Freakonomics

[stopwatch]

I know I'm a bit late on the draw (this book was published YEARS ago), but I just finished Freakonomics.

Has anyone else read it? It's got some pretty interesting ideas:

1. The drop in crime in the 90s was cause by Roe v. Wade (60's)
2. Schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers cheat
3. Your real estate agent probably isn't working his/her hardest for the best deal for your house
4. There's good reason why crack dealers live with their moms (they make $3.30 an hour)
5. The only people blatantly discriminated against in the weakest link are the elderly and Latinos (women and blacks are NOT discriminated against)

Interesting read if you haven't. What are your thoughts if you have?

[dunamis]

I read this book several years ago in my high school´s statistics class. A lot of the class had trouble recognizing the statistical evidence regarding the drop in crime being caused by Roe vs. Wade. It offended quite a few people.

I would say that I enjoyed the part about the crack dealer the most. It was very informative and really the only thing that stuck with me well.

[stopwatch]

I read this book several years ago in my high school´s statistics class. A lot of the class had trouble recognizing the statistical evidence regarding the drop in crime being caused by Roe vs. Wade. It offended quite a few people.

I would say that I enjoyed the part about the crack dealer the most. It was very informative and really the only thing that stuck with me well.

Yes, saying that crime rates were lowered because we killed off babies is not a popular theory.

I agree that reading about the gang distribution of crack was pretty interesting. And you do wonder, if they're only making 3.30 and they have a 25% chance of getting killed in a four year stint, why? IHe presents a really interesting socioeconomic comparison between aspiring gang members and pretty girls from Wisconsin moving to Hollywood.

How sad that some people's highest aspiration in life is to sit on the board of directors for a crack gang in the projects.

[possessedblanket]

Yes, saying that crime rates were lowered because we killed off babies is not a popular theory.

I agree that reading about the gang distribution of crack was pretty interesting. And you do wonder, if they're only making 3.30 and they have a 25% chance of getting killed in a year stint, why? He presents a really interesting socioeconomic comparison between aspiring gang members and pretty girls from Wisconsin moving to Hollywood.

Believe it or know, these individuals Do realize how little they're making and how dangerous their job is. The company that I work for use to do a lot of research for a big anti-gang task force and we found out a lot of these kids do what they do because of their distorted views of the future self. Most of us with healthy future selves envision things like college, grad school, a great job, a nice family, President of the United States, as part of our future, but a person with a distorted future self (gang member) most likely envision the following two future states: in jail, or dead. In other words, the idea of a "bright future" is completely lost in these kids so they act like they've got nothing to lose.

[KommieKat]

In other words, the idea of a "bright future" is completely lost in these kids so they act like they've got nothing to lose.

And that's not only America.

Some parts of the world, with a low crime rate, kids become nihilist minus the violence as well as I, Me and Mine outlook about life. This tends to happen in tightly structured cultures (Japan) with lack of political leadership and no direction for the country as a whole.

[stopwatch]

And that's not only America.

Some parts of the world, with a low crime rate, kids become nihilist minus the violence as well as I, Me and Mine outlook about life. This tends to happen in tightly structured cultures (Japan) with lack of political leadership and no direction for the country as a whole.

Interesting. Care to share some examples?

[KommieKat]

Interesting. Care to share some examples?

I'm not being a smart ass here but, I think I just did?

[stopwatch]

I'm not being a smart ass here but, I think I just did?

Ha. No, I meant if you knew of a concrete example of one such Japanese nihilist and what he/she is up to.

[KommieKat]

Ha. No, I meant if you knew of a concrete example of one such Japanese nihilist and what he/she is up to.

Nihilist:

Aum Shinrikyo. I was there during the train gassings though not that city.

Learderless/Godless

The Emperor announces on the Radio that he is not a god.
Buddha proclaimed that he is not a god (Jp are primarily Buddhist)
Money God took a dive in the early 90's with Bubble bursting.
There have been about 12 Prime Ministers in the last 10 years (who could not boil an egg much less run a country).


Bleak future:

Kids opt to not enter University because they see what lies ahead......Corporate/Company life.
Instead of going through "Kanji Hell" week to pass the entrance exams ( famous saying there: Easy to get into U.S. university, hard to get out. Hard to get into Jp university, easy to get out.)
Young adults will work at 7-11, save about U.S.$10,000 or more, open CitiBank debit account and travel with backpack for as long as the money holds, return home, rinse, repeat again.

Young women between 25 and 35 or older opt to stay at home, unmarried because they are no longer turned on with Jp men (they prefer non-jp like Koreans or others) and the illusion of the nicely packaged concept of marriage.
Parents justly label them as 'Parasaito" as in parasites because they do nothing around the house to help but at least they pay for their Docomo bills, LV bags and Shopping holidays in Saigon or Hong Kong with their girlfriends.

Zero population growth.

Nuclear annihilation.

Pollution.

Goes on and on.

[possessedblanket]

Wow... you make it sound like the Japanese no longer have a reason to live.

