in that it exploits and keeps people at or below subsistence level – which is different than having a business located somewhere that generates local employment at wages that are fair and supportive of human decency. Thanks for your virtual high fives and your cheers… and I appreciate your commenting; I just felt compelled to dispel a myth that exploitative circumstances are comparable to anything whatsoever that we experience in employment in the Western world.

but in all seriousness I agree with it. I have no problem with making a lot of money and doing so in a way that accrues value to the world as well as myself. The more eco-friendly and socially-beneficial businesses there are, the more that capitalism becomes a tool for making the world a better place.

BTW, did you ever read my response to you on the socially responsible investments?

Cheers!

where do i sign? :)

Sometimes lying in the sun enjoying it all with heart open and mind empty is meditating, no doubt about it. Hence my comment to Aatmiya Yogini. But it has to be consciously felt for it to be meditation. My first post *that started this whole thread) does contain what I meant.

You are right, despite the bumper stickers that seek to hit you over the head with “The TRUTH” many Americans avoid the sorts of conversations that would be more readily approached in Europe. I don’t know if it’s most Americans. In discussing this with a friend, he said he didn’t feel like broaching potentially divisive issues or issues that might come across as a criticism of the country he was visiting. I live in a city that is progressive and liberal, and people tend to be too polite and not step on other people’s toes… but what seems to be the norm over here wouldn’t apply to, say, New York City, where people are far more up-front (some would say abrasive) about their opinions. And that would be different from the couple from Missouri with whom I shared my last plane ride to Europe, whose Conservative Christian outlook was only expressed in the holding of their breath when I told them I taught yoga (which to them probably sounded like some sort of Satanic cult… :) ). And so on and so forth. So, it could be that you’re meeting people there who may be more sensitive to not being the brash, loud-mouthed American that is the stereotype, but there are still plenty of people who do fit the stereotype. So I think that what you’re noticing is an absence of the desire to approach God, politics, and personal beliefs as dialog; instead the two choices most often made by Americans are either saying nothing or lecturing people on “The TRUTH”... Thanks for bringing this up. Maybe someday you and I can stay up till 2 a.m. talking about God and politics… :-)

is so cool!

There were lots of bikes in Japan too… I miss all the bikes. And the great subway and train services.

:-( North American transportation sure SUCKS in comparison. Everything’s too far apart. _waaaah!