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Guest Post: Narcissism, Consumerism And The End Of Growth
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
Narcissism, Consumerism And The End Of Growth
The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism now include narcissistic consumerism and definancialization.
Today I'm going to tie together the major themes I have been discussing in the context of Japan being the bellwether of economic stagnation and social recession. The basic idea is that Japan offers a limited but still insightful experiment in what happens to advanced consumer-driven economies as definancialization hollows out the economy.
What happens is that economic malaise leads to profound social recession that affects society, workplaces, families, individuals that then feeds back into the economic stagnation.
Definancialization is the process in which excessive speculation, debt, leverage reverse, crushing the economy with malinvestment and legacy debt while the crony-capitalist Central State attempts to stem the resulting deflation with massive, sustained Keynesian stimulus (fiscal deficits).
What we're seeing in Japan is the confluence of three dynamics: definancialization, the demise of growth-positive demographics and the devolution of the consumerist model of endless "demand" and "growth."
Japan is the leading-edge of the crumbling model of advanced neoliberal capitalism: that consumerist excess creates wealth, prosperity and happiness.
What consumerist excess actually creates is alienation, social atomization, narcissism, and a profound contradiction at the heart of the consumerist-dependent model of "growth": the narcissism that powers consumerist lust and identity is at odds with the demands of the workplace that generates the income needed to consume.
One theme that weaves together this week's essays on Japan is the cultural/economic shift that is eroding the traditional Japanese corporate workplace.
Japan and the Exhaustion of Consumerism
The Hidden Cost of the "New Economy": New-Type Depression
The Future of America Is Japan: Stagnation
The Future of America Is Japan: Runaway Deficits, Runaway Debts
The younger generation of workers raised in a consumerist "paradise" are facing an economic stagnation that reduces opportunities to earn the high income needed to fulfill the consumerist demands for status symbols. Given the hopelessness of earning enough to afford the consumerist lifestyle, they have abandoned traditional status symbols such as luxury autos and taken up fashion and media as expressions of consumerism.

But the narcissism bred by consumerism has nurtured a kind of emotional isolation and immaturity, what might be called permanent adolescence, which leaves many young people without the tools needed to handle criticism, collaboration and the pressures of the workplace.
Narcissism is the result of the consumerist society's relentless focus on the essential project of consumerism, which is "the only self that is real is the self that is purchased and projected."
Christopher Lasch (1932 – 1994) wrote The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations in 1979. The book's subtitle captured the angst of the 1970s; though rampant financialization and the Internet reinvigorated the U.S. economy in the 1980s and 90s, the subtitle accurately expresses the New Normal.
While his analysis cannot be easily summarized, he zeroed in on the ontological essence of narcissism: a fear of the emptiness that lies at the very core of consumerism.
Sociologist Daniel Bell's 1988 book, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism brilliantly laid out the contradiction at the heart of all consumer-dependent cultures:
This classic analysis of Western liberal capitalist society contends that capitalism-- and the culture it creates--harbors the seeds of its own downfall by creating a need among successful people for personal gratification--a need that corrodes the work ethic that led to their success in the first place.
In the modern iteration of the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, the narcissism that results from the focus on personal gratification via consumption cripples the person in the workplace. Ironically, the flattening of corporate management and the demands for higher interpersonal skillsets has eroded the security provided by the strict hierarchy of previous eras.
Instead of working less and doing easier work--the implicit promise of "endless growth"-- the work is becoming more challenging and insecure even as compensation declines.
If there is any personality that is unsuited for the "New Normal" workplace, it is the narcissistic consumer--the very type of person that our consumption-dependent economy creates, nurtures and demands. That is the new Cultural Contradiction of Capitalism.
"Personal gratification" is the driver of narcissism and consumerism, which are two sides of the same coin. Consumerist marketing glorifies the "projected self" as the "true self," encouraging self-absorption even as it erodes authentic identity, self-esteem and the resilience which enables emotional growth--the essential characteristic of adulthood.
Personal gratification is of a piece with self-absorption, fragile self-esteem and an identity that is overly dependent on consumerist signifiers and the approval of others.
No wonder Japan's "lost generations" are lost: not only are expectations of secure, high-income jobs diminished, the work is more demanding and the security and pay are too low to support the consumerist lifestyle that society has implicitly promised everyone who goes to college and works hard as a birthright.
Jesse recently wrote a brilliant, insightful essay, Empire of the Exceptional: The Age of Narcissism As he observes, narcissism has been on the rise for 30 years in advanced neoliberal economies.
