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Scenes from a Chiba Supermarket
One aspect of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami is that it has caused certain food items to disappear from stores all over the Kanto region. Although I live in Chiba, hundreds of kilometers away from the disaster area, you'd be hard pressed to find milk, rice, bottled water, bread, instant noodles, or any other packaged ready-to-eat item. That said, the shelves are still full of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and fish.
The shelves at my local supermarket look like this:
These food items started flying off the shelves last Sunday. I knew something was amiss as I headed out with my wife to do our Sunday shopping. The first thing was the huge traffic snarl right in front of where we live. People were lining up around the block to get gas at the local gas station. The lineup stretched at least two blocks and was clogging up the intersection. We took a detour and headed to the supermarket. The parking lot was full (that was odd), so we went to Yamaya instead. We were greeted by empty shelves. All of the bottled water and rice was gone. Back to the supermarket, it was the same story. No bottled water, no rice, no bread, no ramen, no packaged food. It was all gone. A trip to two more supermarkets revealed the same. The shortage of food also extended to delivery services such as CO-OP and Pal System. Our order from CO-OP was missing all the packaged food we ordered.
My wife seems to think that all we need to do to prepare for an earthquake is to have just enough to survive for two or three days until aid arrives. The response to the tsunami tells me otherwise; coordination from the government has been bad. It's been a week and these items are still missing from store shelves. Food has also been slow getting to the disaster area. Perhaps the public knows better than to expect a coordinated response from the government?
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Similar situation at SOME supermarkets in Kansai. It seems to depend on which supermarket you go to. The local AEON is missing a lot of those same items, whereas the local ITOYOKADO has everything.
it is hoarding. plain and simple. i saw an elderly couple buying 50 kilos of rice on the 2nd day. went to kyoto on business and saw a guy at the station with about 15 packs of diapers and enough baby formula tolast about 6 months. no looting, of course. just orderly hoarding. . . . i guess it seems less shameful if you pay for it?
You cannot say they are hoarding. They might be buying them to send to their friends and relatives in the devastated area.
Some of the same in Ibaraki too, mostly gas. Shelves still full and people going about their daily chores. The Japanese are talking to each other more now. People standing in line at the supermarkets start chatting each other up. Never seen that before. My garden is full of winter vegetables now.
hope youre doing ok..ive been checking the site for the last week..hoping that you were not dead.
The grocery stores >ive< seen here in kansai are doing ok..maybe you should think about a brief (maybe no so brief) sojourn south.
take care...
Dave
Thanks CanadaJin,
I had planned to write more about the disaster but was just too busy with work and the family. I was in Yokohama when the quake hit and had a place to stay the night since the trains were stopped. Nothing exciting on my end. I was giving a presentation when the quake hit and the seminar I was in was over once the second large quake struck. After that we were glued to the TV watching the tsunami strike the coast.
Food isn't a problem here, but gasoline kind of is. I have a quarter tank left but all the stations in my part of Chiba were closed yesterday. Things are supposedly getting back to normal, but until then, I won't be driving much.
Shawn
Anyway, I'm in Yokohama, and bread is slowly strting to reappear on the shelves. I wonder if the North Kanto/South Tohoku radiation scare is going to further affect supplies and demand, though. Seriously, I don't know how much more fricking sembei I can take.
Ironically, I think a lot of people (practically everyone I talk to) is using this as a time to make an emergency bag and a stock of emergency food. Those who already had an emergency food cache were reminded to look at it and found that everything expired in 2005. Thus, more buying.
Doesn't explain the bread and milk, though. Why hoard milk?
Either the supply was disrupted, or people are stupid.
I know here my money is. ;)
The one thing that has really stood out in the supermarkets and convenience stores around my place is how there has been little bread. I saw some today but no sliced bread.
but...powdered is really yer best option.,.,with a healthy supply of Capn Crunch, or Quik.
Definitely a case of closing the barn door after the cow has run away! I wonder how those buying huge amounts of food to send to stricken relatives up north are going to get it there? The mailmen are using bicycles up where I live and the delivery companies are using their trucks to deliver emergency supplies. I don't expect to get the school supplies I ordered for another month or so. The trains still don't work either.
Things like milk, bread and eggs depend on a quick and effecient transportation system to get them to the market on time. I think this disaster shows how dependant we are on gasoline and how much we need to change that. In WWII they used steam powered trucks and buses. Are there any of those old relics around? They might be good now!
Even electric cars are dependant on a generous supply of electricity and an intact electrical grid to supply it. I don't think Japan can guarantee that in the future. Hopefully there will be no more nuclear power plants built in this country and the ones that are here now will be shut down ASAP. I'm not against nuclear power myself but I think the Japanese have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they can't be trusted to use this technology safely.
As much as certain people love to malign the Japanese for their supposed stupidity I think we have seen that the they do know when their leaders are lying to them and when they are being gulled by the electric company. Hopefully they will stand up to these scoundrels and say, "No more!"
No-one's going to be standing up about anything. After half the population have been radiated, they'll just be a quick bow of apology from the people responsible then its all forgotten about. You saw the director of TEPCO already crying his eyes out the other day. "I didn't realise the radiation was so high, sob sob" Gutless prick
This happens in America in contemporary times, whenever the weather forecasters predict a big snow. Everyone rushes to the food distributor to buy what they can--even though more trucks will be on the way.
I can only imagine that in a triple crisis like what eastern Japan is having, you see the same kind of thing.
HOARDING
I think it is a pretty basic human reaction, and think people should not draw too much into it.
Our prayers and thoughts, meantime, are for all those in Japan, impacted by the gut wrenching event driving it.
