Friday, July 10, 2009
Super Fun Happy Government!
I'm a big fan of the 80's. Back then, the number one threat to the human race was communism and the most prolific form of entertainment on television was stand-up comedy. I can remember one man making a humorous observation that there was a clear inverse relationship between the name of of a country and the relative prosperity of its people. The Iron Curtain has all but collapsed by now but his joke still stands: between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which one do you think has widespread poverty and an oppressive totalitarian government?
I guess there's just something in politics that encourages the people at the top to assign pleasant-sounding names to completely unpleasant things, or even unexciting things. For example, Japan's main political party for the last fifty years isn't called the Conservative Party, they're the Liberal Democratic Party. But that's nothing compared to the folks behind this poster I spotted on the way to the station:
"The Happiness Realization Party?" Even without hearing what they want to do, you're already rolling your eyes, aren't you? Just wait, it gets better. The poster offers us two tiny glimpses into their crazy, crazy world. On the right, it says "Amend Article 9. We will protect Japan from North Korean missiles." Article 9 is the infamous "pacifist clause" of the Japanese constitution that renounces their ability to go to war. That hasn't stopped them from building a substantial Self-Defense Force but that has prevented them from ever attacking another nation. The general public and most sane leaders embrace Article 9, but there have been a few vocal politicians who insist the clause is somehow tying Japan's hands in international relations. Either way, you don't normally see "let's get back into the war business" on political posters.
On the left, it says "Abolish the consumption and inheritance taxes. We will double your assets." Consumption tax in Japan is set at a relatively benign 5%, nearly half of what New Yorkers pay. I don't know the ins and outs of Japanese inheritance tax, but I'm betting it doesn't add up to much unless you're taking in an incredible sum from dearly departed Grandpa. So both of these are aimed at letting the rich stay rich, even though this poster was placed in a neighborhood of modest apartment buildings. Also, I cannot resist pointing out that the very first example sentence for 幸福 ("happiness") in my Japanese-English dictionary is "money can't buy happiness." Guess that wasn't in their edition when they drafted this ad?
I guess I don't blame them for going with "The Happiness Realization Party" over something a bit more accurate, say, "The Trigger-Happy Misers," but couldn't they have at least tried to play it cool for the poster? For all the fuss they made about gay marriage, you don't see many U.S. right-wingers proclaim in their literature "We hate fags." They class it up a bit, use obscuring language and simply imply that they endorse discriminating against certain types of people. Japan could learn a lot from them. Then again, I don't see why the GOP doesn't go ahead and improve their image by totally stealing this party's name. Americans love Happiness!
I guess there's just something in politics that encourages the people at the top to assign pleasant-sounding names to completely unpleasant things, or even unexciting things. For example, Japan's main political party for the last fifty years isn't called the Conservative Party, they're the Liberal Democratic Party. But that's nothing compared to the folks behind this poster I spotted on the way to the station:
"The Happiness Realization Party?" Even without hearing what they want to do, you're already rolling your eyes, aren't you? Just wait, it gets better. The poster offers us two tiny glimpses into their crazy, crazy world. On the right, it says "Amend Article 9. We will protect Japan from North Korean missiles." Article 9 is the infamous "pacifist clause" of the Japanese constitution that renounces their ability to go to war. That hasn't stopped them from building a substantial Self-Defense Force but that has prevented them from ever attacking another nation. The general public and most sane leaders embrace Article 9, but there have been a few vocal politicians who insist the clause is somehow tying Japan's hands in international relations. Either way, you don't normally see "let's get back into the war business" on political posters.
On the left, it says "Abolish the consumption and inheritance taxes. We will double your assets." Consumption tax in Japan is set at a relatively benign 5%, nearly half of what New Yorkers pay. I don't know the ins and outs of Japanese inheritance tax, but I'm betting it doesn't add up to much unless you're taking in an incredible sum from dearly departed Grandpa. So both of these are aimed at letting the rich stay rich, even though this poster was placed in a neighborhood of modest apartment buildings. Also, I cannot resist pointing out that the very first example sentence for 幸福 ("happiness") in my Japanese-English dictionary is "money can't buy happiness." Guess that wasn't in their edition when they drafted this ad?
I guess I don't blame them for going with "The Happiness Realization Party" over something a bit more accurate, say, "The Trigger-Happy Misers," but couldn't they have at least tried to play it cool for the poster? For all the fuss they made about gay marriage, you don't see many U.S. right-wingers proclaim in their literature "We hate fags." They class it up a bit, use obscuring language and simply imply that they endorse discriminating against certain types of people. Japan could learn a lot from them. Then again, I don't see why the GOP doesn't go ahead and improve their image by totally stealing this party's name. Americans love Happiness!
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