Mickey Mouse

[spook 0]

nice links oyuki.

how happy are you?

 

http://www.itint.co.uk/hpisurvey/

 

my results:

Your personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 47.9, which is similar to that of Italy, Switzerland or Iceland. This is above the UK average, about the same as the world average of 46, but well below the reasonable ideal we have set, of 83. Your score is above that of your country, 34.1.

 

i'm not really sure how i'm suppossed to hit 83, seeing as i pretty much am happy with everything. oh well. that result has made me depressed

[bushpig 0]

I wasn't saying that Japanese are extremely happy people. I was merely pointing out that owning a few disney-themed spoons or dishes might be just a small thing that they enjoy. And there doesn't necessarily have to be anything wrong with that. Time to pull off all that snow gear made in sweat shops oyuki and stop having fun at the expense of all those exploited children.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

we are having fun at the expense of someone else. I try to justify it by making small efforts to reduce how much i exploit, and at least be conscious off it. i usually e-mail the outerwear manufactures and ask them about their labour standards before i buy their stuff. I am probably not getting the full story, but until there is universal 3rd-party certification for all sweatshops, i am left with that.

 

that and buying used, if i can.

 

But that is besides the point. I guess what i see is a very superficial happiness here, or at least the appearance of happiness. Perhaps thats a better way of putting it.

 

After all, if someone is truly happy and content, would they need to express it through stuffed animals and characters whose main audience is children?

 

and Spook, i guess i am doing OK. I had a rough period a couple of years ago that i am finally getting over and onward.

[thursday 1]

that was interesting spook, I got a happy index of 70.1 which means I should be hugging strangers. Funny I don't feel that way.

 

 

[thursday 1]

Oyuki, by your standards you should not be wearing any labels like

 

Nike

Gap

Tommy Hilfiger

Guess

Reebok,

Addidas

Polo

name it. These are all sweatshop made.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

Oyuki, by your standards you should not be wearing any labels like

Nike
Gap
Tommy Hilfiger
Guess
Reebok,
Addidas
Polo
name it. These are all sweatshop made.

why would i wear any of that crap? i amy be a hypocrite, but iu am not THAT glaring of a hypocrite. No, i have none of that stuff.
Thats not to say that i don't have any sweatshop-made goods, i'm sure i do. The Mac i just bought was assembled in China, and i have no idea what the conditions were like. As is the case with most of my shoes. However, we have craeted (or allowed) a culture where exploitation of other, poorer counties is now a standard, and almost impossible to escape.

like i said, i try. i don't acieve perfection, but i try.

[thursday 1]

using is not turning a blind eye. But I don't look upon everything I do as a moral obligation to the world. I live, I let live.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

i find some happiness in trying to live morally. i don't want to turn this into another discussion about global economics.

 

I just find that happiness in Japan is proclaimed everywhere, is a central theme in pop culture, and to western eyes, very cliche in its delivery.

perhaps this is to make up for the lack of happiness here. Not to say that there are no happy people, there are. Especially where i am in the countryside.

But as loudly as happiness is proclaimed, it is tempered by reality of an espescially harsh conformity and obligation.

[thursday 1]

you can live morally without perceiving you owe the world a moral obligation.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

sorry, i edited my post while you were responding.

i'm not sure i understand the concept of 'owing the world' a moral obligation. People that act in a way that causes the least friction between their heart and their head are moral, i guess.

[spook 0]

this is an oldie, but a good email exchange between a customer and nike

 

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blnike.htm

[Oyuki kigan 0]

read about that in Adbusters.

[soubriquet 0]

 Originally Posted By: Oyuki kigan

But as loudly as happiness is proclaimed, it is tempered by reality of an espescially harsh conformity and obligation.

That's a gross generalisation. We regularly make a commitment to each other, and she runs her life her way. If you don't want to meet a Japanese lady with a spine of steel and a will to live her life her way, don't come here.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

i was speaking with the salariman and Japanese society in general in mind, but i am glad that you have found someone like that. i would LOVE to find someone with the courage to live life her way, but that is hardly what i am finding here. For my age, at least.

The vast majority of girls i have met have little desire to break out of social norms and really do what their hearts desire. From the girls i have talked to, the pressure to conform is enormous. Many of those that want to escape the conformity and follow their dreams leave Japan, and don't come back.

 

Soub, is your lady, and your relationship in general the norm in Japan?

 

If living within a social norm brings happiness, all the more power to them.

 

And i was thinking about it, i guess living morally is very much important to the talk of happiness. For me, acting morally is acting in a manner that generates happiness (in yourself and others), or in the very least, minimizes unhappiness.

[soubriquet 0]

Oyuki

 

I have the greatest respect for you and your wish to live a moral life with a fine lady. You need to disconnect this with Japan.

 

Given time you will find your partner. It took me 53 years. Nothing is ever perfect. We still have struggles, but we work for the same objective.

 

My ambition is to be buried here. I've lived in the UK and Oz, and the finest people I've met are in Japan.

[thursday 1]

eh?? do they allow blatant soil contamination like that?

[soubriquet 0]

OK. I'm radioactive. Dump my ashes in the Mogami, and I'll be polluting the Sea of Japan.

[gerard 6]

Anyway, Mickey's rubbish.

[spook 0]

i just saw 2 'cool' people wearing mickey mouse t-shirts in my lunch hour. i guess they were being ironic.

 

where do tattoos of mickey and minnie copulating fit into this whole debate?

[Oyuki kigan 0]

was it a "cute" tattoo?

[NoFakie 45]

I can't stand Disney the corporation, but Mickey Mouse is far from the worst thing about them.

 

We've got a little un and she likes the Mickey Mouse tv shows I illegally download for her for a bit of English exposure. The programme has a couple of songs on it by They Might Be Giants and they're actually pretty catchy. In the show, the magic word is "Oh Tootles!" Donald is much cooler than Mickey though. Mickey's too bland.

 

As for the marketing one, I find the so-called "educational" Baby Einstein videos far worse than the Mickey Mouse show. Whoever made them wants a bloody good kicking. There's about half a dozen adverts and branded title screens that you're forced to watch before they start.

[spook 0]

and there's been a few articles lately saying that the baby einstein vids may actually be detrimental to kids

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/08/baby-einstein-m.html

[soubriquet 0]

Warner made much better cartoons than Disney. Compare them

[bushpig 0]

Hell yeah.

[veronica 2]

One of my good Japanese friends is mad on Mickey. It's the only thing about her that I think is a bit --- strange. She's an intelligent 28 year old Japanese lady. University educated, got a good job. In all other ways normal. Just got a Mickey Mouse / Disney thing going on in a big way. Then again, if she wants to like it, up to her I suppose!