The 101 books I read last year

Nobody would disagree 2020 was an unusual year. I was supposed to fly to Palestine on a Thursday to learn about negotiation and human rights among other things, but on that Tuesday, my school announced the rest of the semester would be online and travel restrictions propped up in a flurry. I went to Western NC to meet with family instead, something I thought would last a week but instead lasted months. Eventually, after my family spread out and a number of heavy storms hit, I found myself living alone in the woods with no power quite a bit more often than I expected for my 20s. Although there's a lot I was not able to do because of the pandemic, there was one thing I got to do more: read.

In the interests of transparency, bonding over shared interests, and making/receiving recommendations, I am listing every book I read last year and when I read them. Last year, I made a top 5. I think I read too many good books this year to rank them, so I will instead list my favorites along with a brief description of what they were about and what I liked about them. Feel free to ask me about any of them or chat if you've read one too!

As for how I read more: the main innovation for me this year was the Libby app, which helped me get free audiobooks to listen to while driving and running. Besides this, the commitment that comes with actually buying a physical book was helpful. Above all, the most helpful advice I have for reading more is just choosing more interesting books.

 

Favorite books:

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If you read any of these (or want to), we have to talk about them!! I highly recommend all of them to everyone. They are in just the order I read them.

Dark Money - Jane Mayer
    An exceptional piece of investigative journalism on the Koch network and how it has influenced politics over the last few decades. I knew political corruption was a problem in the United States, but this book taught me a lot about the "how" and "why."

Invisible Women - Caroline Criado-Perez
    Cold hard numbers and data are not sexist, right? In a sexist society, they probably are. This book is all about how, through researchers' biases or through the structure of society itself, data is often used to perpetuate gender bias. Further, a shocking amount of data used to inform important decisions is not even disaggregated by gender. Read this to find what to look for.

Human Acts - Han Kang
    This is an account of how people reacted to the democratization uprising that occurred on May 18, 1980 in Gwangju, Korea. Though fiction, the novel deals with deep themes in a way that feels more human and real than nonfiction. Thanks for the recommendation, Jess!

The Dictator’s Handbook - Alastair Smith and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
    This was the most clear and accessible book on political power I have read so far. It explains how rulers come into power and how they stay there. Though there are a couple bad takes, it is generally a great book for understanding power. There is a YouTube series by user CGPGrey called "Rules for Rulers" that uses this research as well.

Life 3.0 - Max Tegmark
    Ever wonder what's realistic and what's out of proportion in Artificial Intelligence doomsday scenarios? This book is for you. Written by a leader in the field, it covers pretty much anything you might have ever wondered about AI and advanced machine learning technology.

The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu [whole series!]
    It is hard to describe this series in any depth without spoiling some very satisfying plot developments. What I will say is that this series dives into science, space, technology, and society in very unique way. A great fiction series for anyone who likes science.

An Epidemic of Absence - Moises Velasquez-Manoff
    Easily the most mind-blowing book I read this year. This book rewrote everything I thought I knew about allergies and immunology. The main thesis is that the hyper-sanitation of modern life is causing the increases we see in allergies and other conditions. The field is very young, though, so it will probably leave you with many more questions than answers.

American Prison - Shane Bauer 

    An incredibly dark and challenging read, but incredibly educational. In this book, a journalist intersperses his personal account of working undercover as a prison guard with damning facts about the history of the American prison system. This book will make you want to tear down the prison industrial complex more than you already did. 

How to Be Less Stupid About Race - Crystal Marie Fleming
    Out of all the books I read on race and racism this year, this one was the best. Beyond just covering the most pervasive topics, this book actually historicizes contemporary issues without pulling any punches or trying to save anyone's feelings. Highly recommend for anyone who feels like they want to better understand race in America.

The Uninhabitable Earth - David Wallace-Wells
    This book bucks the tradition in climate change writing of only sticking to the most conservative estimates. Instead, we learn about all the catastrophic possibilities of our current anti-environmental societal trajectory. I think this is much more useful, especially since a lot of climate change writing today is "current reality exceeds previous predictions" anyway.