PS: “The closing of the GEOS NA thread”. Congratulations “Let’s Japan”, for closing that pointless, tantrum of a thread. GEOS sucks, but the continued GEOS NA bang-on, more or less immediately following the catastrophe, in addition to being nauseatingly childish, was grossly insensitive, darn right offensive, and point blank annoying. Well done. Everyone was sick of it prior, and even more so, after.
some good insight here for the panic mongers...
the first is a video about the earthquake..for kids really..but still..very Japanesey and cute
the other 2 are serious articles absout the radiation..and the media's role in making this whole thing worse than it needs to be.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/21/fukushima_vid/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/25/fukushima_scaremongering_debunk/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/22/fukushima_tuesday_2/
The media traditionally does cause hype and panic, because hype and panic sells.
There is nothing new in this.
On this epic tragedy, however, I see little, for reporters to grasp hold of, and deliver to the public, that would truthfully ease any unnecessary sense of panic or fear.
It would be false reporting, to suggest that catastrophic meltdown, and release of massive amounts of radiation, is not a real and ever-present threat.
I honestly think, the problem is, the Japanese media have in fact down played the threat, all along, the group consensus being to avoid hype and panic (which has come anyway).
It just goes to show, you can feed the public bullshit, you can feed the public horseshit, you can feed the public truth and honesty – no matter, they make their own interpretations, and react accordingly, unless restrained at gunpoint.
Actually, the guns do nothing, in the long termer either – look at Libya and surrounds today.
Damn, the Japonphiles (obsessive types) are on here once again spouting the Japanese-government-or-Japanese-people can-do-no-wrong-ever mantra once again. Hmmm, wonder why the Japanese just asked France and the U.S. to HELP with the radiation issue if their really is nothing wrong? Or why they just raised the alert level to the MAXIMUM standing. Hell, why are they NOW asking Japanese residents to move back even farther; the U.S. and the rest the world new this a while ago, but hey, they are "overreacting"? Or, maybe why the once always stoic Japanese are a) protesting nuclear power in the streets and b) hoarding supermarket shelves....
When the smoke settles (and radiation doesn't fry everyone) one wonders if Japan will answer the rest of the world on why it built its so many nuclear reactors, so close to the sea, with so many residents around on an EARTHQUAKE FAULT! Until then, keep making excuses for Japan and saving face for their inability to face the truth. Reminds me of WWII.
Some good reading just to balance things a little...
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Japan+getting+outside+help+conta...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12903072
http://fxn.ws/g9qY5o
Damn the Japanophiles: what bullshit. You seem to equate Japanese people in general with their government and big business. That is always a mistake in any country. The people's stoicism in the face of catastrophe should not be mistaken for ignorance. People know very well what is going down. If you want revolution: go to Libya. How long did they and the Egyptians wait to become revolutionary?
No, some of us know just ow hypocritical, face-saving at all costs, and down right polar opposite the Japanese and can be, We are not blinded by an infatuation with anything Japanese. We have been there and done that. We are a little more realistic. Japan has many dark, hidden secrets in addition to its obsession with not showing any failure or possible mistake.
And if any one defines Japan with their government and "bug business"/ government, it has been the Japanese themselves for many years. This was their pride that they could use to "get back" at the West and others for losing WWII. I am not going to go into it, but I could recommend a few books, some eye-opening research, etc.
And nobody is talking about Obama's failure in Libya. That is for another site. So please save your idiocy for somewhere else. Amazing how when you do not like someone's opinion you absurdly try to connect it to something else.
If this was true, then why have we seen hoarding in supermarkets in a typically un-Japanese style? Why have so many people left Tokyo and headed south or out of the country? Why has the government finally asked France and the U.S. for help? Why has the government finally (!) extended the evacuation zone for its citizens. even though the rest of the world called for it before? Why have several U.N. experts have called for Japanese to be more open with its nuclear data? Why is the Japanese government already blaming Tokyo Power & Electric when the crisis is still ongoing? Why do the Japanese need so much foreign help if everything is a-ok? Why are there snap anti-nuclear protests in Tokyo by "stoic" Japanese citizens this week?
Neither you or the Japanese can answers these questions honestly...The new reality has yet to set in in Japan, with years of clean up, people out of work (a farmer just hanged himself because "the vegetables were gone"...so much stoic), radiation contamination everywhere, etc., etc....
Absolute garbage, my friend: Sure, there is hoarding going on. There are two points to make about this: firstly, many people are buying stuff to send to others. Secondly, it really doesn't take that many people to cause a run on anything, the markets are that finely tuned. On the so many people have headed elsewhere, the answer is not that many people have. On the actions of the government, that is a separate matter to the Japanese people. You should separate the two in your head.
Anti nuclear protests are a good thing. I'm all for them. Again, sadly perhaps, they are a minority action at this time. However, I do agree with your final point: the new reality has yet to set in. That is undoubtedly true: and most Japanese people are aware of that.
Given the time of the above two posts, these people are not in Japan. I just returned from Japan week after staying a little while after my contract to aid my coworkers. 1:11 and 1:14 posts are pretty much the reality now. It probably depends how much time you have spent in Japan andcwhat areas, but Japan is no dream anymore fir many. Look at the English industry for example. There is a reason the country has not grown in 20 years; it's stature in the world is declining, with China now the second-largest economy only offering some evidence of that.
15:50 is also a good post even if a little direct. But the truth can hurt because it is the truth.
Sorry for all the typos in my last post. Still working off the jet lag.
When the Japanese people vote in the government (even changing parties recently), the people and the government are NOT separate, they are intertwined. Japanese, and their aggressive supporters, love divide things when one part is not favorable of or for them. But if the Japanese people do not actively try to change the government then they are very much to blame. Although it looks like the leftist government is now even more unpopular than the last government. Things do not bode well for Japan in the future.