In my analysis, this is the direct consequence of the supremacy of a consumerism that is dependent on financialization: an economy dependent on debt-fueled consumption to power its "endless growth" is one that will necessarily implode from its internal contradictions: debt and leverage eventually exceed the carrying capacity of the collateral and the national income, and the narcissism of consumerism leads to social recession, a crippling state of "suspended animation" adolescence and great personal frustration and unhappiness.
The ultimate contradiction in this debt-consumption version of capitalism is this: how can an economy have "endless expansion and growth" when pay and opportunities for secure, high-paying jobs are both relentlessly declining? It cannot. Financialization, consumerist narcissism and the end of growth are inextricably linked.
As I wrote yesterday, this leads to a dispiriting "no exit": It's as if there is a split in the road and no third way: some young people make it onto the traditional corporate or government career path, and everyone else is left in part-time suspended animation with few options for adult expression or development.
We need a third way that offers people work, resilience and authentic meaning. In my view, that cannot come from the Central State or the global corporate workplace: it can only come from a relocalized economy in revitalized communities.
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Enough about me, let's talk about you. So, tell me, what do you think about me?
Here's A Free CFPGH Gold Chart For Turdite Idiots
http://chartistfriendfrompittsburgh.blogspot.com/2012/10/heres-free-cfpg...
They will have the last laugh.
You, probably not so much.
Forget that dome top reversal pattern, I see a double axle Mt Rushmore twist triple-lindy. Nearly poked my trusty carpenter's compass through the screen when I saw it!
Spoken like a newbie trader who has got his fingers burned recently. Most folks around here are not trading PMs my friend.
They smiled when I bought at $475
They snickered when I bought at $632
They giggled when I bought at $723
They chuckled when I bought at $815
They laughed when I bought at $945
They guffawed when I bought at $1,035
They started listening when I bought at $1,257
They whimpered when it got to $1,500
Guess who's laughing now?...
The Japanese also differ in that the work ethic is alive and well.
If I had ten dollars for everytime that my clients ,or suppliers told me they cannot fill jobs of
anykind ,I would retire now(not really,will be taken out feet first prolly).
The great American worker lives with the Unicorns now.
So where are you, North Dakota or Oakland?
South Florida.
Case in point.
Supposed to have three people working today.
No show.No phone call.Nothing.
Welcome to the American reality show.
Welfare isn't that great in Florida, so what's the deal? Middle class can't afford to live there? Drug dealing too lucrative? Ethnic issues, or all of the above?
Wish I knew.
Seems to me its a combination of things.
Starts with no effective discipline in schools and goes from there up the food chain I would
guess.
Know when I went to school just the fear of corporal punishment instilled a lifetime
of puntuallity,and courtesy(fight club excluded).Made me buckle down and achieve in schools,
remember most everything learned as well from 40+ years ago.
while I've no idea the age of your missing workers, I've noticed that the younger folks minds are so agitated by gadgetry they find it difficult to adapt to any mundane job tasks for long.
while discipline was taught in times past, in order to create patient workers, it seems the consumer class now just exists to. . . consume.
Late twenty somethings.
Life consists of mundane repetative tasks, whatever iGadgets we might have.
Patience is a requirement to avoid insanity whilst doing them.
Who knows what this generation will breed and nurture to replace them.
Hope I will not be here to find out.
ahh yes, that under-30's demographic. . .
while I agree that mundane repetitive tasks get noticed as such the older we get, I'm sure you also remember when those same tasks were considered beneath your participation. . . particularly in a culture that worships and elevates youth. most young people have yet to take on the full responsibility for their styled-lives, and have many crutches including family, .gov, etc. to cushion their playing the game of life.
it's only those who have no other options to live on that will turn up daily to do the tasks they're paid to do. as has always been true.
Hardly.
After getting my engineering degree I turned down oppotunities to walk into management
at several firms.I was well aware of the difference between theoretical, and practical skills.
Worked in several types of engineering companies over several years as
a janitor,power press operator,then setter,then toolmaker,plus a stint as a pipeline
welder.Then I launched my career.Got a reputation as an engineers engineer.
Whatever other engineers could not do, no matter what the theory said, ended up in
my factory.Eventually sold out the plant,but kept the patents and am stil getting license
fees now(18 months left on that).
Have natural stone restoration business now which is very satisfying ,apart from dealing with
staff.
erhm, apologies, I thought it was your missing employees raised in the recent culture we were discussing. . .