The Color of Law - Richard Rothstein
    America's laws are not, nor have they ever been race-neutral. If you have even a hint of doubt in your mind about that statement, read this book! Racist laws did not start or end in Jim Crowe and this book does a great job of explaining the lasting impact of racist legislation on today's America (though this is definitely a useful principle for other countries).

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism - Shoshana Zuboff
    Ever see an ad that is way too targeted and wonder if your phone is listening to you? It probably is. This book is all about how tech companies have commodified ever more invasive aspects of our lives and sold them to the detriment of us all. If you want to enter the newest industrial revolution on the right footing, read this!

Less is More - Jason Hickel
    Ever wonder why our society seems ready and willing to let the world burn for profits? Want to know how to fix this? This is the book for you! An explanation of the Degrowth movement: reorganizing economics to serve the people instead of profits.

Women, Race, and Class - Angela Y. Davis
    A classic for understanding intersectionality and the evolution of racism and sexism in American society and abroad. A bit old, but all of the information is still just as relevant today.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire
    This book is all about revolution. How does it start? According to Paulo, in the minds of the people. Instead of bringing overeducated outsiders into oppressed communities to explain things, one should realize oppressed people already understand these systems by virtue of their experience. The key to mobilizations is asking the right questions and creating spaces to talk about key issues that affect communities. I think. Very dense, so that's the best I can do to explain!

Notes of a Crocodile - Qiu Miaojin
    A chaotic book about being a lesbian in Taiwan in the 1990s. That sounds overly specific, but I can assure you there is a lot to relate to if you've ever thought about love and society.

The Age of McCarthyism - Ellen Shrecker
    A very concise history of how anti-communism started and the harmful affects it had on public discourse, social justice, and other aspects of civil society in America. Even though the red scare sounds like ancient history, and this book is over a decade old, I can assure you a lot of the same stuff is happening today, especially state surveillance.

Interesting reads:

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Though I can't say these were my favorite books, each of these was very interesting if you're looking to read something a bit out there.

The Dao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff

    An explanation of Taoism explained through Winnie the Pooh. Really!

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You - Jenelle Shane

    A book about AI. The title is the first 'successful' pickup line created by the author's AI!

A Burglar’s Guide to the City - Geoff Manaugh

    If you like heists and/or city planning, check this out. Its all about great crimes and how expert criminals see cities differently.

Smallest Lights in the Universe - Sara Seager

    Half memoir about raising a family in the wake of her husband's early death, half astrophysics. 

Aesthetics, Necropolitics, and the Environmental Struggle - Critical Art Ensemble

    The authors make the case that no one talks about who should die, and that we need to in order to fix the environment. I definitely disagree with a lot of this, but I have to admit it was unique.

All books:

—January—

Food Politics - Robert Paarlberg

Without Apology - Jenny Brown

International Relations, a VSI - Paul Wilkinson

Shock Therapy - Naomi Klein

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction - Martin Bunton

The Hell of Good Intentions - Stephen Walt

—February—

Modern Palestine - Ilan Pappe

Invisible Women - Caroline Criado-Perez

—March—

Dark Money - Jane Mayer

Weapons of Math Destruction - Cathy O-Neil

Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

How Democracies Die - Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt

The Road to Unfreedom - Timothy Snyder

Under Red Skies - Karoline Kan

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - Carlo Rovelli

Flat Broke with Two Goats - Jennifer McGaha

—April—

Make Your Bed - Admiral William H. McRaven

Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Ship of Fools - Tucker Carlson

Lesbian Ethics: Radical Healing - Volume 5 No. 3

Underground - Haruki Murakami

The View from Flyover Country - Sarah Kendzior

Evicted - Matthew Desmond

Living and Dying in Brick City - Sampson Davis

Transgender Explained - Joanne Herman

Human Acts - Han Kang

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

Street Smart - Samuel I. Schwartz 

Eichmann in Jerusalem - Hannah Arendt

The Dictator’s Handbook - Alastair Smith and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