Don't expect to convince the obsessive Japanophiles that things are not oh-so-Disneyworld in Japan these days (or ever were). They are so deluded and living in that magic princess land of "perfect Japan that does no wrong." Some of them might want to actually spend a decent amount of time in Japan and live as a citizen there. You will find that Japan is no utopia; more like a corrupt morally (hidden from the untrained eye) where people work too much and do not actually get results. Moreover, it is a big shell game of smoke and mirrors. Recent corruption news on Gcomm on the other thread only emphasizes this. But if you subscribe to the cookie-cutter, stereotypes that so many Japanese want you to believe because they also dream of really living in this utopian dream, then there probably is not much we can do to convince you that there ARE a lot of problems in Japan and now they are starting to face up to them, willing or not.
Next 10 years: Stagnant economy continues? Aging citizens pull down the system even more? Radiation problems abound because some Japanese thought it would be smart to build more nuclear reactors on the biggest fault line in the world just to be "independent"?
The current Japanese "government" is of course to the "left" of the prior LDP ones that came before it but it is NOT remotely what any sane person would call "leftist". It is surely akin, roughly speaking, to what a supposedly "socialist" French administration would be like.
You likely wouldn't think the Japanese "economy" "stagnant" if you had large stock holdings in Toyota, Honda and the long list of other Japan-based, mostly Japanese controlled 'Japanese' corporations! Clearly you lack such good fortune! "Neo-liberal" reactionary Anglo-American mainstream propaganda media hacks go on and on about Japanese economic troubles because - just as with Western Europe (minus the UK and Ireland) - they or at least their masters think the Japanese model is too liberal and soft and humane and want to see it made more like the post-modern, Hobbesian, social-Darwinian, corporate-welfare based, hollowed-out, decadent fucking disaster-area that is substantially and increasingly the reality in the US and closely connected 'Anglosphere' states. Plus, Wall Street doesn't own much of corporate Japan for various reasons. Most of corporate Japan is Japanese owned. The Japanese labor market may be getting worse for average Japanese and Japanese corporations may be less profitable than what elite owners and managers and co. think they should be. But surely the owners of the society have things pretty much to their liking.
Beside being mostly incomprehensible, Mr. 8:09, you also failed to mention the Toyota quality issues and the failure to hold onto number one after throwing so much at it for vanity sake. But more importantly, the whole educated world knows that Japan has NOT GROWN in 20 years (0.5% growth does not count). with most Japanese having the same standard of living of 20 years ago. That while the Chinese now have passed Japan in economic size and Korea is challenging them too. We could also add the rapidly aging population that they do not want to solve with immigration and at least a mild case of xenophobia...Older people = use lots of tax money + no young people to pay the taxes = SCREWED. Not to mention most young Japanese do not dream of being (or work like) there salarymen father's who toiled in endless hours of meaningless office work and slavery to the great Japanese machine. Without that work ethic/ slavery, Japan can not sustain itself (work harder, not necessarily smarter is the Japanese mantra).
"Neo-liberal", "anglo-American" (aren't all Americans pretty much "anglo"????), and all the rest of your inferiority-complex driven wackiness...I am none of them. So much for your (conspiracy) theories.
Japan has economic and societal problems aplenty. No doubt about that. Does this make them unique? Hardly. Just look at the mess the States and the Eurozone are in. Part of the problem with the ideas in the comments above is that people are declaiming against those who think that Japan is unique and special (of which there are a few) by treating Japan's problems as if they were 'guess what', unique and special. They are'nt really. So what's the point? Why not come up with something substantial instead of aiming potshots at a straw man.
So you finally agree that Japan DOES have problems. Good to see. Because that is all some of us were saying when we were unceremoniously
Interesting though: while Canada, the U.S. and Europe might have problem (Portugal now in trouble as of today), one thing that should be noted....Japan has been around for thousands of years. So it is kind of sad that they are still "figuring things out" when a country like the U.S. is only officially just over 200 years old. It just doesn't look good that Japan has to taken so long and yet seems to muddle in certain areas badly. Maybe it is true that mono-ethnic cultures have a disadvantage in the future to those that are multi-ethnic and accept immigrants, a la the U.S. and Europe.
14:38 is the truth, even if some do not want to hear it.
It is important to realise that the US has in fact had a huge influence on Japan's economic direction over the last 20 years. The failed low interest policy that they have been following for the last 20 years or so was in fact recommended to them by none other than Ben Bernanke, who is now addressing US problems in a similar manner..
When Japan was doing well, all we heard were bitter complaints about how 'protectionist' Japan was and how the States would stop doing business with them unless they changed. Well they did change, and have been progressively moving towards an economic model that is closer and closer to that of the Sates. Look where it's got them.
Some commentators would argue that Japan isn't doing as badly as made out, and that terms like "The Lost Decade" don't do justice to what's been happening. Sure, the economy hasn't really grown, but that could be put down to the fact Japan's economy reached maturity 20 years ago, after decades of rapid growth. The Chinese will hit this wall too sooner or later. You can't go on expanding at that rate forever.
Japan is still right up there in terms of its educational achievements, and its technological innovations. Perhaps it's the negative Japanese mentality that causes such doomsday scenarios about the future, when in fact the future doesn't necessarily have to be so bleak.
If Japan was doing so well, there would be no need for people to sell them like used car salesman. When you try too hard to convince people and do not support it with facts (and too much emotion), that is the way it seems. Remember, many of the commentators now mentioning the stagnation of Japan were also those who used to talk about the tremendous growth and potential of the country. Hardly bias. I, too, was intrigued and enamored by everything Japanese at one point. But then I worked there for a few years and also studied the economics of the region. My mind changed.
1:34 your anti-Americans rants and ravings are getting a little old. Save the inferiority complex for another board.
