NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/games/video/25829

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-24 | 3.5 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!ames!sun-barr!news2me.EBay.Sun.COM!jethro.Corp.Sun.COM!night!driver8
From: [e-mail] (Albert Handa)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: DOES AMERICA SAY YES TO JAPAN? PART II
Date: 24 Dec 1992 15:42:42 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 51
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
NNTP-Posting-Host: night.corp.sun.com

I read the posted article on Japan and it's business practices with both a great
sense of curiousity and boredom.    Boredom because the article is valid in many of
it's points but as usual, creates a tunnel-vision effect and no matter what the
writer says, it is, in effect, Japan-baiting.  Being of Japanese-heritage, I hear a lot
of the points made all the time.  More than a few "Americans" have explained these
things at me as if I was a Japanese diplomat or something.

The problem with focusing so much on Japan is that it misses the main issues as to
why this country has economic problems.  What Japan is doing, is basically a sort
of 19th century robber-baron capitalism that most of the world is engaging in.
If one looks carefully at the papers, one sees that trying to nail competitors to the
wall is something most major corporations do.

It is useful to focus on Japan, so we normal people won't notice the movement of
production jobs to Mexico, Korea and so forth.  One good example of fixation is
the hubub about that Japanese tanker carrying that plutonium.  The issue wasn't
just Japan still using breeder-technology that the west now disdains.  The issue was
also the French who sold the stuff knowing that.   The Iraqi plant the Israelis bomb-
ed was also French.  This doesn't mean that the French are a bunch of A-holes, but
it does mean that no country has a monopoly on lousy business practices.  One
interesting note:  Toshiba (not the Norwegian company in partnership) got nailed
for selling submarine propeller tech to Russia.  What was overlooked was the Japan-
ese tech was to be an upgrade of the French technology the Russians had use prior.
Also, Apple at one time tried to get permission to sell computers to the Russians
also.

Japan IS often unfair.  I personally didn't think the tariffs and such on cars was such
a bad idea on a temporary basis.  Then Chrysler RAISES it's prices to "comphensate
for losses" and I could then see what the real game was.  It's not Japan, France, the
new European trade bloc, the Pacific Rim, or tariffs (we have a bunch now and it's
not helping-we're still laying off textile workers in big bleeding bunches).  The issue
is being able to tell the stockholders that there'll be a dividend.  Nothing personal
I'm sure, just business.

Let's not get into a stupid economic war mentality.  Whether it's Vietnamese making
millions off welfare, Arabs trying to buy us with extorted oil profits (70's fun),
or whatever, it's all just a hate trip.  Let's just sail an aircraft carrier into Tokyo
harbor (commanded by a decendant of Commodore Perry, which would be a nice
media touch) and force trade concessions if we really think Japan is fighting a war
with us.

Correction:  Nintendo was only allowed to buy something like a 49% interest in
the Mariners.  The stipulation was that they couldn't have a controlling interest.
They don't own the team.

-Al

Direct comments, flames and so forth to my mail address, and keep the trade
stuff off this board.