Makers - Chris Anderson

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl

The Improbability Principle - David J. Hand

—May—

The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin

Life 3.0 - Max Tegmark

Dealing With China - Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

China Road - Rob Gifford

The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu

Prisoner of the State (Zhao Ziyang) - Renee Chiang

Hegemony or Survival - Noam Chomsky

The Dao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff

White Trash - Nancy Isenberg

Everybody Lies - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

An Epidemic of Absence - Moises Velasquez-Manoff

The Underground Railroad - Coleson Whitehead

—June—

The Dark Forest - Cixin Liu

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You - Jenelle Shane

Presuasion - Robert Cialdini

A Canticle for Liebowitz - Walter M Miller Jr

Uncle Tom’s Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Signal and the Noise - Nate Silver

Supercrunchers - Ian Ayres

Revolution for Dummies - Bassem Yousef 

CIVIL RESISTANCE: What Everyone Needs to Know - Erica Chenoweth

—July—

Captive Genders - Stanley, Smith

—August—

Death’s End - Cixin Liu

Cat’s Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeouma Oluo

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jaqueline Woodson

The 4% Universe - Richard Panek

American Prison - Shane Bauer 

A Burglar’s Guide to the City - Geoff Manaugh

—September—

A Black Hole is Not a Hole - Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

Keep the Aspidistra Flying - George Orwell

Death by Black Hole - Niel DeGrasse Tyson

How We’ll Live on Mars - Stephen L. Petranek

Dear Girls - Ali Wong

The Universe Within - Neil Shubin

Palaces for the People - Eric Klinenberg

How to Be Less Stupid About Race - Crystal Marie Fleming

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming - Mike Brown

—October—

On Fire - Naomi Klein

The Uninhabitable Earth - David Wallace-Wells

Our House Is On Fire - Greta Thunberg

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

Less is More - Jason Hickel

Our Revolution - Bernie Sanders

The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky - Jana Casale

Smallest Lights in the Universe - Sara Seager

The A-Z of Green Capitalism - Corporate Watch

The Color of Law - Richard Rothstein

The Shadow King - Maaza Mengiste

—November—

Guide to Political Revolution - Bernie Sanders

Exploring Degrowth - Vincent Liegey and Anitra Nelson

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism - Shoshana Zuboff

The Undocumented Americans - Karla Cornejo Villavicncio

Women, Race, and Class - Angela Y. Davis

—December—

The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto - Eme Flores and Vikky Storm

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire

Defending Degrowth - Giorgos Kallis

Aesthetics, Necropolitics, and the Environmental Struggle - Critical Art Ensemble

The Space Between Us - Courtney Peppernell and Zack Grey

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State - Friedrich Engels

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

Notes of a Crocodile - Qiu Miaojin

Civil Disobedience and Other Essays - Henry David Thoreau

The Age of McCarthyism - Ellen Shrecker

Freedom is a Constant Struggle - Angela Y. Davis

Are refugees the solution to Japan’s aging problem?

After spending years studying Japan and Japanese, I at first found it difficult to reconcile investing so much time in a developed, safe country with my other professional goals, mainly in the human rights and crisis arena. Then, it hit me: Japan has an incredibly low refugee acceptance rate and a very high demand for young workers. Refugees tend to be young, so what if refugees could solve Japan's labor problem and Japan could solve refugees' danger problem?

I became interested in this question a long time ago. I brought it up in my JET Programme interview, to the Harvard Kennedy School when trying to justify working there for a year before starting school, and to just about every person I met in Japan (after establishing a rapport). After a year in Japan and a long time concerned with refugees, here's what I found.

What's the problem?

Japan is an aging society. Longevity and low birth rates have led to a much larger ratio of people relying upon government benefits to people working to pay for them; benefits programs have doubled as a share of GDP in the last 30 years alone. On top of this, Japan has a huge debt burden. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's proposed economic solution, raising the consumption tax from 8 to 10%, has so far done more harm than good.

