tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613513185294461165.post6043152480158269624..comments2024-02-23T17:54:11.259+09:00Comments on Kumaboshi!: Alex's Book Club - Dog and Demons by Alex KerrAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01117350345065925747noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613513185294461165.post-33906210173072378062011-07-09T16:15:22.781+09:002011-07-09T16:15:22.781+09:00I found this to be a bizarre book. I'm not sur...I found this to be a bizarre book. I'm not sure which Japan Kerr is describing. But it's not the one that I've seen during visits over the years. I've done a lot of world travel. And frankly, Japan has got to be the best-run nation I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Singapore or Switzerland.<br /><br />A lot of the criticisms that Kerr makes in this book simply don't exist in the real world. They are figments of Kerr's imagination. I also find it bizarre that Kerr chooses to live in a nation that he has nothing but contempt for.<br /><br />In reality, Kerr's own nation, the U.S., the country that is poorly run. Over the past three decades, the U.S. has been the worst-run nation in the First World. Evidence for this includes America's titantic trade and fiscal deficits and our sinking currency.<br /><br />In shot, Kerr is full of sh*t (as are the vast majority of English commentators about Japan these days). I suspect this suits Tokyo just fine. The Japanese leadership has long sought to keep the West in the dark as much as possible about the real state of Japan. For one thing, Tokyo is sick and tired of the U.S. lecturing and patronizing Japan----as it has done continously for the past half-century.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.com