Shutting Out the Sun No More

By Dr. Gerry Lower
Created Dec 31 2006 - 9:53am

Michael Zielenziger has recently written a new book entitled "Shutting Out
the Sun" which chronicles the "spiritual crisis" in Japan, a crisis which
largely results from having nothing in which to believe under capitalism's
materialistic dominion (1). The book's title is most appropriate because
capitalism has very much dimmed the rising Sun that once symbolized
everything Japanese.

Without anything to believe in, we end up believing in nothing but whatever
it takes to survive. In Japan, as in America, this is especially true for
the young and the young at heart and all would-be free thinkers. In Japan,
as in America, this takes the form of various escapes from current reality
resulting in aberrant behaviors that lead to individuals with various social
disfunctions (2).