to serve whites What are you talking about? The Japanese are preternaturally polite, but they aren't necessarily any "nice"er than anyone else. And they aren't there to serve "the white man". If anything, they believe that they are the most evolved race of humans (or some think 'not even the same species as normal humans') on the planet. Look - their society is rough and tough. But it has nothing to do with race. It's just a tough gig being Japanese.

SolaceQuantum 9y ago
In the article it outlines a false perception of foreigners that japan is great because all the people there are happy to serve you.
- ci5er 9y ago
  It does. I apologize.
- jackvalentine 9y ago
  I think that was sarcasm?