Thanks Winston. I see all sorts of conflicting stuff on jobs. A lot of it is the urban/rural split. Low wage jobs where no one can afford to live. Thanks Ben.
I think you're right about discipline. The young around here don't plan past next Tuesday. If they have cash in their pockets, they feel no pressure at all to work. Things are tough, but if you don't get some work experience early, the world goes on without you.
So, what are you paying, $5 an hour and a burrito for lunch?
So, are you a roofer?
Reminds me of a couple of trust fund families. The old man, the square, made the money. He dies. Wife spends, kids spend, lots of thrashing around, mates, marriages, houses, moving, trips, cars. All the paid off property is mortgaged. That's spent. Accounts are cashed out. Move ins to luxury rented homes. Downsized every few years. Finally a one bedroom condo with cats and poorly painted cabinets and a few old friends.
Financializations not bad. Evil. It's is just a way for resources to be transferred from the less, or not, productive to the more productive. This is a good thing.
Even the fedgov taking by force, taxes, edicts. It's not too hard to get around, if not profit.
The old west is littered with ghost towns. Now the east is littered with ghost industrial towns. It's cheaper to keep the low watt, born alcohol/crack damaged zombi in unused, decaying housing. Think of Detroit, Camden, ect as storage lots for excess labor. EBT for human clunkers.
Not a concidence. Watch this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmUzwRCyTSo
People were purposefully turned from citizens into consumers--thanks Edward Bernays, the inventor of Public Relations!
The Yuppie the idol and icon of the past economy: addicted to consumerism and a narcissist to the core. Someone who could have it all. Someone who always believed that greed is good and lived that way.
It was always clear to TPTB that actual Yuppies must be kept few and far between. The overwhelming majority were to be Aspirational Yuppies aka Wannbe Yuppies who would go to any length to live the dream using credit cards, mortgages and loans as their chief weapons.
When the Yuppie Wannabes crashed as the bubble finally burst in 2007-9 (sub-primers were perfect yuppie wannabe patsies, being sold on the dream as something for nothing), the world underwent an existential crisis: The global financial system depends on the survival of the wannabes to support mindless growth in useless crap and the stream of middle men who mark up at every step. They were the supply-side conduits, the end-demand. There is currently nothing to fill that void. And as time marches on, the wannabes are biting less and less.
Hands-down one of the best articles I've seen on ZH in years. Kudos Charles.
I thought it worth mentioning that as alluded to in the epic Hayek book, Road to Serfdom, a materialistic culture virtually ensures that the most narcissistic sociopaths will find their way to the top. It's awfully hard to imagine someone more narcissistic than Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. Voters tend to vote for those they view as reflective of themselves.
"Capitalism" doesn't create that need. "Capitalism's" success enables people to choose personal gratification to the exclusion of all else if they desire. Will you force them to choose something else? I think a more accurate statement of his sentiment is that human nature itself results in great fluctuation of wealth.
I think the word capitalism itself is misleading because it sounds like a contrived and enforced system, like some "unjust" version of communism. Go back 10000 years, see people trading skins for spears and you'd call that capitalism. It's when people do what the hell they want to do.
So, I'd just say be wary of anything that smells like coercion. One of our great modern achievements is the sophistication of the abstractions that justify one person taking what another has produced.
+1 Very nice of you to remind everyone, thanks.
(Your up arrow isn't happy with the italics)
...Japan is the leading-edge of the crumbling model of advanced neoliberal capitalism: that consumerist excess creates wealth, prosperity and happiness...
I find it hard to see how one can issue a critique of "capitalism," neoliberal or otherwise, using Japan as a model or indicator - much the same way that it's hard to see the point of calling what has been going on in China for the past 40 years "communism"....
both those projects were western, in the sense that they were designed to subvert the civilization of the west; the attempted exportation of bolshevism to the east was a direct result of it's failure to take root in the "advanced," wage labor economies...and when Stalin broke with his Wall St. paymasters, they were desperate enough to allow Mao to indulge his fantasies of peasant-led revolution; about the same time the CFR\Rockefeller cabal started grooming despots like Fidel for future insertions in places where successful middle class economic success stories threatened to take hold.
Although China was much degenerated under the Manchus and the era of gweilo gunboat diplomacy, Japan was an entirely different story...their advanced level of culture was such that they actually successfully blockaded the western marauders for almost two centuries from entering their sphere...the Japanese infatuation with and success at advanced mass production and technologies was a result of this cultural superiority, not the importation of Fordist techniques or American merchandising know-how...
those are myths that die hard...but the Merikan century has died harder, making it easier to see the hollowness of all of these commentators attempts to understand and describe the oriental mind and methods. If the Japanese have become "consumers" it is only because the natural evolution of their graft of this western phenomena has been blocked by TPTB from forming the special and exotic fruit it would have otherwise become...in a very real sense Japan has become a hot-house forced fruit experiment, untrue to the delicacy of it's bonzai-like cultural spirit.