U.S. Economists have proposed many different tactics to try and boost Japan's stagnation for many decades; if Japan does well, so does the U.S. So it is in their best interest to help them. Maybe Japan only chose to implement the bad policies, as Japan has pretty much resisted almost all U.S. advice in the past. At the end of the day, Japan must stand on it's own two feet and accept responsibility for ITS decisions, whether they came from the U.S. or otherwise. They are a sovereign country and need to stop making excuses. I am sure they did not blame the U.S. when they followed American policies after WWII to unprecedented growth. Simply put, Japan would be nowhere near where it is today without U.S. direction and support. And it also steered Japan away from it's imperialist, military direction. That is a good thing.
You are naive if you do not realise that Japan's relationsip to the US is still one of vassal and master. It's been that way since the end of the second world war. All you have to do is look at what happened when a new government tried to get the US to move their base off Okinawa. They found out the realities of what they may or may not do pretty smartly. The prime minister lost his job to boot. That is the reality of Japan today in world affairs, economics - just about everything.
If Japan does well, so does the US – what a load of baloney. If Japan is doing well, it usually means, demand in their main export market (the USA) is strong. Japan has been stagnant in the most part for the last decade, because American demand has been petering out, as the USA economy goes down the gurgler (as US total debt spirals out of control), and because Japanese Industry has been focusing on relocating manufacturing bases and interests in China.
Yeah, you are right....The U.S. is screwed under Obama and all his debt fetishes.
Japan is just as bad and will get worse. Remember, China already overtook them for second place in the world economic rankings (U.S. still number 1). With that fast-aging population, a ethno-centric mindset that is scared of immigration, and terrible leadership (how many PMs has Japan had in the last 5 years alone?), I am not holding out much hope. South Korea and China will overtake Japan's prominence completely in the near future. Hence why after many years of whining and complaining about U.S. military basis in Japan, they backtracked on the rhetoric and "welcomed" the U.S. to stay longer. They NEED the support from the U.S. for a reason.
It's a bit rich for economists from places like Europe and America to look down their nose at Japan. As others have pointed out, places like Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain among others are not doing too well. I believe the unemployment rate in Spain is nearing 20% ... and that's the 'official' and not the real rate. The States has recently been through the biggest recession since the 1930's depression and I think it's fair to say the the U.S economy does not quite have the worldwide influence it did even 10 years ago.
I don't know how well Japan is doing but I do know that it is the third largest economy in the world after China has apparently overtaken it. Being the 3rd. largest econmomy in the world sounds pretty good to me. In fact, if you look at statistics regarding standards of living put out by the U.N you will see that Japan rates higher than the U.S, U.K, New Zealand and many countries in Western Europe. To a certain extent, given Japan's demographics the downsizing of the Japanese economy is to be expected.
I'm not saying that the outlook for Japan is rosy and I believe its economic power will continue to decline in the future. But I'd rather live in Japan than the vast majority of other countries in the world.
They NEED the support from the U.S. for a reason.
That reason being severe economic punishment in the event that they go against US interests.
Yes, that's right. A lot of people probably think it is a pure coincidence that Toyota was hauled over the coals for it's faulty cars at exactly the same time as the discussions over the base in Okinawa was going on. I don't. If Japan had been playing ball, as it usually does then you can bet the whole thing would have been ignored by the US legislature. They weren't playing ball, and so all of a sudden it gets made into a big public issue and the president of Toyota has to come to America to bow and scrape before the masters.
Oh, no, more apologists. Nah, it had nothing to do with Toyota's own. Don't you remember that the President of Toyota was also fingered for his overly aggressive growth-at-all-costs decision in his desperate attempt to de-thrown GM as the king of car production around the world at the same time? Last time I checked, Toyota's own family and board expressly criticize this president's shameful little-man complex that put size over long-term quality that Toyota emphasized for years. The president was forced to resign. Might want to read a business paper or two while you are teaching verbs, especially the JAPANESE business papers that heavily critized the former president for destroying Toyota's quality.
F-ing conspiracy theorists are back. Oh, boy. Will find any excuse possible (and even not possible) to support their view of the world.
P.S. Might want to read some 20th-century economic history. Toyota would never have been born let alone survive without intensive U.S. trade assistance and open U.S. markets designed to ensure Japan would focus on economics and not imperialist land-control ambitions that triggered its involvement in WWII. Nowhere else in the world was Japan so readily accepted (and funded) than that of the U.S....Make economic friends and your enemies disappear. Imagine how far Toyota and the lot would have gotten if they remained or forced to be isolationist. Hence why Japan does something bow to the U.S. Reality.
Here was the HDI (Human Development Index) for 2009:
1. Norway 2. Australia 3. Iceland 4. Canada 5. Ireland 6. Netherlands 7. Sweden 8. France 9. Switzerland 10. Japan
That was what I based my observations above for my comment 12.43. I believe that the 2010 index has NZ and The States ahead of Japan. Of course, such an index changes from year to year but I do notice that the U.K is surprisingly low at 26. This index is compiled by the U.N to give a broad indicator of standards of living.
Given what has happened in the last year or so, I imagine the 2011 index will also look a lot different. Iceland and Ireland will probably drop down quite a bit.
Interesting thing about CHINA:
(a) Debts are currently being called in – and meeting payment resistance
(b) In order to maintain GDP, Chinese Government sanctioned an apartment building boom – with new apartment blocks all over the place, but with an astounding 75% vacancy rate, because Chinese “consumers” simply can’t afford to buy them (even when priced at USD30,000 a piece), a property bubble POP that will make the US and Irish property implosions look like a picnic in the back yard, is on the horizon.
We are not talking about a few apartment sky scrapers – we are talking cities of them – thousands and thousands of them – all with shopping malls the size of Texas, with like, one mannequin and an ice-cream vendor in them. It’s SCAREY as all hell.
