Even then, I wondered how finishing up your meal could save the starving children in China. Even if you saved the left over foods that you didn't eat, how do you get the food to the children in China?
I didn't take any course in politics or economics in college, but this approach of enforcing 'no waste' policy at the dinner table didn't make sense to me.
Growing up, we didn't have lots of money or lots of food. But I never felt lacking. I always felt well taken care of, not because we had lots of things but I felt loved in our family. Now, I'm diverting from the topic at hand. Let me get back.
When I first came to the States, the exchange rate was $1 to ￥360 Yen. I know, I know, I date myself here. A few years ago, Yen got really strong and it broke ￥100 Yen to a $1 mark.
For some years, the Japanese Yen was so strong against the US dollar that there was even a speculation of Yen becoming the World Currency instead of the US dollar. That has come and gone. Yen never became the World Currency.
I was pleasantly surprised to see $1 was over ￥117 when we arrived in Japan this time. This means my dollar can buy more in Japan. By the time we left Japan, it went up to over ￥123! I thought I should have spent more money in Japan! Sorry, we never seem to be satisfied! (^_-)-☆
Shortly before we left for Japan, The Dow's average fell more than 1000 in one morning. Some even lost a half of their portfolio. There was a rumor of another stock market crash. The experts explained that this was due to the sudden fall in the Chinese Yuan. Up until then, the Chinese economy grew so fast in recent years that there were talks of China leading the World economy.
This Chinese economic bubble bust didn't seem to affect the Chinese much. There were Chinese tourists everywhere, tons of them. I've never seen so many Chinese people, all tourists, in Japan, ever before.
We visited Dotonbori in Osaka, for the first time. We were totally taken back by the concentrated number of shops, department stores, restaurants, etc., which seemingly went on forever both the board walk along the river, and under the covered outdoor shopping arcade. We must have walked at least 2 ~3 subway stations distance non-stop! And you guessed it, the Chinese tourists occupied the most of that space. The Korean tourists next and the Westerns last.
Were they just walking through the arcade? No! There were tons of people in shops, restaurants, and yes, in Starbucks!
We stopped at the crab specialty restaurant for lunch. I love crab! Much to my dismay, there was over three hour wait! We went down to their 'annex' restaurant a couple blocks down the street. They also had over one hour wait.
However, the host, told us, if we didn't mind the non-smoking section they could seat us immediately! Are you kidding?! I can't stand to be in any smoking area. I'm allergic to smoke! Hey, this was the first time, being a non-smoker paid off for me in Japan! (^_-)-☆
I don't want you to think I am speaking with authority on an economic topic here. As I stated earlier, I have no clue about what's going on with politics or economics.
Just today, however, one Chinese friend of ours, 'enlightened' us on the subject. The Chinese economic bubble bust was an 'intentional' thing, much the same as the Japanese economic bubble busted over a couple of decades ago for a reason.
The US caused that bust! The US owed China so much money that we had to 'devalue' Yuan to decrease the debt amount. This, apparently, was what the US did with the Japanese Yen before also.
I don't know if his 'theory' is correct but it somehow made sense. Who wants to lose the World Currency status, right? The US doesn't. I also heard before that the World economy was controlled by 4 major players in the world. And alas, none of them is me. (>.<)
So, it's all 'politics.' No economic growth can be achieved without some political interference. They both seem so superficial and unrealistic, having no true intrinsic value. No wonder I don't understand politics or economics.
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