Victor Davis Hanson talks with cohost Sami Winc on modern Japan including fascism, WWII, economic miracle, and Shinzo Abe. Don’t miss his thoughts at the end on Saudi politics.
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7 thoughts on “Modern Japan and Saudi Arabia”
JDaveF
A minor correction: Buddhism and Shinto are two totally different religions that most Japanese people practice simultaneously. Buddhism is monotheistic, Shinto polytheistic. To us in the West having two disparate religious beliefs at the same time seems absurd, but then many of us in the West practice a religion that promotes ritual cannibalism and the drinking of blood (Holy Communion).
I am sure Buddhism is not monotheistic since it is not theistic by precept; that said, anyone – Buddhist or Shinto or both or neither – who has studied can comprehend this false equivalency between two “disparate” religions compared with the inseparable union of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ with each person (who partakes in a state of grace with proper intent) who receives Holy Communion from a priest in persona Christi. The charge of cannibalism has been made for all time, first by the crowds who could not understand through lack of faith, then by the Romans who did not believe, yet for centuries the words of the consecration in their language, “HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM,” vulgarized by the unlearned into hocus-pocus witchcraft blasphemies. Cannibals consume the condemned; Christians consume the Living Bread come down from heaven. A meal of bread or wine is transformed chemically into energy for the flesh; rather the superior being consumes us supernaturally into His Body so that we may be one as the Father is one with the Son, that whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will be raised on the last day.
The culture of the movie, The 47 Ronin (1941), is regrettably gone, probably never to return considering a fertility rate of 1.3 well below replacement level – not unique among nations. It is a true tragedy of duty, loyalty, and honor: universal themes.
Undoubtedly the show trial hearings concerning the day before the seventh of JANUARY, named for two-faced Janus (a month after the Dec. 7 calendric remembrance), will have no problems finding orders of magnitude more than 47 witnesses to speak publicly in condemnation of President Trump, but could we find anyone approaching 47 personally capable of said devotion and sacrifice to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania?
During the discussion about Kamala Harris, I couldn’t stop thinking about the song from ‘The Sound of Music’; ‘How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45tZGDKhi2Y&ab_channel=sophia. And I imagined Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Ilhan Omar,and the rest of the The Squad as the nuns lamenting about how to get rid of Kamala before the 2024 election.
The Japanese have always been pragmatic. For instance as early as 1530 the Japanese were manufacturing their own guns based on Portuguese models and their use was wide spread by the 1540’s. But with the closing of Japan in the 1640’s guns were banned by the elite because of their intrinsic ease of use and infringement on Samurai prestige based on skills in martial arts, (“Giving Up the Gun”, Noel Perrin, 1988). The 200 years of isolation imposed by the Shogun on Japan was a historic blessing for Japan as they did not have to go through the same colonial chaos of European divide and conquer in the late 1600’s and 1700’s, (Just kill anyone who didn’t look Japanese ). By the time the Black Ships of Commodore Perry arrived in Edo in 1853 Japan had gone from a loose confederation of regional states complete with their own distinct culture, law and dialect to a unified, homogeneous nation able to mobilize and modernize in one generation. Indeed, if you want to have a look at what is in-store for the U.S. and Wester Europe for the rest of the 21st century have a look at Japan today. Permanent stagflation, lack of manufacturing jobs due to technology, a deep disconnect from the past, post-nuclear families in which individual members live in their own technology-abled communities, Hikikomoris, suicide, ubiquitous promiscuity and pornography, moral and spiritual apathy, the popular view of having children as a financial burden, hedonism and most of all alienation for all.
Also, I have had much more time to read your posts/articles during my vacation. It is really good stuff! – I pray you keep going as long as you can stand it.
Kind regards and best wishes from Jacob Naur from Denmark.
Ps. I never ever get tired of hearing about the renovation of your family house. I can’t explain why. It is just fun and enlivening.
A minor correction: Buddhism and Shinto are two totally different religions that most Japanese people practice simultaneously. Buddhism is monotheistic, Shinto polytheistic. To us in the West having two disparate religious beliefs at the same time seems absurd, but then many of us in the West practice a religion that promotes ritual cannibalism and the drinking of blood (Holy Communion).
Only if you believe in Transubstantiation! 😉 Been watching “Midnight Mass,” have you?
I am sure Buddhism is not monotheistic since it is not theistic by precept; that said, anyone – Buddhist or Shinto or both or neither – who has studied can comprehend this false equivalency between two “disparate” religions compared with the inseparable union of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ with each person (who partakes in a state of grace with proper intent) who receives Holy Communion from a priest in persona Christi. The charge of cannibalism has been made for all time, first by the crowds who could not understand through lack of faith, then by the Romans who did not believe, yet for centuries the words of the consecration in their language, “HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM,” vulgarized by the unlearned into hocus-pocus witchcraft blasphemies. Cannibals consume the condemned; Christians consume the Living Bread come down from heaven. A meal of bread or wine is transformed chemically into energy for the flesh; rather the superior being consumes us supernaturally into His Body so that we may be one as the Father is one with the Son, that whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will be raised on the last day.
The culture of the movie, The 47 Ronin (1941), is regrettably gone, probably never to return considering a fertility rate of 1.3 well below replacement level – not unique among nations. It is a true tragedy of duty, loyalty, and honor: universal themes.
Undoubtedly the show trial hearings concerning the day before the seventh of JANUARY, named for two-faced Janus (a month after the Dec. 7 calendric remembrance), will have no problems finding orders of magnitude more than 47 witnesses to speak publicly in condemnation of President Trump, but could we find anyone approaching 47 personally capable of said devotion and sacrifice to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania?
During the discussion about Kamala Harris, I couldn’t stop thinking about the song from ‘The Sound of Music’; ‘How do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45tZGDKhi2Y&ab_channel=sophia. And I imagined Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Ilhan Omar,and the rest of the The Squad as the nuns lamenting about how to get rid of Kamala before the 2024 election.
The Japanese have always been pragmatic. For instance as early as 1530 the Japanese were manufacturing their own guns based on Portuguese models and their use was wide spread by the 1540’s. But with the closing of Japan in the 1640’s guns were banned by the elite because of their intrinsic ease of use and infringement on Samurai prestige based on skills in martial arts, (“Giving Up the Gun”, Noel Perrin, 1988). The 200 years of isolation imposed by the Shogun on Japan was a historic blessing for Japan as they did not have to go through the same colonial chaos of European divide and conquer in the late 1600’s and 1700’s, (Just kill anyone who didn’t look Japanese ). By the time the Black Ships of Commodore Perry arrived in Edo in 1853 Japan had gone from a loose confederation of regional states complete with their own distinct culture, law and dialect to a unified, homogeneous nation able to mobilize and modernize in one generation. Indeed, if you want to have a look at what is in-store for the U.S. and Wester Europe for the rest of the 21st century have a look at Japan today. Permanent stagflation, lack of manufacturing jobs due to technology, a deep disconnect from the past, post-nuclear families in which individual members live in their own technology-abled communities, Hikikomoris, suicide, ubiquitous promiscuity and pornography, moral and spiritual apathy, the popular view of having children as a financial burden, hedonism and most of all alienation for all.
Thank you so much for a great episode.
Also, I have had much more time to read your posts/articles during my vacation. It is really good stuff! – I pray you keep going as long as you can stand it.
Kind regards and best wishes from Jacob Naur from Denmark.
Ps. I never ever get tired of hearing about the renovation of your family house. I can’t explain why. It is just fun and enlivening.