When CHINA pops, then look out, and POP it sure as hell will.
Uncle Sam to the rescue? World Bank to the rescue? The normal BAIL OUT mechanisms are already “Sorry, Bank Vault well and truly empty already” status.
The Global Train Wreck is comin’ , rest assured.
Save your pennies. Cash will be King.
Of course, Toyota was at fault, and of course the media dutifully critisized them, just as Mr Hatoyama was critisized. This fault was taken advantage of at an opportune moment. I have little doubt about it.
Your other remarks, I entirely agree with. The US built up Japan as a matter of policy, just as they built up Germany again. You seem to think I am anti US. Actually, I am not. I am merely pointing out that the history of Japan since the war has largely been dictated by its relationship with the US, and that will continue to be the case until China takes over: at which time Japan will have a new master.
Regarding China, while it is now the second largest economy in terms of overall GDP the per capita GDP is still relatively low. While the standard of living has increased, it's still pretty low for the average Chinese person. I think the increasing gap between the rich and poor will sooner or later lead to some kind of revolution ... and quite possible even a violent one.
The China bubble will burst at some time in the future and there will be worldwide implications.
I agree that China has an awful lot to deal with before it can hope to attain to what it considers to be it's natural place at the center of the Earth.
However, it is extremely patient. China has been waiting for centuries and can wait a couple more. That is its key advantage. Personaly, I consider revolution to be an unlikely prospect at this time, and the policies that China is pursuing - constant cooling down through lending policies, raising of wages etc. suggest that they are so far succeeding in avoiding a bubble.
hahahahahahahah! Knew the insecure, left-wing nutjobs would appear. Damn I have been hearing about the "decline of the U.S." for the last 25-30 years now. Yes, that dates me. Still selling the san
Dear, Canadian (because you sound like one to us NZs) with the very bias HDI "numbers": Haven't you seen the U.N. quality of life and competitiveness ranking lately? Canada ranks LOWER THAN THE U.S.! Oh, yes, when Canada was on top so many years ago I never stopped hearing Canadian yap and yap about how they were, well, "on top" and how wonderful the U.N. was and such. But have you checked that same U.S. quality survey now and you rank LOWER. Yup, the U.N. has ranked you LOWER than the country you are so insecure about!!! Of course we kiwis are not in your Top Ten HDI........NZ must be a horrible and hellish country to live in.
The reality is most countries in the world rely on the good old Yanks for their economic survival. Canada would not even be around if it were not for the 93% of all exports to send to the U.S (talk about dependent on big brother) and 92% of all tax revenue (i.e. funding health care, etc.) is directly from American business operations in your country. Hmmm, some facts you probably did not want to world to see.
China should have never fallen from grace in the first place. The "oldest country" in the world (their claim) should be, well, thousands of years ahead of places like the U.S. and even Europe. Sad that they are playing catch up in the first place. Guess that's what happens when you dabble in Communism and isolationism.
"The reality is most countries in the world rely on the good old Yanks for their economic survival", because the Americans, after WW2, rigged the global currency system in the favour - all roads lead to the mighty buck.
But alas, I like American hot-dogs, I like LEVI's, and I like their movies. I kind of like some of their modern architecture, too.
I used to love their MILLER and WRANGLER shirts as well, but they are kind of out of vogue these days. Waitin' for them to come back in, but.......
Hey, want to mess with a Canadian's head a little?
"Hockey sucks!" or "Canada, who?" or "Ah, you are all just American anyway."
We learned that in Japan when a bunch of aussies, kiwis, some Yanks and a group of Brits got together for a few beers at the pub with our little Maple leaf teaching brethren. Worked like a charm every time, except we were usually submitted to two or more hours of non-stop rah-rah Canadian jingoism after making those statements. We even tried to guess how long the little maple-leafers would go on for, buying more pints for the winner. They never did get it though.
Great, they "rigged it", "stole it", "bought it", "Disneylanded it, "smoked it"....I see a lot of past tense verbage there. Isn't it time to move on? Crying never gets you anywhere. Didn't your mommy teach you that?
To the winner, the spoils. Pretty much sums up America and Japan, eh?
Well, most 'Yanks' feel that the rest of the looks up to them. I've visited America twice and it is indeed a beautiful country. Even so, the poverty and homelessness you see among the less fortunate is quite shocking. Of course, all countries have problems with things like 'Homelessness' but in America it's quite staggering.
The one thing you have to understand is that most people from Canada, Australia, Western Europe etc. would never want to live in America. 'Yanks', for some reason, don't quite get this. As an American friend told me "America is a great place if you have a lot of money. If you don't, then it's a pretty shit place to live".
And that's coming from a 'Yank' ...
Norway seems a great place to live though.
China should have never fallen from grace in the first place
Couldn't agree more old boy. Fancy losing out to the Brits and having to rent them Hong Kong like that. As for the workforce: bunch of opium addicts the lot of them. Served them right, I say.
Australia...a large island of the the coast of New Zealand whose inhabitants when not choking on sand, are drowning in sewage, or being eaten by various monsters.
New Zealand.... Tiny little country filled with little tiny men who have little tiny dicks. And who like to put them into sheep. Entire economy is based on a childrens movie about midgets.
America...too easy......
Britain...The "old man" of the group who cannot even speak its own language fluently. Continues to worship an old German woman who refuses to pay tax or apologize to the brown people her ancestors screwed over.
Ah..but we are all good eh?
I see the Chinese as being very patient and cautious, and considered in their opinions.
I see the Japanese as being even more so.
So deep is this characteristic, even the young people are quite conservative in manner, relative to the Western counterparts.