What Japan needs to do is increase production--a very simple way to do this is by adding people to the workforce. Japan's aforementioned low birth rate means this will have to be foreigners. This is where refugees come in.

Amnesty International says there are currently 22 million refugees. On top of this, 10% of refugees need to be resettled every year because of outbreaks of violence, insecurity, or xenophobia. More than 80% of refugees today are hosted in developing nations despite the fact that developed nations, like Japan, have a far greater capacity to host refugees.

In Japan's case, there is even a huge need for people. Right now, foreign workers make up 2% of Japan's labor force. For most developed countries, this number is around 10%. In the US, the world's largest economy, that number is above 17%.

What is Japanese immigration like now?

Complicated. But hey, at least the whole country isn't closed off to the outside world anymore. In 2017, Japan received 20,000 applications for asylum and accepted 20. At the height of the Syrian refugee crises, Japan accepted just 7 Syrian refugees (from 2011 to 2016). In 2018, the number of accepted refugees doubled to 42, though compared to the 16,269 people who were deported the same year, this change is kinda insignificant. What is also interesting is that the number of applicants also dropped by half--to around 10,000--in 2018. Why is that?

The reason is that Japan's refugee/asylum system has long served as a back channel for those hoping to immigrate to or work in Japan. Many economic migrants applied for asylum to take advantage of the 6 month work privilege. "Filipinos accounted for a quarter of the applicants. Conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa — Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, and South Sudan are some of the usual countries UNHCR expects to see — accounted for only 1%." This was not intended. Japan cracked down in 2018, but did not fully solve the problem.

Another complication is the human rights abuses in the migrant labor system in Japan. The main culprit is the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), which allows unskilled 'interns' to come to Japan and work. However, "While some interns aren't taught any skills, others experience forced labor conditions including having their passports confiscated, being given arbitrary salary deductions, being confined to particular accommodations, being prevented from communicating with anyone beyond their colleagues, with some paying up to $10,000 to participate in the program.” Essentially, this is how Japan uses and abuses cheap labor without a functional immigration system. There are 230,000 people in the program today.

There are more problems with this system, like the extremely narrow definition of a refugee Japan uses, the racism/xenophobia, the years and years of wait times, or the abysmal treatment of migrants, but I believe these are the main barriers affecting the system at a large scale.

What could the system be like?

While there is still a huge unmet global need, there are some good examples that could provide a model for Japan. Canada is the current world leader for sheer numbers and many countries have raised their quotas in recent years. On top of this, there are times when Japan itself was a model to follow. In the wake of the Vietnam war, Japan took in more than 10,000 refugees who fled from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

However, even if Japan suddenly overcame the massive popular hesitation around foreigners and refugees, the numbers would not be spectacularly high. As alluded to above, very few applications in the refugee system actually come from people in need worldwide. There are three main reasons for this: lack of social networks (migrants tend to go where their friends and family have gone), unfavorable labor laws (see 過労死 karoshi), and Japan's intentional barriers to entry such as a mandatory 6 to 9 month orientation course. In short, without a campaign to raise application rates to Japan, estimates range from 50 to 2,000 people would come as refugees each year. Though the high end is more refugees than Japan has accepted since singing the UN Refugee Convention in 1981, it is not nearly enough to make up for Japan's labor shortages.

Conclusion

Refugees alone will not solve Japan's aging problem. That's because there just aren't enough of them. However, each additional refugee admitted to Japan will be a life greatly improved and a step towards addressing the labor shortage; it's still a win-win to accept more refugees. This raises the question, what will solve this problem?

One suggestion is to expand the immigration system more generally to accept migrants of all types. Of course, this should be done in a much different way than the abusive system that exists now. However, some estimate that even expanding and reforming this program would only be a drop in the bucket. A major overhaul would be needed to the sheer numbers needed to properly address the labor shortage. This means sweeping liberalization of the system and massive increase in support throughout society.

