so much government, so little time.

if there's one thing my travels in japan taught me, it was the stealthy and disarming nature of government. socialism is so embedded in japanese culture that people rarely think that they might be entitled to feel or act in opposition to the group. i saw this most clearly when i worked for NOVA but i won't get into that again. recently, i found out the extent to which the government's mandates have crossed into the public health arena and i had to share this. the new york times reported that the japanese government has made obesity illegal. in an attempt to lower the health care costs shelled out by the government, men and women between the ages of 40 and 74 must have their waists measured as a part of their annual physical. if they are metabo (+33.5 inches for men, 35.4 inches for women), they have 3 months to loose it or face 6 months of mandatory lifestyle training. the idea is to shame people into loosing weight because no one wants to be singled out as a fatty. because the government will penalize private companies (who provide health insurance for the metabos), private companies have begun measuring their employees from age 30 and having family metabo days where you have to listen to lectures about how to eat right.

to me, this is a clear-cut example of why the government should not provide social services for its citizens. anyone who pays the price for a service wants to make sure they minimize their waste: if you pay for your car, you drive carefully; if you pay for your education, you go to class; if you pay for your healthcare, you eat right and excersise. when the government gets in there to provide these "necessities" it also follows that they will find it mandatory to minimize their losses, thus restricting the freedom of those that use their services.

on being a quiet american

i originally had a conflict about coming to vietnam. should i spend tourist money in a country whose political system i morally oppose? christmas morning at the vietnamese embassy further concertized these oppositions and made me a weary of testing these waters, but now that i'm here, i am glad to be seeing how communism works, or doesn't rather. this trip is not just about leisure but about education. sometimes, i am an ambassador for my ideals in conversations with others who want to share. this is not about politics, more about seeing the guts of a country and realizing that their way of life has nothing to do with my values. they have the right to live as they please and organize themselves how they wish. as long as they are not aggressors, then it has nothing to do with me. (which makes me really think about the wars...)

oh hanoi, the train, the smells, the noise...i will tell those stories later. right now i want to talk about sam and hannah, the iranian couple who shared our cabin from hanoi to sapa.


we rolled in, laughing and drunk, holding a pink chipmunk balloon and talking to everyone in the way. sam and hannah were already seated on a cot, so allan and i settled in and started talking. when they said, "iran" i was so excited because they were already so warm. for hours, i sat with them and talked to them about their culture and their politics and their conception of americans. i got to cross the lines that the borders and the media barricade between us and reach locals in places our leaders won't let us go. hannah must cover her head in public. sam and hannah have never been to a beach together, as men and women must be separate. alcohol is illegal and must be ordered over the phone like drugs in the us. but, girls do have sex with their boyfriends before marriage, though they don't talk about it. they do drink and live like we do, though they must be secretive in most ways and though i think this is oppressive and would not want to live this way, (which is why i don't), sam and hannah seemed exceedingly happy in their lives, tolerant of their challenges, and excited to share themselves and their culture with others. not all of the population is religious or even agrees with the fanatic government ruling the nation. they said about 5 to 10 percent of iranians think that way and the rest are just like them. if that is true, then i am going to iran. i have never been so in love with a couple: their smiles and warmth, sincerity and joy of life despite its difficulties. we talked about language, poetry, japan (sam lived in japan), culture and love.

and then i thought, if only 10 percent of the population are like ahmadinejad, why don't the rest of them stand up and fight against it? how could a country that was so liberal be forced back into such repression? as i asked myself these questions, i realized that OUR government is being ruled by the same concept. maybe it's a majority, but it doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it free. why can't new, innovative, radical ideas take root in OUR american society? we are always stuck in a middle rut of compromise and moderation, which is just a muddle of right and wrong. it's not easy to pass judgment on something you don't understand and are not a part of, kind of like you shouldn't take the stick from your neighbor's eye when you have a log in your own.

(for more on this theme, please read graham greene's novel, the quiet american)