The class system: The Japanese knew

I came across something highly interesting in Nitobe's "Bushido" today. I don't know if you guys have the book or not, but the quote I am using is in Chapter VII (pg. 45)

"The merchant was placed lowest in the category of vocations-the knight, the tiller of the soil, the mechanic, the merchant. The samurai derived his income from land and could even indulge, if he had a mind to, in amateur farming; but the counter and abacus were abhorred. We know the wisdom of this social arrangement. Montesquieu has made it clear that the debarring of the nobility from mercantile pursuits was an admirable social policy, in that it it prevented wealth from accumulating in the hands of the powerful. The separation of power and riches kept the distribution of the latter more nearly equable"
- Inazo Nitobe

I got some interesting thoughts about this quote. What do you guys and gals think?

Ooooh that is sinister.
It comes right back to the Money brainwashing the Puppets.

But can Godzilla beat God?

reply to post by Kidachi


Christ said He was servant of all . . . and washed the Disciples feet . . . and challenged them to be servants of all . . .

Few have fulfilled that part of their role . . . and, imho, consequently have trashed their calling by their arrogance and power mongering.

And politicians are worse.

Great points in your post.

Thx.

Yeah, Limiting access is hard to do. Limiting wealth may be something more manageable.

I have no concept of how that would work. Money always eventually goes to the powerful except in cases where there is no value in having money. Then whatever is valued goes to the powerful. Same thing in my opinion.

In the end, it kind of boned them though. As the Samurai became less and less important and influential, they began to drift from their nobility. They had nothing to do but sit around and drink or otherwise try to keep themselves entertained. With very little money of their own, and no way to really earn money elsewise, many Samurai became brigands or Ronin mercenaries. This turn of events despoiled the last bit of public and political sympathy. They were nuisances, and they were eventually outlawed piecemeal by taking away their privileges.

And... before going all Banzai on the noble Samurai wisdom in regards to class, it should be noted that the Samurai were allowed, by class status, to execute peasants and working class individuals who offended them. Oh sure... they can't enslave the peasants to debt and credit by the skillful manipulation of money. No... they just flat out execute them if they don't like them.

interesting,
Japanese, unlike many others still value - "honor"...

My guess - it is an cultural and educational paradigm.
This would never work in US and China for example,
where money has all the power, or power has all the money.
No mental barriers exist so each one grabs as much as possible.

it's that same honor system that imo will make Japan a
natural enemy state to the fake NWO unfolding.

Japan, and myself - that is.

Uh, did everyone just forget the whole Sengoku period, where the samurai became feudal warlords, outright ruling over the peasantry as regional warlords, growing rich from it?