Thursday, October 31, 2013
The Quaint Beauty of Neon Rust
First; apologies for this site being dormant for so long. My interest in posting comes and goes and I never really look upon it as anything more than a minor hobby. I like noting my personal observations but realize there are other sites out there that can say the same stuff I'm saying and say it better than I'm saying it. My thoughts would probably be better stated as "tweets" though I don't "do" tweets (I'm happily an ex-Facebook guy).
I was going to write a lengthily essay regarding the absurd dishonesty so often used in describing the so-called Tea Parties. In a nut shell, it's ridiculous that a group of concerned citizens can take a stand against excessive taxation, regulation, and the growth of government without leftland falling back on their usual nonsense about "extremists," and "racists" -- yawn.
With a minute to spare, I did want to note a thought that came to mind as I rode toward the train station where I live in Japan.
It occured to me that, in the U.S. and Europe, aged, worn, and weathered buildings typically take on a quaint charm (the mood one may find in an Andrew Wyeth painting). I realized why that is so often not the case here in Japan. Outside of cities like Tokyo, most architecture and infrastructure is from the fifties to the seventies (for a variety of obvious reasons). Some moss on an art Deco warehouse can be quite beautiful. Rusty corrugated metal, not so much.
In my eyes, the issue boils down to simply knowing when to get rid of something, or at least make necessary improvements when warranted. In the U.S. and many other places, old and unsightly buildings are remodeled or torn down and rebuilt.
In the end, this is just another of the many reasons to view prosperity as a good thing. Cities and states languishing in subsistence and decline aren't good for anyone. A society that simply issues checks to bureaucrats and a thousand and one schemes eventually "runs out of other people's money," as Margaret Thatcher famously said. It can be added that exhausting wealth doesn't help the general aesthetic environment either.
Well wishes to all as we slouch toward world socialism.