Faced with the very limited set of choices they were left with after having two of their major cities devastated, the Japanese did what the Japanese do best - they studied and adapted to the system of the conquerer and excelled at imitation until reaching the point of exceeding the standards set..."capitalism" was a tool for that application of the oriental spirit of fanatical excellence, nothing more, whereas in the west, the occidental spirit has become a tool of the capitalist golem, nothing less.
CHS has done some well written, thought-provoking work, but this is not a part of it...I would recommend that before going east, the writer in search of true understanding decommission the cultural blinkers that come with the territory of terribly misused terminology.
The world has produced a generation of people that know nothing and can't do anything except text messaging and facebooking. In the meanwhile they demand to get everything. Perhaps they'd be good canon fodder but that I even doubt.
Nice rant, but lacking subsance.
Capitalism is the problem? When did Charles become a Marxist? Capitalism only provides the means.
A personal observation: another manifestation of narcissism is the art of body mutilation and tattooism.
Localization is not a third way but the result of economic collapse.
Look at our underclass to see how advanced the rot is. "Get rich or die trying" might be their motto but being 'rich' is not seen as having real wealth only the 'bling' that money buys. A flashy but depreciating asset like a luxury car is more desirable than $100,000 in the dividend paying shares of the electricity company because you cannot display utility company shares. A garish mansion with pool, wet bar and home theatre the ultimate dream rather than a couple of burger franchises that generate income but require one to manage.
No the underclass only wants the 'bling' money can buy not the responsibility of owning real assets.
What's with the BS pop-up ads, Tyler?
this article is kinda ironic pegging the japanese as narcissistic consumerists when the japanese culture is based upon a selflessness taught by buddhism and a societal structure that puts the individual last. i have a feeling the japanese will do what they do best which is to adapt when the collapse of the western financial system occurs. these are the people who developed such spiritual activities as the tea ceremony as a total awareness exercise in both mind and body and eating sashimi from the body of a naked woman as sushi tray, raw tuna on raw tuna.
the real fun will be in the usa where the people are, so far, too dumb to have any clue what has been done to them therefore accepting it all as the current zeitgeist in a society that has rewarded narcissism as a birthright since so long ago no one can remember when it was not normal behavior. where japan will form collectives naturally as part of their culture from the family to the village to the employer to the nation the usa will devolve into a post apocalyptic free for all where good people will be forced to do awful things because awful people want to do awful things to them especially in the urban environment. it may be different in the true rural areas as the culture of helping each other is still alive but one narcissistic wacko is all it would take to disrupt that arrangement.
as for a third way, there is none. there never has been. we are stuck with what we have. the eastern cultures have a much longer history of having nothing and wanting not much with the spirit of altruistic cooperation for the good of the whole. the western cultures are fucked and will return to their barbaric roots of narcissism.
"I Me Mine" - The Beatles (George Harrison) circa 1969:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01UipbZL3ww
"I Me Mine is the ego problem. There are two 'I's: the little 'i' when people say 'I am this'; and the big 'I' - is duality and ego. There is nothing that isn't part of the complete whole. When the little 'i' merges into the big 'I' then you are really smiling!" — George Harrison
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Me_MineConsumerism kills. Francis Parker Yockey wrote about this alienation, atomization, narcissism, materialism, etc., that results from too much liberalism.
I've read that narcissism originates in people, who are in crisis, and that it tends to be a strong trait of children/adults who experience deprivation, neglect, or some sore of extended crisis, or long-term stress, which leads them to focus on themselves, and their own survival--not materialism, play, or creativity.
I've read that narcissism originates in people, who are in crisis, and that it tends to be a strong trait of children/adults who experience deprivation, neglect, or some sore of extended crisis, or long-term stress, which leads them to focus on themselves, and their own survival--not due to materialism, play, or creativity.
I've read that narcissism originates in people, who are in crisis, and that it tends to be a strong trait of children/adults who experience deprivation, neglect, or some sore of extended crisis, or long-term stress, which leads them to focus on themselves, and their own survival--not due to materialism, play, or creativity.
