[ameribbean expat]

You’re not a heathen, nothing ruins a good book like having it assigned in a classroom.

I laugh when I see kids assigned to read Montaignes Essays in a classroom...the guy had lived an entire life before retiring to write, and here we’re handing it off to a bunch of noobs who couldn’t lose their virginity in an Amsterdam whorehouse.

I came across “Zen” in my early thirties, done with school- and you have to be educated to read the book, done with the army, unattached and time on my hands. The things that stick with me are...

1. The difference between the Puritans and the Victorians, and why the Puritans are superior;

2. Etymology of “Kin” and “kind”, and a wondering about who teaches people to hate their own kind.

3. His description of his sons death. Can’t have two guys riding the same motorcycle across country, then one of them gets whacked, with no consequences. But it did surprise me that the father went nuts over philosophy, but not his son’s death.

4. Finally, the discussion of Quality. An important discussion in a culture with no sense of it.

[Dan Baker]

I wrote a little story shortly after the Fukushima earthquake in Japan six years ago.

Japan’s Community Assurance: The ‘Ganbatte’ Spirit

It was an attempt to explain the quality of Japanese life and do some contrast with life in America.

Let’s face it: The quality of life in any nation is not measured by the size of its homes or its bank accounts.  A better KPI is the percent of citizens who are artists and craftsmen — people striving for perfection in whatever job they’re in, from kimono designer ... to company president ... to janitor.

 

*KPI = Key Performance Indicator