But what if the problem is not labor shortage at all? Of course, the aging of the population is certainly one half of the equation, but the other half is declining birth rates. On reason for this decline is the pressure Japanese society puts on young people and women. Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world and many problems surrounding contractual employment that inhibit young people's ability to start families. Japan ranks 161st out of 193 countries in female political representation. Women in Japan make up just 13 percent of managerial positions (compared to 44% in the US). Socially, harassment of working mothers is so common it has its own word (マタハラ matahara from 'maternity harassment') and women are sometimes forced to apologize for becoming pregnant out of order (senior women go at more convenient times). Every country has its problems and the Japanese labor problem is certainly complex, but I believe it is reasonable to hypothesize that reducing barriers for young families and fully utilizing the potential of women could huge positive effect on this and other problems.

At the risk of further complicating the issue, I have to admit that my own experience in Japan does not fully confirm the data and research above (specifically this survey). Though there was certainly a lot of apprehension and concern for safety and crime, almost every Japanese person I talked to thought that Japan could and should do a better job of accepting refugees--especially after we talked for a while. There was a genuine, widespread sense of international duty and a willingness to do the right thing. True, it may be easier to give your true opinion to a Japanese surveyor than an actual foreigner in the flesh. Another interpretation is that, maybe, this is a larger conversation that, once enough people have had it, could move Japan in the direction of accepting more refugees.

Book Review 2019

There are a number of my experiences from 2019 I am still trying to understand: finishing a year teaching Elementary School in rural Japan, moving back to America, my first semester of graduate school... In the meantime, I think I would like to share some more episodic influential moments of the past year. I read some very good books.

Ok, ok, that may not be as unique or exciting, but the changes 2019 brought played out in a noticeable way here and the framework of one book and one time is much easier to break down for now.

A perfect storm of having more flexibility, better organization, and less required reading in Japan revitalized my love for reading, to which I am thankful. What I discovered is that, when I pick the books, they can be incredibly transformative. Scrolling through social media or keeping up with the news can provide a lot of information, but having a thoughtful, well-organized idea that has room to develop is unparalleled.

I am still excited to use this platform to share my experiences some ideas of my own, but I want to get the ideas these books gave me down while it is still timely. Plus, a ton of people have been asking me for citations from these books or recommendations in general, so two birds (sorry PETA).

5: Modern China, A Very Short Introduction - Rana Mitter

Increasingly, I find China in the news with shockingly little context for its national history or culture. From the 'economic miracle' to the questions of social credit and surveillance, it always seemed like stories and events were presented as if they came out of nowhere. As someone with only a cursory familiarity of China, I felt it necessary to take the first step in correcting this.

What followed was a bit of a research binge. I highlighted, took notes, and researched something on almost every page. This book is incredibly dense yet remains an easy and quick read. As with every book in the Oxford VSI series (of which I have read about two dozen by now--amazing), reading this will get you to the level of understanding the basics of what is going on with China and how it got there, but with serious limitations. If you'd like to know enough to have a conversation about an issue pertaining to China, that would probably deserve its own time and effort outside this book.

All-in-all I recommend this to anyone who has found themselves curious about China and who wants a place to start. I've loaned the book out multiple times to friends from China and those just interested (it is still away at the time of writing) and it always starts some great conversations.

4: Winners Take All - Anand Giridharadas 

This is probably my most quoted book of 2019. What's better is that I even got to see him talk at (and subsequently eviscerate) the Kennedy school less than a month after reading this book. For anyone who hasn't listened to a podcast or watched Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, this book takes aim at the plutocrat class. The thesis is that millionaires and billionaires avoid paying their fair share in taxes and redeem the social capital by making a show of their comparatively minor philanthropy.

Of course, there are many problems with this. First, a small group of people are controlling huge amounts of resources in various public-good-oriented spheres--and their biases can have devastating effects. Second, to paraphrase Anand when he sat in the John F. Kennedy Forum at Harvard, we now have a situation where the wolves are guarding the sheep pen; the people in charge of change in our society are the very people who have the most to lose from the type of change that will actually make a difference. Most important is the strong and persuasive pushback against the idea that private enterprise is the best instrument of positive social change. Instead, Anand champions government and democracy.