Charles Hugh Smith,
Nature is a consumerist society. The No.1 job of 40 billion animals, fish, birds and insectsevery day when they awake is to go out and consume, fill their bellies. Got a problem with that "narcissism" ?
Man is no different. Not one jot.
This is a delusional article, bordering on self-hating of mans progress, especially calling Japans consumerism, anyones consumerism, "narcissism"
"Japan is the leading-edge of the crumbling model of advanced neoliberal capitalism.."
Can you even define capitalism that you can blame it for Japans plite?
Japan is actually dying not because of capitalism but because of its No.1 enemy, monopolisim in the shape of the Japanese Govt. Just as Govt sucks (taxes) and suffocates (in rules and laws) the productive private sector in every nation on the planet.
Capitalism, keynes and neo-liberlism has nothing to do with it whatsoever. This is all about a monopoly institution which does the same as any monopoly, be it social or economic, it's entirely a parasite with no productive output
Competition gives us the best, monopolies deliver the worst (of human nature). Japan is dying at the hands of Govt, as is every Western nation
Yeah, these girls are projecting what they believe to be their true selves.
This is a brilliant analysis in my opinion - though I reject the use of the word capitalism as an adjective when describing the problem. Pure capitalism (if ever it may be identified somewhere in this global system of central planning) teaches self reliance and responsibility - because in a capitalist society there are no safety nets.
Consumerism is the cultural issue, this is a sickness that has pervaded the last couple of generations. I am constantly disgusted by people who like to flash the latest techno-gadgets, or spend exorbitant sums on vehicles - and the fact that the current generation will not be able to satisfy these childish expressions makes me quite happy - they will learn to appreciate that having food, water, shelter and safety is not something to to sneer at.
Perhaps Japan is in an advanced stage here because of their economic situation - as the US crashes - I can't imagine how the current generation will react.
Wealthy people should certainly enjoy their wealth - but things are not an extension of the personaility, nor a replacement for one - this is the key to understanding of the sickness imo - that people believe that the things they own somehow define them. Living a modest lifestyle is an expresion of character - regardless that you may be able to afford more, far better to invest and build than to buy and burn.
I would stick to economics if I were you, Mr. Hugh. Interesting opinion even though it doesn't seem to make sense.
Interesting opinion, though it doesn't make a lot of sense. Have you ever tried any creative projects? And are you aware of what creative spontaneity requires? Do you have a third, or a fourth mind? Or just TWO?
My father says all the increased narcissism is due to the increase in female headed households. Because women don't paddle kids when they need it, but just holler and scream at them. But, he doesn't even believe we should have the right to vote. Just for what it is worth. I don't agree with it entirely.
Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
One of the great imbalances of the world in which we live is this: the Western nations and Japan are just about as wealthy as they will become. There's nowhere left to go, no more money left to make, nothing else left to do. There are only so many restaurants you can eat out at, only so many places you can travel to, only so many projects you can undertake. And then you basically grow old and die.
Meanwhile, the younger populations of the "developing" world are literally struggling to survive. In the coming years, yes, alot of them will stare, but it won't matter, there's so many of them. And they will fight for resources and win, because when you are hungry that motivates you alot more than purchasing your sixth iphone and listening to the gazillionth pop song.
This post reminds me of Paul Shepard's book Nature and Madness, where he lays out the argument that our separation from nature has impaired our ability to mature as humans, calling it a kind of surgical amputation of our ontogeny. He talks a good deal about narcissism, but even worse than narcissism is dreams of omnipotence. He says:
"The ideology of progress is mainly one of increasing our domination over nature. The culture is saturated with the necessity of increasing, and the fear of losing, control. The quest for power, says Karen Horney, is the trait of our time. The idea is desperately in the air - control of weight, smoking, drinking, violence, inflation, the economy, communism, imperialism, world markets... But the idea of control is merely the last act, the rationalized and articulated expression of a widely shared, frighteningly acute sense of need. The dream of omnipotence is an infantile dream that should diminish, rather than grow, with personal maturity. Unchecked, says Anthony Storr, it becomes an obsession, leading to an overpolarized world view in which everything is either good or bad. According to Louis J. Halle, such a view is the womb of all ideology of 'us against them.'"
That paragraph is a good description of our times, written thirty years ago. One thing about the book that caught my attention was the idea that this truncation of the normal maturation process is now part and parcel of our culture, and he even remarks that given all the cultural impediments to maturity, it's amazing anyone does.
The other thought that came to mind is the huge influence of television. I think it's pretty hard to underestimate how effectively television bypasses rational thought processes and undermines our free will. One of the best things I ever did was getting rid of the TV.