With regards to the Americans. Well, partly due to a natural cultural tendency to be outspoken to begin with, the internet has created a bigger platform than ever, for outspoken, young (and in some cases, not so young), Americans to shoot their mouths off, and speak with utmost authority, about things, that underneath all the hype and bravado, they actually know very little about.
However, I do like Cheese Burgers, Mickey Mouse, and Levis, that you can be certain of. Oh, I forgot to mention, Coca Cola is a nice drink, as well.
But I would rather be an American (I am not) than a Canadian any day. Canadians never shut up, whining and bitching about Americans 80% of the day. They are loud and nauseating. At least Americans have built a powerful, successful country. Canadians have only 30 million people (Korea is bigger!) and. Not much to show for it in basically the same time frame of American history.
Oh, and your stereotypes of Americans are, well, stereotypes. I have worked with many quiet Americans that were decent and kind. You never hear or see the quiet people; only the loud ones. And with such a large population, and until recently money to burn on traveling, yanks stand out. My Canadian teacher colleague in Japan once said there are four times as many loud Americans as Canadians. I told him there are 10 times yanks to Canucks in population...he went silent. I then asked why Canadians have such an inferiority complex, obsessively whining and crying about Americans on a daily basis? He had no answer...end of story.
To prove my point, watch all the insecure posts from insecure Canadian trying argue my experience and opinion to death star appearing on here...happens every time. Tell a Canadian you like an American or some place in the U.S. and. They go bizerk. Why so insecure?
Every English speaking country with a majority Caucasian population is de facto the same. We are all provinces of Britain, like it or not. ..."children" if you prefer.
I dont have an inferiority complex. I know America has 10 times out population, and subsequently 10 times our wealth. Comparing the beauty of Australia, NZ, Canada, Ireland or the States is like comparing apples to oranges.
Same with the intelligence of its people, hotness of their chicks, superiority of their sports, education, pizza or anything else youd care to talk about (Dante's Pizza, Thornhill, Ontario- best pizza...in the world)
Youre right, statistically there are 10 times as many Americans, so of course, there are 10 times as many idiots, pricks, loudmouths, jerks, twerps, sodomites, and so on as there are in Canada.
JUST as I can say there are 10 times as many kind-hearted, measured, and subtle people.
Have you ever noticed that there are a LOT more blind people in Japan than back home? And I can count on one hand the number of midgets Ive seen in Canada. Here?..one a week. Astounding.
Its all good clean fun to say my team is better than yours. The Yanks have a flag on another fucking body in SPACE...thats AMAZING. I am not tossed into the street if I need health care, and have no cash...thats AMAZING.
So, anyway.
When I say "you suck"..it carries no more weight really than when I tell a Habs fan they are twits, and that the Bruins are gonna destory them this year.
We all good, my quasi-english speaking cousins?
Canadajin...
Canada...Full of whiny, insecure, and cry babies who never shut about the U.S. and Americans even know everyone knows in the world they secretly want to be American. Its called an Inferiority Complex. Heck, we call them Americans anyway (love their reaction when we do, too!). Same country that has seen its neighbor to the south grow exponentially, both economically and in population...Canada? It has slightly less people than California and is dependent on the U.S. for its economic well-being (93% of all trade goes there; daddy's paying your bills). And you wonder why Canada really is just another state? Wait! California has a LARGER economy than Canada with about the same population and the recent economic problems. So much for the "10 times rule." The U.N. competitiveness and quality of life rankings rate the U.S. HIGHER than Canada now! Can't say the U.N. is friendly to the U.S. Sad. No one wants to live in Canada no matter how open and easy it is to get in (see population and lower . The Canadian government actually begs overseas for immigrants, paying money to people to immigrate, etc., while the U.S. with a more restrictive immigration policy is STILL the most popular country in the world for immigration applicants (and universities). Everybody in the world knows Canada is a little dog with a big inferiority complex, especially in relation to the U.S. Every Canadian I ever worked with in Japan or Korea would never stop yapping about America this, America that...So get over yourself.
Oh, but you did do one thing right in electing a a great Prime Minister. ;-)
Toronto sucks. Most over-rated place in the world. No soul, no iconic images, just concrete...Only people in Toronto are so self-obsessed. Seriously, Paris, New York, Melbourne, San Diego, Singapore, London, Seattle, Tokyo, Austin, Madrid, San Francisco, Montreal, Shanghai, Santiago just to name a few great cities...Toronto? Please. O_o
While I would not say Toronto "sucks" or Canada is horrible, the country is definitely not the most exciting place on earth. I think Canadians have a bit of self-righteous love affair with their little pad in the world that most of the world does not share. Maybe that is why they bark so loudly. Not a terrible place the last time I visited, but I have seen more memorable places and people in my travels.
Canada. Let me think.
I found Canada to be a beautiful country, with wonderful, welcoming, well presented, well meaning, educated and conversationally open and articulate people.
My encounters with Canadians have taught me Canadian people in general, are warm, friendly, and honest.
I also found the Canadian wilderness to be one of the most beautiful I have ever encountered.
Yes, I found people in America were nice, but I also found they are by comparison, a lot more suspicious and worried, deep down inside, than what Canadians were.
On the surface, pleasant and polite I guess, but below that, well, it was almost as if they live in fear, of each other.
It was hard to put a finger on it.
I am thinking the GUN culture was part of the cause, and the other part, well, just a natural fear, at the time, of what the consequences of the country being run by a war mongering, evidence fabricating, liar, cheat, and intellectually impaired President might be.
Yes, I last spent reasonable time there, during the reign of Junior.
Look, I made quite a few American friends, don’t get me wrong, but it is fair to say, by comparison, that they are a hell of a lot more outspoken and defensive, than their more engaging, open and relaxed Canadian counterparts.
The other point of difference I noticed. THE FOOD.