Anand speaking to a full house, though unfortunately at the same time as Mark Cuban (some of the people who went should have been here)

If any of this piqued your interest, I highly recommend picking it up at your local library. I find many of his arguments compelling, but the particular way in which he phrases them is exceptionally entertaining and clever. My one critique is the irony of his chapters on thought leaders and work at places like McKinsey. If you read it and read about his recent work, I think you'll understand what I mean.

3: How to Hide an Empire - Daniel Immerwahr 

Easily the best-written book I read in 2016 is this. The book covers the lesser known or intentionally hidden history of America's expansion and control over land outside the continental U.S. Although we often decry oppression and empire (and in fact mythologize our creation in defiance of these terrors), there is evidence that the United States is the largest empire the world has ever known.

The book breaks down many ways in which this is true. First is the most obvious conceptualization of empire: territory and oppression. Chilling examples of this are the horrific expansions into the Philippines and Hawai'i. Not only did this expansion require intense violence (including, arguably, the perfection of the concentration camp), but also intense dehumanization. This campaign was so widespread that when Pearl Harbor happened, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was not sure the American people would care enough about their rights-less 'compatriots' in the Philippines, Guam, Alaska and Hawai'i to go to war. He chose to focus on the territory with the highest white population, Hawai'i, to make the best case for retaliation. This fact may explain why many, including myself, did not know the attacks on December 7/8th occurred outside Hawai'i at all. This is one of many awful revelations about American territory in the book.

On top of territory, the US also maintains an empire through language, culture, and military presence overseas--and these are all linked. Ever wonder why so many foreign people seem to be learning English? Ever thought why Jazz is so popular in Japan and Rock was so big in the UK? Ever surprised to hear US soldiers were attacked in Africa? If so, definitely check this book out.

2: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa - Walter Rodney

Speaking of hidden history, Walter Rodney has done some very heavy lifting documenting and countering the massive systemic obscurities in the Western narrative of World History, especially pertaining to Africa. The book starts by correcting some very troublesome misconceptions about what Africa was like before European contact. In short: much the same, often better, but just without the fancy boats. Most African kingdoms were not interested in European goods, instead preferring to trade internally. This forced European traders to bring goods from Asia and, later, the New World which started the snowball information advantage.

From then on, Europeans (and later the people in their colonies) began to exploit Africa's resources and sabotage its development. In fact, the title seeks not to explain the lack of development in Africa but rather to show 'underdevelopment' as a verb--something Europe did to Africa intentionally.

The most troublesome effect of reading this book is how frustrating this perspective is for conversations about aid and development. Seeing development as something that happens over time is not only ignorant of different histories, values, and cosmovisions, but also obscures the past and present violence maintaining the system. Changing a few numbers around on a national budget plan is not going to correct for centuries of plunder and a rigged global system. If any of this was new to you (as much of it was for me), consider this book essential.

Honorable mentions:

  「質問です。」- 名越 康文, Rape During Civil War - Dara Cohen

「質問です。」, meaning something like "the questions" in English, is simultaneously a self-help and a self-discovery book. While I personally did not find many of the questions to be relevant (not exactly in the target audience I presume), I did find the organization of the book particularly well-suited for use getting to know people or staging a moment of self-reflection. Thus, I have had a great deal of fun with the book, but cannot bring myself to recommend it outside a very small group of people.

Dara Cohen's book is exactly what it sounds. The writing is clear, the organization is impeccable, and the subject matter is truly brutal. Particularly shocking was the fact that much of the research in this book and a lot of research on similar topics is that it borrows on research of US fraternities. That's not a typo. Literally the closest analogue to the sexual atrocities committed in armed conflict is what's happening on US college campuses. It's among the most disturbing and hard-to-read-in-public books I've experienced, but incredibly fascinating and informative.