I'd actually say Charles Hugh Smith is guilty of empty jingoism blaming trite vacuous words for the serious issue of Japans demise.
Like left blaming right and right blaming left the truth of 'democracy' is that both left and right kill the economy, Govt sucks no matter what stupid colour you put on it or academic description of its political parties
You don't find a solution by gibbering about labels or ideals. You just need to undeerstand Govt is a wrecking ball because it sucks (wealth) and does not and never has made an economic (productive) decision in its entire miserable existence
"neoliberalism" ..."Keynsianism".....truly worthless tags to debate on
Getting rid of the TV seconded
I don't think CHS is guilty of jingoism; to the contrary, he argues from the facts on the ground, not arguments premised on ideology (at least that's the way I have interprested his posts).
While I have found myself in agreement with many of your posts, one question I have for you as an anti-government booster (and I make no judgement calls here), is: what mechanism would check corporate power, for example, companies that are chronic polluters? Let's say there is no longer any governments remaining and you have your wish. But up the road there's this guy who's sending who knows what up his smokestack. People are getting sick and healthcare costs are skyrocketing. I am very interested to hear how this kind of situation gets resolved in the absence of any commonly accepted set of rules or laws. Who is the mediator in cases of dispute? I've read Rothbard, and he argues for private courts, but private courts are much more likely to be corrupted than public courts since someone has to pay for them; they can hardly be considered objective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=WH_a0cGVRmI
http://i.imgur.com/c5y6y.jpg
Jung spoke about how the "shadow" of ourselves needs designated scapegoats to assuage our own guilt and anxiety arising from our bad actions. Collectively this is done by foreign militarism and charitable actions to make us feel good about ourselves.
Solzhenitsyn's critique of the West still rings true, his 1978 address to Harvard was about at the same time as Lasch's book. Good contribution to this site, thanks.
While I respect CHS's work...
Mr. Smith, in all your words about "Narcissism," you have neglected (did I miss it?) to give even a mention to failed "leadership" -- and how Narcissisism in leadership is always the demise...
but you concentrate on young people with orange hair, the "consumer" and everything but the force -- Narcissism -- that ultimately drags us (any organization) down, from the top down.
You end with: "We need a third way that offers people work, resilience and authentic meaning."
So you suggest that there's a "we" that needs to "offer" something...
all the while neglecting the quite problematic and likely fatal Control that has, finally, seated itself firmly -- all in the context of Narcissism.
You offer good commentary on the state of affairs at the orange hair level, but miss the boat by giving leadership another pass.
This whole thing is going down, helped along by the pundits neglecting broken leadership.
There is Self-Absorption in that very arrangement.
buy a persona, its much easier than making or earning a soul/personality through struggle , plus, the off the
shelf personality is probably well accepted and understood. Win!
I think Smith makes interesting and relevant points but he's the very last in line at a very old discussion. Every generation, going back at least two hundred years, the youth generation has been seen as radical and destructive to the "old order" of Japanese society. This sense is far more acute than the "Generation Gap" in the West. In two sort of recent examples, this effect has been transformative to Japan - when a group of yougner, disenfranchised samurai overthrew the last shogun and in the 1930s when a military clique of young officers hijacked Japanese foreign and military policy and led the country down the path to war with its erstwhile allies in the West.
The phenomenon of "perpetual adolescence" Smith brings up has been a major cultural phenomenon since the end of the war, exacerbated by a multi-millenial social norm known as "amae" which encourages a sort of psychological infantilization as part of normal interpersonal and social relationships.
Without understanding these things, as Smith unfortunately does not, it is impossible to write truly relevant exposes on Japan's plight. I salute the effort though.
One falls prey to Apple, another to Glock. Both believe they "need" their chosen item, and it somehow makes them better off.
Both have been "sold". Just admit it.
When used in a perjorative manner, "consumerism" means people who buy things the speaker believes are unnecessary, which is somehow unlike all the things the speaker has accumulated.
Let ye who is without possessions cast the first aspersion.
Classical propaganda job.
Everything is done to avoid mentioning 'americanism'.
The article is off. As a propaganda bit, it mixes factoids to cover for 'americanism'.
The whole analysis is flawed.
So Japanese disregard cars. Reason: Japanese can no longer afford.
Okay, fair enough. Due to depletion of resources rearing its ugly head, it is a sound point.
But later, it is claimed that Japanese are straying away from the same work ethics that would allow them to keep up the consumption.