Canadians have much more sophisticated eating habits. While one should not judge a country by it’s eating habits, the standard fare dished out in America was by and large inedible, compared with Canadian food.
Also, the American beer was watery, and tasteless, compared with even mainstream beers, in Canada.
In gastronomic terms, well, America was quite a primitive place, from their best down town restaurants, to their roadside diners.
“Deep Fried Road Kill” pretty much describes it.
OK, some places were better than others, some even half decent, but in general, well, the Americans simply don’t know how to eat properly.
However, it was still an interesting enough place I suppose.
More proof that Canadians never shut up!!! Right, Big Red Ned/ Canada Jin??? Seriously, they will argue the whole U.S.-Canada thing to death.
The fact remains that Canadians are NOT much different from Americans, like it or not. Hence why Canadians where their damn flag on their dirty little backpacks like the Nazis used to. They are desperate to tell everyone in Europe they are "different" with their jingoistic flag-waving. Well, if you were so different people would not need a flag to tell the difference, right? We can't tell the difference and that is why you are labeled "Americans."
When visiting and living in the U.S., I felt them to be much more secure with themselves than Canadians. You never hear them whining or crying about the Canada endlessly. They do their jobs and have a good time. Not to mention I could see and do so much in the U.S., including seeing such a diverse landscape of people, places and geography. The U.S. has urban centers like New York, Chicago; stunning national parks; deserts, tropical Key West, the Rockies, etc...More diverse than Canada's more limited landscape and cities (once you are through Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, there really isn't much else)...I was never bored in the U.S.; can't say the same for Canada, which probably explains while the rest of the world visits the U.S. every year at a MUCH higher rate than Canada. What Canadian landmarks and icons are known the world over like the Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate bridge, Liberty Bell, Grand Canyon, Yosemite Park, etc.? Exactly.
"Canadians more sophisticated in their food"??? Obviously you haven't lived much. When I traveled and worked there, sure there was fast-food crap. But I also found some of the greatest restaurants. The U.S. still has more and the top chefs of Europe (and Canada) never dream of working in Canada. New York, LA, San Diego, Seattle, and this list goes. Some of the best dining and entertainment experiences in the world.
If Canada was so great, why then do so many Canadians live and work in the U.S. In fact (Stats Can fact), 10 TIMES as many Canadians become American citizens as do Americans become Canadians. Embarrassing stat given Canada is 10 times SMALLER than the U.S. That is a 100-1 ratio and explains a lot. Your countrymen leave. Wasn't this a huge epidemic some years back with the "brain drain"? Never saw that problem in the U.S. in relation to Canada.
My encounters with Canadians have taught me Canadian people in general, are warm, friendly, and honest. Ahhh, the stereotypes and not from my experience...Last time I visited Toronto I can't say the same. But even if Canadians are "nice", as so many Canadians will profess to you as soon as you step off the darn plane, it doesn't mean Americans are not. Canadians are obsessed with going around telling people "how nice and polite they are" or anything similar. Well, I will tell you something, "nice" and "polite" people do not go around telling people how nice and polite they are. They are humble and let others decide that. I think Canadians generally are grasping for an identity, so this is one they have latched to in the last while. Well, there are nice people in Japan, Korea, England, etc...Doesn't make you a special country or person.
In gastronomic terms, well, America was quite a primitive place, from their best down town restaurants, to their roadside diners. Ha, ha! Coming from the land of the Tim Horton's donut chain which serves, well, saturated fat clumps called donuts that are made in a FACTORY before being shipped "fresh" to the stores. And the coffee is horrible and not fair trade. The local patrons are not very intellectual nor people you want to eat beside given their horrible manner. Yup, Tim Horton's is oh-so "gastronomical." There are like a thousand of these on the side of the highway. Not to mention the plethora of fast-food chains everywhere in Canada, many not even the "good" ones. And if you ever go to Barrie, Ontario (had to for business) or anywhere else outside a big city, you will endure trailer-trash cuisine and limited food choices in the super markets.
As for being so refined, as the above poster wants you to believe, Canada is the land of huntin', fishin', and chopping down them there tress when they are not trucking 93% of their exports to the U.S. to survive. And they just happen to devote half their lives to a bunch of idiot, fightin;, toothless guys skating around a piece of rubber who also beat each others heads in every two minutes. Yup, hockey, one of the most intellectually-deprived sports on the planet with equally brain-cell lacking Canadian fans who yell and scream at the fights while spilling their beer over everyone. Might explain why the U.S. still is more popular with immigrants and has grown so big while Canada stagnates. People vote with their pocket books and their futures...No amount of talking can change the truth.
The simple fact is Canadians think too much about themselves, are self-righteous (see above post), and just plain never shut up about how "polite" they are and the like. Something to do with that inferiority complex living by a super power, I guess. They will go to great lengths to convince you how much more enlightened they are than Americans. They are just self-obsessed with the Yanks. Unfortunately, like the post above, they just seem like used car salespeople so desperate to sell themselves. Which pretty much echoes some earlier posts on here.
America Sucks. Yay China!!!
By the way, if you did not get it, the last LOOONG post was to show you how annoying you can be. Sadly, i thought you probably would not get it so had to inform you.
I will take America over China or Canada any day. That said, everyone knows England is their master. ;-)
Ha, ha! I love how 2:59 was proven right by 11:36. Too easy!
wow..no not at all full of hot air are you?
and WE are the non-stop blowhards...
it is to laugh.
anyway.
California, has a climate that can grow virtually any produce. This is the reason why its successful.
Similarly, America is blessed with a better growing conditions. Lucky you. That doesnt make make YOU as a person superior to anyone else. We have more oil than Saudi Arabia..Huzzah..Canada is "better".
Your post however DOES succeed in making you look like the self-important buffoon your countrymen are often accused of.