1: The Divide by Jason Hickel

If you're looking for a book that will change the way you see the world, look no further. This is a shocking indictment that captures the best (or, I guess, worst) parts of the books by Walter Rodney, Daniel Immerwahr, and Anand Giridharadas. It then goes further, dismantling how the system we think promotes world peace and prosperity may in fact be a carefully misleading cherry-picking of statistics designed to obscure suffering and promote an unsustainable lifestyle.

For example, it is impossible to avoid hearing about how innovations or the work of non-profits have reduced things like world hunger or poverty. It is even harder to not believe what they say--the consensus is broad and non-ideological. However, many of the definitions of these terms are not evidence-based but rather based on what measures fit the narrative; world hunger is only decreasing if you only count people living on less than 1,000 calories a day (potentially less than a third of what is needed for a lifestyle of manual labor) for an entire year. Poverty is only decreasing if you use a number somewhere around $1-2 a day, but experts say the amount of money you make does not have a measurable impact on quality of life until you make around $7 a day or more. The number of people making less than $7 a day has been increasing for as long as it has been measured. Even the best case scenario of the UN's sustainable development goals sees this number continuing to increase as a success (the UN uses a lower number and uses percentages instead of counts).

Once you get past the manipulation problem, there is also the problem of how to fix the problems we already have. Our global governance institutions--the UN, World Bank, WTO, etc.--are all intentionally biased in favor of the United States and other wealthy nations. How can we expect them to fix the problems of big nations having too much power when they were designed to maintain this system?

There is much more breadth and depth (as well as solutions) in the book. Definitely go read it.

Summary

Each of these books really helped to change one aspect of how I saw the world. I believe their coming at a time of intense change in my own life made me much more receptive to the challenge and created an even greater sense of urgency in my present trajectory. I am grateful for a lot that has happened this year, but most of all I am thankful for the opportunity to learn and apply my values to a complex world. Writing this helped me realize that change is good. In fact, it might be the only thing that can save us. 

6 in, 6 left

As of today, I am approximately halfway done with my post here in Niigata, Japan. I have learned a whole lot–too much for one post certainly–but I also hope to learn much more with my remaining time. It is this latter thought that has kept me from more frequent updates. With every new thing I learn in Japan, I discover two or three more that I did not even know existed previously. I would feel guilty presenting a view that is neither entertaining for its bewilderment nor informative for its expertise, so I have just been waiting.

That being said, this checkpoint felt like a good point to fill in some of the gaps for anyone who may be wondering what's going on with me and my life. Without further ado, here's a glorified highlight reel from 6 months in Japan.

In reverse chronological order:

Karaoke

In a sea of black-haired people, this blonde fellow with a bun felt like he was stealing my style

Karaoke is one of Japan's favorite pastimes. Although it has some popularity overseas, I haven't had much experience before coming here. Though I've had a wide range of experiences depending on the crowd, I can definitely recommend belting out a few dozen songs if you ever get the chance, the older the better. Depending on the location and price range, the Karaoke location could have features like bottomless drinks, food, light shows and more.

Also pictured is Katakana English, those symbols above the English writing intended to teach Japanese-speakers how to pronounce the lyrics phonetically...ish. Its inclusion is necessary and understandable, but this is the bane of any English teacher's existence in Japan. For example, this passage reads: Ai kudo bii yua wan ando onrii / Ai kudo meiku yuu unronrii ravu ravu. A lot to undo there. Anyway...

Music

From what I have seen so far, Japanese culture gets music right in most areas. All of my elementary schoolers carry around a recorder and a melodica and many learn other instruments outside of school. I recently went to a Jazz festival and the band pictured, the Niigata city junior orchestra, was made up of middle and elementary schoolers who can knock your socks off. Jazz improvisation is still a tall order for me after a decade of playing the guitar, yet it seemed natural to the 10-year-old on the sax. Mad props.