In 'american' economics, there is no work ethics. 'American' economics is all about consumption. There is only consumption ethics. And that ethics set is based on finding new ways to consume ever more.
Work is consumption. 'Americans' favour work when that allows them to consume even more. They will spend hours working, with no relation to actual needs other than opening the gates to greater consumption (consumption is a means in 'american' economics)
Indians already noticed that point in the past.
But the same way those Japanese can no longer afford buying cars because the environment no longer supports the pattern, those Japanese can no longer afford working because the environment no longer supports the pattern.
They fail no work ethics. As 'Americans', they would gladly consume, be it cars or work. But these moves are no longer available. Just as when the oil is gone,in the future, 'americans' might see a decline in the fact 'americans' no longer consume oil, compared to the past, when their ancestors were avid oil consumers.
The oil will be gone. And the conditions to consume oil will be gone too.
Same here. Depletion of resources and as consequences: diminution or elimination of activities associated to the resources.
Do these Japanese fail the 'american' consumption ethics? Absolutely not. On the very contrary, opposite to the claim of this 'american' article.
These Japanese are stalwart 'americans'.
The current environment no longer supports certain consumption patterns and these 'americans' keep doing the 'american' thing: finding new ways to consume, for the sake of consuming.
There is zero degeneration of the 'american' project. On the opposite. All these japanese are poster childs for the success of 'americanism'.
But will you read an 'american' writing that? Nope. 'Americans' will not point that their system is plentifully successful, that people behave the 'american' way. No, they will keep inventing that a decline, a degeneration happened somewhere, some time and wont mention 'americanism' for sure but plenty of other defunct things in order to keep the 'american' masquerade going on.
A good and interesting insight. I would, however, only critzise one part, being Social Scientist myself.
I find it relatively unplausible to presume the consumerist narcism is a sole quality of the modern, consumerist neoliberal capitalism. It has since the earliest days of civilization always been a part of human nature to signify identity with material symbols aka consume articles. Yes, I know in the ideal of the sages humans would idenfity with their character and with what they do. But that is only possible in a small setting, either in a small village or community or the circle of family and friends. In any larger gathering of people, like modern citites and mass societies, that possibility simply vanishes. Even Cesar as a youth bought a foreign fashioned belt as fancy status symbol. But sure, in the days of mass production, where most people no longer create the things they use themselves, naturally consume articles replace the status symbols and identity artifacts previously made by yourself. In the days of my Grandparents and before, which lived in a rural area, people made clothes and furniture still themselves. But those days are gone, not because of the evils of a shallow, pampered, neoliberal society, but because of industrial mass production replaced most self-made stuff.
"Existence determines consciousness", to quote Marx. So yes, of course the mass product society changed how the think. And yes, I agree that we are, essentially barbarians living in a civilization whose ethical and characteristic skill needed to create it, we no longer posses. But consumerism is merely a symptom. And I see no real way to go back behind the industrial mass production era, other than falling back into self sustain days. And trust me, they weren't so great as some assume. Our highly specialized work-world allows a CONSIDERABLY higher standard in many areas, a self-sustain economy could never create.
And I have been to Japan. It is simply neither fair nor reasonable to take the Japanese pop culture as example for consumerist narcissm. It's simply bollocks. There is hardly any country with such a STRONG work ethos than Japan! The weird and colourful consumerist items are merely play. People play. Yes that is a sort of juvenile nature. But I can not chime into the critique, that people today are so juvenile, while the past was full of ethical, serious and responsible adults. After all, those ethical and responible generations of the past created two World Wars and several Holocausts. Sorry to take this Nazi-argument out again, but it really hightlights how absurd this argument is, people today are all unresponsible kidults. Sure, it could be better. A lot of people are unresponsible, indeed. I bemoan the situation just the same. I just do not believe a moment, this has ever been better in some glorious past and that we have a decline. If humans evolved to a sort of playful narcism, it is because human nature is like that. People want to play, to experience themselves. That is how human nature is, and you can not bent it without deform them. What we need isn't attack people ridiculously and dream of some "better past" and take back the industrial age; we need to find ways to bring ethics and responsibility ON TOP and additionally to what we have.
It sounds so plausible: we think a person who as adult reads comics and watches animated films and dresses fancyful is a less responsible person, than one who dresses in a suit and watches only French drama and reads classic literature. And that is wrong. Our entire political caste (not to mention all those serious adults from past ages!) brought us into one more horrible mess after the other. People created World Wars and Holocausts without being "made unresponsible" by reading Batman comics with 40.
