Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Japan; Urban renewal -- Japan
There is no need to say much about military power. Control and
oppression by military force, a conventional technique, is very
common, with just a few examples being the ancient attempts to
subjugate the Korean peninsula, the struggles between the Taira
and Minamoto, the Warring States, the feudalist military
government, Manchuria, the China Incident, and so on without
limit. In addition, as everyone knows, in between these big wars
and incidents the dominators were constantly making use of
military force to gain power for themselves. And the present
military, though they call themselves the Self Defense Forces,
will, when the time comes, point their guns in this direction.
I will have to say a little about religion. I speak here not
only of Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity, and the new religions,
but also of all blind faith and superstitions. There is no
telling how, from ancient times, the blind faith of loyalty
(originally Confucianism) has been an advantage to the
dominators, and a disadvantage to the dominated. Good examples of
this are the elimination of those in the way by harakiri, and the
honoring of the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine. The dominators have
always deceived us with superstitions which say that if we are
not perfectly loyal, we will be punished. And now the blind faith
in the omnipotence of science [32] is making possible the
augmentation of the city's functions, thereby inviting the growth
of the plundering classes.
The traditional religions teach us not to become attached to
material things, and as proof to that they tell us to make
offerings. Show the extent of your belief, they say, with a
widow's mite. And in this way, with each small drop adding to
their ocean of wealth, they have built not only their head
temples and headquarters, but boast of their branch temples,
missions, and other splendorous buildings, ostentatiously display
their decorations, feed their priests and officials, and scale
the heights of prosperity with only contemptuous regard for the
poverty of the people. And very important here is the fact that
the dominators, in the shadow of religion, have used these
religious teachings as tools for the placation of the people, and
through exchange have offered the riches concentrated in the
shrines and temples as the capital resource for domination. This
is without a doubt the reason that the central government has,
from the Tomb Period through the Nara and Heian Periods, helped
the religions prosper.
If We Banish Money, the Cities Will Perish
In addition to the force of arms and religion, money has been an
instrument of domination and exploitation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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