I have lived in Japan for 3 months now and the difference between here and the United States is unbelievable.
So is the culture in Japan better or worse than the U.S.?
My Take:
So I am going to start this one with a single paragraph that perfectly explains the difference, then I will elaborate:
Two identical trash cans. One on the US Naval Base, one in downtown Yokosuka.
Look at the one on the Naval Base. Its almost completely covered in cigarette burns from people putting out their cigarettes. There is also a lot of cigarette butts all over the ground next to the trash can, not inside.
Now look at the one in downtown Yokosuka. ONE cigarette burn on it and there is NOTHING on the ground next to it. Chances are that cigarette burn was probably from an American anyways.
I personally noticed this and it struck a nerve. You can sum up this entire blog post in that one paragraph. However I feel that I need to bring up some other points.
If you walk around in Japan you will have to try VERY hard to find any trash on the ground. This is because you will consistently see people cleaning/picking up trash. It is also very embarrassing for business/homeowners to have trash on their property so its almost always immediately removed. You will actually be scolded by every day people if they see you drop anything on the ground and not pick it up. Ive seen some Japanese people walk by a trashcan that was full and some stuff had fallen on the ground. They picked up the stuff on the ground and took it with them or to another trash can.
Another thing. I saw a landscaping crew doing yard work and there were 2 dedicated people that held up screens next to the guys who were weed-eating so that if the weed-eaters threw rocks or anything it wouldn't hit peoples cars. How awesome is that? Ever see that in the states? Hell no. Why? Because we don't care. If its not affecting anything we personally own or care about then it doesn't matter to us.
Next. It is extremely rare to see an obese Japanese person. I mean you really have to be looking to find one. I'm not saying that all Japanese are in incredible shape, but most are in good, healthy shape. Why? Because they aren't lazy. If you watch them, everything they do whether its working, walking, etc they do it with intensity. Constantly moving fast. The U.S.? Ya right. We are some lazy sobs. Even if we have to go pick something up off the printer, we sigh, get up slowly making some lame ass remark, then slowly walk over to the printer. What would take a Japanese person 5 seconds to do we take like 2 minutes, and we complain while doing it.
Lastly. It doesn't matter if its McDonalds, a janitor, or a CEO of a large company, the Japanese take their jobs VERY seriously. Awesome service everywhere you go no matter the business and if something is wrong usually 3-4 of them will jump through hoops to make sure its fixed. This is because they actually still have honor and morals in this country. I really wish we could incorporate some Japanese living into out society. It would really help us out.
I have learned alot in my time so far in Japan but I have learned one thing in particular. Americans are a bunch of lazy, fat, rude, un-motivated, whiny people. Seriously we are. Anyone who disagrees with me is probably someone who falls into one of those categories I just named.
We could learn ALOT from the Japanese. Unfortunately we are on a downward spiral of crap and because we are allowed to abuse our Constitution nowadays there really isn't any way to fix it.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Welfare
I had another request from Facebook. This time to write about welfare.
I am going to write on a more specific point about welfare though:
Should a drug test be required before you can receive welfare?
My Take:
So when I go and apply for a job, I am usually required to take AND PASS a drug test. Why? Because they don't want any issues with their business and it also shows a sense of responsibility.
So how about welfare? I did some research and while some states require a drug test to receive welfare it is not a federal law. I then found that almost 70% of people on welfare have not been required to take a drug test.
This doesn't seem fair to me. If I am required to pass a drug test to WORK for money, then why aren't people required to take a drug test to NOT WORK and get money?
There is no way to determine how many people on welfare are actually spending that money on drugs, but you can probably make an educated guess and assume that alot of the people are. Yes there are people who are just down on their luck, or layed off, or medical reasons etc. Yes there are alot of people who legitimately need the money, but its also only meant to supplement you until you can get back on your feet, not as your primary source of income.
Another google search brings up the fact that over 45% of people currently on welfare have been on welfare for over 6 months. Seriously?
I personally don't have solid statistics and most people don't, but the general consensus is that the majority of people on welfare aren't of the highest caliber. This has nothing to do with race, just quality of person.
Lets face it, most of the people on welfare aren't deserving of it. They are more than likely lazy and have found a way to do nothing and constantly receive money. I already stated that some people do actually need it but the majority don't. They are just lazy and would rather soak up taxpayer money.
So if we required people to take and pass a drug test before receiving welfare I bet alot less people would actually be on it. Or what if every month they had to retake and re pass it? I be we would have even less people on welfare then. Maybe we could weed out the junk and only the people who genuinely need it would be on welfare.
If that happened think about our national debt again.