I do not think some crazy Japanese Manga fans are so much to blame, if the world goes haywire, but people with power and money.
(Sorry, English is not my first language, so excuse typos. ^^)
You make good points.
People play.
- Mardi Gras
- Carnival
Sounds like a closet Communist. Western debauchery, etc., etc., etc. The tell tale was all the big words. Big words are the libs and communists appeal to authority, namely their own.
How about the real reason for Japan's dead end? Low interest rates for over a decade crushing the Japanese middle class saving for retirement. Low interest rates may be a boon for an over spending government, but they are investment killers. When the Japanese government began their spending binge they did so at their height of the Export mania by Japan Inc. (business cartels). The government officials reasoned that the only way to keep down the value of the Yen and not fall into the trap of Germany pricing itself out of the market was to print money via deficit spending. They didn't want to be the victims of their own success as it were due to rising value of their currency. This meant keeping government bond rates artificially low to drive down borrowing costs. Japan Inc went along with it since they themselves could borrow massive amounts of Yen at low rates, sounds good doesn't it?
The bad part of low interest rates is two fold. 1) Businesses rely on timelines for return of investment (ROI). A low interest rate makes it feasible to make very long periods of return on the order of decades. We all realize what is booming today may be bust tomorrow, especially when it comes to technology and fashion. This was the set up for the extrapolation fallacy, if all things being equal profits will continue forever at an ever increasing amount. There is no such thing as negative or countervailing effects in the extrapolation fallacy. Thus what looks to be a great investment in the short term turns into an ugly ball and chain 10 years out. The Japanese made many such bad investments paying absurdly high prices for land and tech for unreasonably low returns based on low interest rates. I call this cheap money syndrome. One of the symptoms of cheap money syndrome is loss of creativity and ingenuity. This was formerly called Eurosclorsis.
2) As investors seek higher returns than zero or near zero offered by the government and supported by gluttonous large corporations infected with cheap money syndrome, capital flight begins to foreign destinations offering higher return thus cutting off financing to the gluttons. It's better to stuff one's mattress with $100 notes than go through the trouble of getting nothing in a savings account. The gluttons faced with the shortage of cheap money and having based their entire business paradigm on cheap money start to cut expenses by laying off workers. Hence, limited job careers for the youth while keeping the older generation for their experience. Government central bank officials pump more printed money to help out their Japan Inc friends as their need of cheap money increases since fewer private investors are willing to park money in their (Japan Inc & Government) mattresses.
Does this all sound familiar to the current 4 years of the US experience? It should, Ben Bernanke is making the exact same mistakes as the Japanese did by giving in to the wild government deficit spending. Zirp makes it all possible with no apparent consequences until the end comes. Where do you think Ben learned this from? You actually think he has an original idea in his liberal head?
Speaking of Japan and Zirp.
Japan to join currency wars as exports slump
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9626542/Japan-to-join...
<i>has written into its manifesto that the Bank of Japan should switch to a inflation and currency target. Pressure is growing for quantitative easing on a much greater scale to break out of the deflationary trap.
Mr Redeker expects the yen to weaken from 79 to 84 by Christmas, reaching 90 next year. "We think Japan will no longer be able to fund government debt (JGBs) from domestic investors as soon as 2015. They will have to print money instead. They can't afford to let bond yields rise because JGBs already make up 25pc of bank balance sheets. A rise in yields would set off a crisis."
Mr Redeker said the yen has been kept strong by Japanese insurers and pension funds hedging their $1.8 trillion holdings of foreign bonds with currency swaps. They are now fully hedged. This pillar of support has been knocked away.
Klaus Baader from Societe Generale said any attempt to weaken the yen risks disturbing a fragile equilibrium. "A policy of currency depreciation could trigger flight out of Japanese assets. This could trigger a crisis in the JGB market, and do more harm than good," he said.</i>
Amazing how they are blaming a strong currency for their ills when in fact ZIRP, deficit spending and printing money are the source? This is in fact the exactly opposite of what they should do. Allowing the currency to strengthen and interest rates to rise to attract investment is the proper thing to do. The government should immediately stop deficit spending meaning that all the inflow of cash would go to plant and equipment expansion of the economy creating wealth instead of government consumption spending destroying wealth. Up is down, black is white, left is right...
Notice the government is getting worried that their cheap interest rate bonds are going to get killed upon the rise of interest rates. Meaning the government is more interested in saving their useless hides than the good of the country. Government bureaucrats have always conflated what is good for them is good for the country, in fact they are mutually exclusive paradigms.