Mc, Wal-, Star- -- Did I Stutter?

Wal-Mart has moved to China, and it pisses me off. Certain aspects of American culture wouldn't be allowed to take over the world if the rest of the world didn't buy (and buy into) the crap. How many times do people have to see "Fight Club" before they get the message? When did people start believing that crap defined them? (In Japan, the answer is always, "After World War II.") I don't understand how the world can hate America so much yet continue taking their kids to McDonald's. The people who complain about strip malls and overconsumption and franchises are the same people ordering fried potatoes or buying seafood and pigs' ears from Wal-Mart instead of their neighborhood markets. Damnit people, if you let American consumerism succeed, it will. This is not a hard equation.

Japan is definitely a consumer culture. What is "cool" to buy runs the gamut, but usually the more Western and "exotic" something is, the better. McDonald's is still a little too fatty for Japanese taste, but you can hardly find a place to stand in a Starbucks. It's always packed.

Now, what about picking and choosing your franchises? I haven't set foot in a McDonald's, but I have gladly walked into these crowded Starbucks, a place I would not be caught dead if the country had its own good coffee (Italy, France, etc). So if I'm pissed about the Wal-Mart in China, but relieved to stumble across a Starbucks in Shizuoka, does that make me a hypocrite?

Evidently, picking and choosing is not a good idea, because you can pretty much guarantee that if you're sitting in an American-owned franchise, somebody somewhere wants to bomb it - even in Japan. I couldn't help but question my appreciation of Starbucks, a decidedly Western space with a Western feel in an Eastern land, when I read a tiny sign in the bathroom one day (see below - I was so struck by the clear but delicately-implied message that I got out my camera and took a photo of the sign.) But as for my new-found appreciation for Starbucks.... Could that nostalgia for America, for Western atmosphere, even my poorly-sated nostalgia for a Parisian cafe, one day cost me my life? What if someone decided he hated Starbucks as much as he hated America?

The difference in consumer culture in Japan and America boils down to a lasting gift from our founding fathers - Puritanism. Maybe I speak too much about myself here, and what I say can't be generalized for fellow Americans. But after shopping with Japanese friends, I noticed a difference. They buy the thing, revel in their newfound happiness, and then move on. Whoo, an accomplishment, isn't purchasing power great. I buy the thing, revel for a few minutes, then move on to an inevitable cycle. Yeah, this is great, but it doesn't change my reality at all; it doesn't define who I am; it doesn't make me more capable or smarter or more beautiful; it doesn't make me more fulfilled, don't I know not to put that much stock into a thing? into a luxury? If I get too excited about this, it will just make me feel empty, because it doesn't fulfill any kind of real need. Gee, I should be ashamed for even getting excited about this in the first place. In fact, I might even be a better person WITHOUT this thing. It just adds to the clutter.

Case-in-point, pre-purchase: one day I was shopping with a friend. I was looking for a new sweater, which I found almost immediately. It was expensive but it was comfortable, sexy, fit perfectly, and looked unlike something I could find in GAP or the usual places. I bought it. Ah, a brief moment of satisfaction and excitement as I daydreamed about donning my new purchase.
But my sweater only caused my friend grief. "Oh, I need something," she said. "What are you looking for?" I asked. "Well nothing in particular, but you got something, so now I just NEED something. I want to buy something too." Was she kidding me? That blatant, blind desire to buy something for the sake of buying something wouldn't pass in America. Maybe I'm an oddball or maybe I hang out with weird people. But I couldn't believe my friend was saying that with no trace of guilt or shame. Even if the thought had crossed my mind, I never would have shared it aloud. I think the major reason for this is the complete lack of Christianity in Japan's history. (And currently, only about 2% of Japan is Christian). There are no Christian or Puritan values. (One of the strangest things about Japan for me is the obvious lack of "rest" on Sundays.) The reason Japan is so easily a consumer culture, why this tiny country "boasts" the highest Louis Vuitton market in the world, is the same reason abortion is often a perfectly acceptble method of "contraception." Japan does not distinguish between a "baby" and a "fetus," yet there are no moral consequences to terminating a pregnancy. The birth control pill was introduced only recently, and I have yet to hear of any woman actually interested in using it. Why dump your body full of "unnecessary" hormones when the problem is easily solved by abortion?

From Wal-Mart to abortion in one post? I must have been pissed off for a while.



Disclaimer: I am not against abortion.

For some reason I had trouble uploading the Starbucks bathroom photo, which is of a sign that reads, "Please let our staff know if you see any suspicious packages."