I'm just sayin'.
I am going to write on a more specific point about welfare though:
Should a drug test be required before you can receive welfare?
My Take:
So when I go and apply for a job, I am usually required to take AND PASS a drug test. Why? Because they don't want any issues with their business and it also shows a sense of responsibility.
So how about welfare? I did some research and while some states require a drug test to receive welfare it is not a federal law. I then found that almost 70% of people on welfare have not been required to take a drug test.
This doesn't seem fair to me. If I am required to pass a drug test to WORK for money, then why aren't people required to take a drug test to NOT WORK and get money?
There is no way to determine how many people on welfare are actually spending that money on drugs, but you can probably make an educated guess and assume that alot of the people are. Yes there are people who are just down on their luck, or layed off, or medical reasons etc. Yes there are alot of people who legitimately need the money, but its also only meant to supplement you until you can get back on your feet, not as your primary source of income.
Another google search brings up the fact that over 45% of people currently on welfare have been on welfare for over 6 months. Seriously?
I personally don't have solid statistics and most people don't, but the general consensus is that the majority of people on welfare aren't of the highest caliber. This has nothing to do with race, just quality of person.
Lets face it, most of the people on welfare aren't deserving of it. They are more than likely lazy and have found a way to do nothing and constantly receive money. I already stated that some people do actually need it but the majority don't. They are just lazy and would rather soak up taxpayer money.
So if we required people to take and pass a drug test before receiving welfare I bet alot less people would actually be on it. Or what if every month they had to retake and re pass it? I be we would have even less people on welfare then. Maybe we could weed out the junk and only the people who genuinely need it would be on welfare.
If that happened think about our national debt again.
I'm just sayin'.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Youtube Video
Alright everyone. I got alot of good feedback about me making the Youtube video so when I get home from work I will be making the video. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Stimulus packages.
The government sees our economy is trash and the way they propose to fix it is to make a bunch of stimulus and bailout packages in the billions of dollars. What is the effect?
My Take:
First off lets look at the normal American.
A check shows up in the mail for $500 from the government. They say this is to stimulate the economy and they want you to go and spend it. You then take a look at the current economic crisis and say, "I'm going to save this because the economy is in shambles."
The statistics I believe were that over 80% of people saved the stimulus check instead of spending it because of fear that the economy is only going to get worse. What effect does this have?
Lets first take a look at where this money came from.
Did president Obama go to the bank and withdraw billions of dollars from a bank account? No.
Did the big banks and rich people of the world donate the money to be given to us? No.
So where the hell did the money come from? The Federal Reserve.
If you don't know who or what the federal reserve is; one why don't you know about your country; and two get with the program and do some research!
However, I will give a brief description. The Federal Reserve Bank is a group of CIVILIAN bankers who are in charge of and control our money. Look at the top of a dollar bill, it says, "Federal Reserve Note." I bolded and underlined the civilian part because that is important.
So wait, our entire monetary system, our whole money supply is controlled by civilians? Not government employees? Correct. Why is this important? It means that they aren't under government control and therefore do not have to follow the same rules and cannot be manipulated by our government.
Back to where the money comes from. So when this stimulus bill got approved, our government went to the federal reserve and APPLIED FOR A LOAN. That's right, our nation which is a world super power is asking civilian bankers for a loan. This is an entirely different discussion that I may write about at a later date.
So we take out this $814 billion loan. We then divide it up and send it out to the American people. Well like any loan there is interest to be paid. We just gave out all that money to the people, how do we pay the interest on the loan that was just taken out when we are already trillions of dollars in debt? We take out ANOTHER LOAN. Yes. We just pile on the debt. We do the same thing when we need to fight a war. We need billions of dollars to fund weapons, vehicles etc so we ask the federal reserve for money. We spend that money on the war and then take out another loan to pay the interest on the original loan.
Does it make more sense now as to why we are so far into debt?
Next issue. Where does the Federal Reserve get all this money to loan out? Do they just have an account with trillions of dollars siting in it? Ya right. The Federal Reserve UNDER LAW that WE signed and approved is allowed to create or print money. Yes. They can just start up the machines and print away.
So when we go to the Federal Reserve asking for a loan they say, "Sure! Let us create some money first, we will then loan it to you, then you can pay us interest for money we never even had!" Pretty good deal for them huh?
Lastly, and the most important thing to understand. Creating money like this creates inflation. Well Kris, wtf is inflation?