I say "mostly" in reference to any shopping experience you will have in Japan. For some reason unknown to me, any convenience store, shopping center, or grocery store seems to only have access to terrible midi versions of American songs popular before I was born. Often, there is just one song, about three minutes long, stuck on an infinite loop. That's one way to prevent loitering, I guess.

Mascots

Mascots are a big deal in Japan. Prefectures, cities, towns, companies, they are everywhere. Some of them are even worth billions of dollars, no joke. Some have theme parks, some have merchandise, some have theme songs, sometimes they feel inescapable... but they are very cute. Not to brag, but I have personally met the Bandai City mascot and Gudetama. 

Architecture

Seeing my own breath indoors (5˚C)

There have of course been books written about the intricacies of Japanese architecture and how the culture surrounding buildings here differs to the West. I am not going to talk about any of that; what I am here to do is complain about my cold apartment. For one reason or another, central heating is very rare and most buildings prefer to heat only the rooms being used. This means I come home from work each day to a room that is somehow even colder than the outside temperature. I have found myself too wimpy to cook on more than one occasion (too cheap to heat more than one room) and sometimes wear 3-4 layers indoors. Plus side: no need to have a fridge for a few months a year.

KFC for Christmas

It's true. Legend has it two foreigners were spotted eating at KFC one Christmas evening in the 80s, allegedly trying to emulate a turkey feast as best as the cultural gap would allow. Today, there are lines across the block at KFC and buckets upon buckets of fried chicken filling the grocery stores every year. It is considered by some to be an American tradition and many are surprised to learn Americans genuinely see no connection between the restaurant and the holiday. 

The bro came

Immediately before heading off to his first semester of university, my younger brother and I had a lighting fast tour across Japan. We spent a couple days in my home prefecture of Niigata, where we went to a Soba festival and ate some okonomiyaki. Then, we headed to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Tokyo to see some sights and hear some sounds. Not nearly enough time, but we still wandered into some pretty interesting locations, like not one but two Bathing Ape stores. I can genuinely say that was my first time being priced out of buying socks.

Hello Kitty land

Nothing I has convinced me more that the apocalypse is inevitable than this theme park. The characters are too powerful. Hello Kitty is a billionaire and her reach exceeds that of presidents and dignitaries across decades.

Old friends new places

Train ride in Osaka with Diandra and another JET from her area, Laura

Another trip that was far too short, but very exciting! This was the most symmetrical meetup of my life. For those who don't know, Diandra and I met in our very first college class: Japanese 101. Neither of us knew if we would ever come to Japan and here we are, 4 years and some change later. If you're reading, thanks again for hosting me :)

Autumn tints （紅葉）

One of my favorite Japanese words turned into one of my favorite Japanese events. Each fall, what seems like the entire Japanese countryside turns into a tourist attraction (mainly domestic). Although I do not have a great picture on hand, it is still easy to see why. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the cherry blossoms to arrive in the Spring.

Driving is weird

Yes, that's a rugby game on my car's TV. Why this is possible in a country so concerned with safety I am not sure. I tend to stay away from any distractions when driving, but I have explored a bit and it turns out I actually get more channels on my car's TV than the one in my apartment.

Driving is interesting in other ways here, but I actually do plan to elaborate with a separate post soon.

School lunch （給食）

Japanese-style curry: no heat and very sweet.

Because I work in elementary schools, I get to experience the delight that is kyuushoku or school lunch. This is a really interesting concept that I really admire, but I want to save an in-depth discussion for its own post as well. Basically, every class eats lunch together–including the same food. The students help prepare and set up the lunch every day and clean up afterwards. I am invited to a random classroom every day and get to talk to the students for a few minutes if I can understand what on earth they are trying to say with all that rice in their mouth. The food is always very tasty, healthy, and cheap as well!

Owari~

Bandi City Mascot. Told you

That's about it for now. As I gain confidence in my ability to tell the story right, I hope to share more about life in Japan. I have a lot to be thankful for and I look forward to everything I will learn in these next 6 months.