Your idea is that might makes right...you have the numbers..the tax base..the climate. Still doesnt make YOU Johnny Depp.
Now go eat a platypus burger in your croc blind and shut up.
Some kinda tower?
meh..anyway, I guess its not important.
New World Record Set:
A person on “Let’s Japan”, when commenting on Canadians never shutting up (refer “More proof that Canadians never shut up”), wrote 939 words via 5,470 measured strokes of the key board.
Special Notation – 5,470 keyboard strokes are what was counted, by computer, in the actual finished thesis published in Let's Japan – the tally does not include deletions and rewrites. The Guinness Book Of Records thus believes the actual number of strokes would have been infinitely higher.
GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS
"By the way, if you did not get it, the last LOOONG post was to show you how annoying you can be. Sadly, i thought you probably would not get it so had to inform you"
Hmm..........I see...........sure it was.
Thanks for letting the forum know.
I just think it's hilarious that after all this time, you're still on here ranting about eikaiwa, like the gibbering, spasticated nutcase that you really are. Watching those Africans getting shot in the head has really messed you up mate. Your pathetic attempts at reverse psychology are absolutely laughable as well, as will your response to this post.
I don’t mean to be rude Evangeli, but who are you actually ranting and raving talking to?
Sorry, I just can’t figure it out.
Well, Mr. Canada, you just proved what a couple of people have been saying on that you would continue on yapping and hollering and whining like a girl every time some disagreed with you....You proved thatt A) you Canadians NEVER SHUT UP and B) it is because you have a HUGE INFERIORITY COMPLEX ABOUT AMERICANS. You can never simply admit that some things Americans will be better. F---, I could say American toilets are better made and you Canadians would go into
While I have many of you mates along my travels, my friend from uni did. And your sad, insecure complex is what he remembers most.
Oh, Canada? Oh, boy.............
DUMBASS, THAT WAS THE JOKE!! Didn't you read what he or she wrote?!?!?!?! He/ She even gave you the biggest damn clue in alluding to doing so in sarcastic manner. Damn you Canadians are ignorant. Mate, shut up, and just deal with other people having different opinions than yours. Go eat drink some maple syrup, chop some trees, and pay your high taxes. You must be bloody bored in the frozen north to waste your time "analyzing" someone's post who was obviously (at least to most of us) sarcastic and messing with the jingoistic Canuck earlier. !
15:35 Useless post alert!
It makes you think if a things ever really break down in the world. Very few of us have the supplies etc. to last very long if normal delivery channels were stopped for an extended period of time. I say we would be at each others throats killing etc. within a week.
Neddy is Canadian...They celebrate Good Friday holiday in Canada, so he is not on his office computer whining and crying. Maybe he is sulking in the corner somewhere. Hope the Easter bunny gives him some chocolate to cheer the lad up. ;-)
I know tons of Canadians whom I mostly met in Japan. They are 90% super-cool people, MUCH better-educated than the average US doods you'll meet here. (Maybe that's why they complain about US-American folks so much...WAY too high a percentage of constitutionally-permitted US morons are allowed to wander the globe and interact with other anglo-phone individuals...giving the USA a bad 'rep' around the world (as if they needed any more 'bad press'!)
China has made amazing progress in the past decade. They DOUBLED their number of house-holds within the past decade and made it to #2 Economy in the world quite recently...and became the biggest total polluters, CO2 emitters, filth-mongers and (American-style) industrial farmers on the planet. If they had enough water and some human-rights guarantees, they'd out-strip the US economy in a few weeks, no doubt about that! But their economic model is undoubtedly unsustainable and the 'powers-that-be' know it, both 'in their bones' and intellectually...unless they are completely stupid, as well, which I think is unlikely.
The 'nouveau-riche' Chinese look at Australia, the USA, Canada and Japan and think that they will be happier living away from their extended families in their own little apartments, all running the lights, air-conditioning units, water-heaters, electric blankets and heat-producing 52-inch TVs, while their parents and grandparents do likewise...three different house-holds, instead of one, for those who can afford it...it's NOT going to work in the long-term for such a huge population and they KNOW it! So, the rush is on, right now. The "big crash" is just around the next couple of corners...it won't be that long with China's amazing growth and prodigious population. Mark my words! You read it on L-J!
[I COULD be wrong...but let's wait and see...]
I know tons of Canadians whom I mostly met in Japan. They are 90% super-cool people, MUCH better-educated than the average US doods you'll meet here. (Maybe that's why they complain about US-American folks so much...WAY too high a percentage of constitutionally-permitted US morons are allowed to wander the globe and interact with other anglo-phone individuals...giving the USA a bad 'rep' around the world (as if they needed any more 'bad press'!)
China has made amazing progress in the past decade. They DOUBLED their number of house-holds within the past decade and made it to #2 Economy in the world quite recently...and became the biggest total polluters, CO2 emitters, filth-mongers and (American-style) industrial farmers on the planet. If they had enough water and some human-rights guarantees, they'd out-strip the US economy in a few weeks, no doubt about that! But their economic model is undoubtedly unsustainable and the 'powers-that-be' know it, both 'in their bones' and intellectually...unless they are completely stupid, as well, which I think is unlikely.
The 'nouveau-riche' Chinese look at Australia, the USA, Canada and Japan and think that they will be happier living away from their extended families in their own little apartments, all running the lights, air-conditioning units, water-heaters, electric blankets and heat-producing 52-inch TVs, while their parents and grandparents do likewise...three different house-holds, instead of one, for those who can afford it...it's NOT going to work in the long-term for such a huge population and they KNOW it! So, the rush is on, right now. The "big crash" is just around the next couple of corners...it won't be that long with China's amazing growth and prodigious population. Mark my words! You read it on L-J!
[I COULD be wrong...but let's wait and see...]