David Howell's Oct. 9 article, "The vanity in 'green' virtues," was good to read: Japan has made a beginning. But cleaning up one's own space and throwing the garbage outside a neighbor's door will not help society as whole.
Developed nations are letting developing nations do the dirty work for them. Their consumption has not gone down; instead, they find it cheaper and cleaner to import goods from (human and natural) resource-filled developing nations, which have now turned into Dickensian cities.
But the guys in the land of plenty have blissfully forgotten that one day the smoke over Shanghai or Delhi will turn the blue sky over Tokyo's spotless streets black. Bankers in Tokyo, now pumping in raw cash into so-called emerging markets are happily collecting coins raining out of pachinko machines named "China" and "India." Each dollar invested is adding $2 worth of demand to the world economy.
I may sound like some kind of antinationalist cynic, but the fact is, we need to cut down on the fire in our minds, belly and below the belly. Mankind's only hope lies in the de-commercialization of society. We must learn to enjoy this beautiful planet as it is. We don't need to gaudy seasoning, decoration or presentation added to this godly platter. Lingerie and G-strings are enough to add flavor to sexy bodies. Today, beauty is dead and buried deep down in the garbage of human civilization.
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