Down with the Cities!

in of th

at oceans, there are the cities on land. Or at least this is what most people seem to believe. If o

l like the sun or the oceans, for it has on

re the Appeara

of time) boasted of its own enduring existence, was wiped out in less than a hundred years. It would not be at all strange if, just as the Japanese Army (I am here distinguishing it from the Self Defense Forces) perished in only one hundred years, the cities perish after ten thousand. * * * Let us take a look at the origin of the city. At the time when human beings kept themselves alive

ny one given area were limited, so that if the population increased this would cause a shortage. It was therefore impossible for people to concentrate in one place; they kept moving around so that there were always small numbers of people living scattered over the land (just as wild animals stake out the

which had no written records, the people had to depend upon their rich knowledge of past experience for the methods by which they adapted to th

o one who specialized in handicraft, and thus no distinctions of social position. Even the head of

tal culture was not a natural development of the Jomon culture, but a revolutionary c

le for people to live sedentary lives in the vicinity of their fields; communities increased their supportive power, and there appeared villages of several hundred familie

held in common by the village, and so it was necessary to tightly control the use of land and water, and t

iod people were still abiding by the law of Nature, which states that one must either ga

ty's O

or ruin. When a system made up of the dominators and the dominated, the exploiters and the exploited, became nece

prosperity of civilization (or culture); it was without doubt a mechanism for idleness and gluttony set up by the dominators and their ilk, as well as those

cated. As a result the various regions took on distinctive cultures based on their respective functions, and there appeared villages which were groups of people specializing i

gluttony. If there are even a few people who, finding their sole employment in the secondary and tertiary industries, make their living at it (or if there is the possibility of such), then we must consider this th

ons in late Yayoi society (particularly the considerable advances in technology, and the furthering of functional divisions in the economy), it is possible that there were

again consider this the birth of the city. In the late Yayoi there was of course bartering, but there is no evidence that this was conducted by those who did nothing but barter (perhaps full-time merchants did not make their ap

year of Empress Suiko's reign [623] there were 46 temples and 1,385 monks and nuns. Public officials and soldiers no doubt showed a similar incre

nd a Minister of the Right. Under them there were eight ministries, which handled all the business of the state, and a system of officials. The land was divided up into Kinai, and seven Regions, and the seven Regions were further

the lowest ranks, numbered about ten thousand (the population of Nara at that time was 200,000). And since these officials, monks, and priests had their attendants, assistants, concub

s of Supporting Id

ought the city into being as a place for domination (exploitation). Those who wished to fill their bellies under

ke a jump int

e priesthood, and the military, but with the advancement of industrialization, exchange and division of labor became the principal means of control in the social organization, and when that happened the scale and form of the city changed fundamentally. [25] These phenomena, known as indust

he ancient city, which is the ancestor of the modern city, came into being as a system (even on a small scale) made up of the dominators and the dominated, and the exploiters and the exploited, and if it arose in order to establish a World of Laws [27] (a society based upon laws dev

the wish of Nature that

the city to come into being any other way. According to the previous quote, the ancient city was an organ of exploitation, and this is the essence of the modern city as well. The only difference is that the modern city has made it possible to plunder more skillfully, in a more complex manner, and in greater amounts. To put it another way, it was not the desire of the farmers (the country, that is, the Natural World) that the city came into being. It is true that many farmer

the World of Laws; its existence is merely tem

enience and extravagance and ease. Trinkets and gewgaws and amusement. Progr

in the near future, perish anyway because of dwindling natural resources and nuclear war

entary

iod was a mere 10,000 years ago. When we consider it in the light of the millions of years

s have shown no progress in millions of years, for foxes and raccoons are still living the same lives as foxes and raccoons. The rapid changes, increasing complexity of social structure, and urbanization achieved by humanity in the last 5,000

that explosive, Nature took the unusual step of allowing us a single great leap in progress in a short period of time, then t

isdom, the gods perhaps decided to use humanity in an experiment to see what would happen. The gods are no doubt grinning and watching to see what happens to the hum

don't believe you meant that wisdom to be used

venience and development, and using it instead now for regression and austerity? An

cancel the construction of airports. Stop using moving walkways and walk with your legs instead. Stop using pulp to make idiotic comic books, handbills, and wrapping paper. Let's stop the manufacture of cigarettes, detergents, and food additives. Let's stop taking so much medicine. Reduce further the amounts of agricultural chemicals and chemical fertiliz

egression, and austerity. It is for these things that humanity

t good), they know that wisdom is a double edged swo