Let me explain. Say you and 3 other friends each have $10. Then say this $40 is the only $40 in existence. You are a farmer. Your other 3 friends are a doctor, landlord, and supermarket owner. The supermarket needs food to sell so he pays you $2 for your food. You have 12$. You have to pay your rent, so you pay the landlord $2. He now has 12$. The landlord needs medical attention and pays the doctor $2. He now has $12 and so on. This is the cycle of a stable economy. Notice however that there is never any more or any less than $40 in existence so you can say that $1 is always worth or VALUED at $1.
Now lets say we pass a law allowing the doctor to create money. He needs to pay his rent but is currently broke so he creates $2. There is now $42 in existence. You can now say that your $1 is no longer worth the same amount because it isn't as valuable since there is more money in existence. The supermarket owner knows there is more money available now which makes his food worth more money. So he raises his prices. This is INFLATION.
So think about this situation now. Federal Reserve creates $814 billion. The $500 sitting in your savings account no longer has the same buying power because it isn't as valuable. Companies know this and therefore raise their prices to meet the amount of money in circulation because they also have to pay more money to buy the products to sell to you! This is INFLATION.
So, how good are these stimulus packages?
My Take:
First off lets look at the normal American.
A check shows up in the mail for $500 from the government. They say this is to stimulate the economy and they want you to go and spend it. You then take a look at the current economic crisis and say, "I'm going to save this because the economy is in shambles."
The statistics I believe were that over 80% of people saved the stimulus check instead of spending it because of fear that the economy is only going to get worse. What effect does this have?
Lets first take a look at where this money came from.
Did president Obama go to the bank and withdraw billions of dollars from a bank account? No.
Did the big banks and rich people of the world donate the money to be given to us? No.
So where the hell did the money come from? The Federal Reserve.
If you don't know who or what the federal reserve is; one why don't you know about your country; and two get with the program and do some research!
However, I will give a brief description. The Federal Reserve Bank is a group of CIVILIAN bankers who are in charge of and control our money. Look at the top of a dollar bill, it says, "Federal Reserve Note." I bolded and underlined the civilian part because that is important.
So wait, our entire monetary system, our whole money supply is controlled by civilians? Not government employees? Correct. Why is this important? It means that they aren't under government control and therefore do not have to follow the same rules and cannot be manipulated by our government.
Back to where the money comes from. So when this stimulus bill got approved, our government went to the federal reserve and APPLIED FOR A LOAN. That's right, our nation which is a world super power is asking civilian bankers for a loan. This is an entirely different discussion that I may write about at a later date.
So we take out this $814 billion loan. We then divide it up and send it out to the American people. Well like any loan there is interest to be paid. We just gave out all that money to the people, how do we pay the interest on the loan that was just taken out when we are already trillions of dollars in debt? We take out ANOTHER LOAN. Yes. We just pile on the debt. We do the same thing when we need to fight a war. We need billions of dollars to fund weapons, vehicles etc so we ask the federal reserve for money. We spend that money on the war and then take out another loan to pay the interest on the original loan.
Does it make more sense now as to why we are so far into debt?
Next issue. Where does the Federal Reserve get all this money to loan out? Do they just have an account with trillions of dollars siting in it? Ya right. The Federal Reserve UNDER LAW that WE signed and approved is allowed to create or print money. Yes. They can just start up the machines and print away.
So when we go to the Federal Reserve asking for a loan they say, "Sure! Let us create some money first, we will then loan it to you, then you can pay us interest for money we never even had!" Pretty good deal for them huh?
Lastly, and the most important thing to understand. Creating money like this creates inflation. Well Kris, wtf is inflation?
Let me explain. Say you and 3 other friends each have $10. Then say this $40 is the only $40 in existence. You are a farmer. Your other 3 friends are a doctor, landlord, and supermarket owner. The supermarket needs food to sell so he pays you $2 for your food. You have 12$. You have to pay your rent, so you pay the landlord $2. He now has 12$. The landlord needs medical attention and pays the doctor $2. He now has $12 and so on. This is the cycle of a stable economy. Notice however that there is never any more or any less than $40 in existence so you can say that $1 is always worth or VALUED at $1.
Now lets say we pass a law allowing the doctor to create money. He needs to pay his rent but is currently broke so he creates $2. There is now $42 in existence. You can now say that your $1 is no longer worth the same amount because it isn't as valuable since there is more money in existence. The supermarket owner knows there is more money available now which makes his food worth more money. So he raises his prices. This is INFLATION.
So think about this situation now. Federal Reserve creates $814 billion. The $500 sitting in your savings account no longer has the same buying power because it isn't as valuable. Companies know this and therefore raise their prices to meet the amount of money in circulation because they also have to pay more money to buy the products to sell to you! This is INFLATION.
So, how good are these stimulus packages?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)