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\YLi\Local Settings\Temp\hari_kari-1.jpg[/IMG]

[possessedblanket]

Talk about failing ^^^

[stopwatch]

Nihilist:

Aum Shinrikyo. I was there during the train gassings though not that city.

Learderless/Godless

The Emperor announces on the Radio that he is not a god.
Buddha proclaimed that he is not a god (Jp are primarily Buddhist)
Money God took a dive in the early 90's with Bubble bursting.
There have been about 12 Prime Ministers in the last 10 years (who could not boil an egg much less run a country).


Bleak future:

Kids opt to not enter University because they see what lies ahead......Corporate/Company life.
Instead of going through "Kanji Hell" week to pass the entrance exams ( famous saying there: Easy to get into U.S. university, hard to get out. Hard to get into Jp university, easy to get out.)
Young adults will work at 7-11, save about U.S.$10,000 or more, open CitiBank debit account and travel with backpack for as long as the money holds, return home, rinse, repeat again.

Young women between 25 and 35 or older opt to stay at home, unmarried because they are no longer turned on with Jp men (they prefer non-jp like Koreans or others) and the illusion of the nicely packaged concept of marriage.
Parents justly label them as 'Parasaito" as in parasites because they do nothing around the house to help but at least they pay for their Docomo bills, LV bags and Shopping holidays in Saigon or Hong Kong with their girlfriends.

Zero population growth.

Nuclear annihilation.

Pollution.

Goes on and on.

Wow. Sounds like the situation is bad.

Can you blame them though? From what I've heard about the lives of Japanese youth/young people, I would probably kill myself before I got into an acceptable middle school (let along graduating from college, having to bust my ass to find myself a job that won't pay me decently until I'm 45, and being a corporate slave).

[Kill_em_All]

Wow. Sounds like the situation is bad.

Can you blame them though? From what I've heard about the lives of Japanese youth/young people, I would probably kill myself before I got into an acceptable middle school (let along graduating from college, having to bust my ass to find myself a job that won't pay me decently until I'm 45, and being a corporate slave).

I honestly have nothing but the most sincere respect for the Japanese. Lets just see American's crammed onto an island of less than 145 thousand square miles to the tune of 125 million people and see how well we'd fare given the conditions.

It'd be an epic all-out mass extinction on a level that would make the dinosaurs' extinction seem laughable.

The fact that the Japanese have been able to not only survive those conditions, but prosper in them as well is almost mind-boggling. True, there are negative conditions, as in any culture, but look at the global contributions Japan has managed to muster in the thousands of years the culture has been in existence.

The United States has a population of only double the Japanese, yet spread out over an area of more than twenty times the square miles (3.8 million square miles) of Japan and just look at the fucking nightmare we've turned this place into in just a matter of 230 years.

Buddha's still a fag, though.

[stopwatch]

The Japanese are what some call a "copycat" culture.

Combined with their obvious ridiculous work ethic, they keep an eye on what the successful nations of the time are up to. Then they assimilate those practices, products, religions, whatever, into their game.

That, I feel, is the real cause of their success. First, they copied China. Then they copied the US (women there had rights before American women), they've continued that strategy, and obviously it's worked.

Not that there aren't critics of this practice. It's difficult to maintain a sense of independence, individualism and intact traditional culture when that's your growth style.

[possessedblanket]

I would definitely like to learn more about Japanese culture and pop culture. All of it seems very eccentric to me, and with all the competing theories out there about why Japanese culture is the way it is, I'd like to experience it firsthand sometime in my life.

Swollen Cranium field trip to Tokyo. Who's down.

[Sex?]

Then they copied the US (women there had rights before American women)

Am I stupid or is it you?

[stopwatch]

Am I stupid or is it you?

You are. US is short for United States.

[Sex?]

...they copied the states by having women's right before the states?

[stopwatch]

...they copied the states by having women's right before the states?

We were in the middle of the suffrage movement. The amendment was in process in the states, and the Japanese were working with the US to draft a new, democratic constitution for themselves. Due to these US advisers, some clauses about women's rights were stuck in there.

So basically, they were assimilating so well that they were more democratic than we were. However, it was still as a result of their copycat culture that they adopted those political philosophies.

[Sex?]

We were in the middle of the suffrage movement. The amendment was in process in the states, and the Japanese were working with the US to draft a new, democratic constitution for themselves. Due to these US advisers, some clauses about women's rights were stuck in there.

So basically, they were assimilating so well that they were more democratic than we were. However, it was still as a result of their copycat culture that they adopted those political philosophies.

Thank you.























Dick.

[stopwatch]

Dick.

Don't mind if I do.

[KommieKat]

I did not intend to turn this thread into a Jp thing. I just gave examples that the U.S. is not the only culture with a bleak outlook on life with a dabble of anarchy.

Second, someone needs to remind Kill that this is the Green zone.
Really cool info there about America being bigger by 25 times but I don't see the relevancy.
Throwing out end remarks is "Interstalla-ish". In other words, stupid.