In this episode, I walk through my observations upon returning to the US from Japan and share what I witnessed after the outbreak of the LA fires, which have filled headlines worldwide.

Commenting on current events is a bit out of the norm for the podcast. However, I offer a quick history of 13 years of life to help illustrate the personal perspective I have on the disaster. I also briefly mention Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue.

For those of you who would like to get into the weeds with me about Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue, I wrote an all-to-short summary of his thesis below. He deserves to be studied deeply.

In short, I will argue that we are indeed living in an age after virtue. A suffocating, growing, cold bureaucracy has filled that vacuum. But in the aftermath of the fires, I also witnessed the human spirit in the streets of Pasadena.

The Enlightenment’s Mistake

According to MacIntyre, the Enlightenment thinkers (18th-century philosophers like Kant, Bentham) wanted to replace Aristotle’s virtue ethics — which tied morality to shared human purpose (telos) — with “rational” systems like rights and utility.

But by foregoing the idea that humans have a built-in moral purpose, they turned ethics into a free-for-all. Without a common “why” for morality, debates became clashes of personal preference, not mutual pursuits of truth through reason.

The Death of Virtue

Aristotle’s virtues (courage, justice, etc.) thrived in communities with shared goals. In the pursuit of maximizing individual freedom, the Enlightenment rejected Aristotelian virtue — throwing the baby out with the bathwater. People began treating ethics like a menu of opinions, prioritizing personal preference.

This is why public discourse is so shrill in the modern era, according to MacIntyre. “Abortion is wrong” and “Gun ownership is wrong” are shallow arguments rooted in the speaker’s likes and dislikes as opposed to a higher aim for human flourishing. This fractured the social fabric.

MacIntry calls this emotivism. “X is wrong” just means “I dislike X.” Without a shared understanding of virtue, debates became manipulative power struggles. There’s no common ground — just competing preferences.

Bureaucracy’s Rise

Into this moral vacuum stepped bureaucrats. They claimed “neutral expertise” to manage society “scientifically.” But this is susceptible to human weakness and cowardice:

* Managers pretend to be value-neutral but enforce their desires (profit, power, slacking off work, giving their friends a pass).

* Institutions prioritize external goods (money, metrics) over internal goods (craftsmanship, care).

In my opinion, this is one of many reasons why buildings are so ugly today. Craftsmanship is not valued today as it was in the old world. What is valued today is how quickly you can build something with efficiently priced labor and materials.

Why Bureaucracy is a Moral Catastrophe

* It Crowds Out Virtue: Bureaucracies reduce people to data points. Teachers “teach to tests,” universities chase quotas. Instead of mentoring students through childhood or accepting the most worthy applicant, for example, such moral judgment is replaced by compliance.

* It Destroys Community: Bureaucracies fragment society into isolated individuals. In a virtuous society, communities cultivate trust through face-to-face relationships, reciprocal duties, and a common understanding of telos.

This telos was perfectly illustrated in the generosity displayed after the outbreak of the LA fires. There was a shared story of “we’re going to help each other out to rebuild”. Bureaucracies fragment these stories into isolated incidents to be "managed," divorcing actions from their moral context.

To be honest, I deeply believe MacIntyre is right: We’re in a moral dark age. But as I discuss in the episode, I saw decency in the aftermath of the fires. Fellow residents were lending a hand — no permits required. At the end of the day, Altadena and the Palisades will rebuild — not because a committee approved it, but because neighbors showed up.

Tired of akiya renovation advice from people who've never held a hammer in Japan? I've spent 3 years making every mistake so you don't have to. Join hundreds of fellow renovators for just $5/month (less than one batch of concrete!)

Books Mentioned In This Episode:

When you purchase a book (or anything on Amazon) with the links below, you support me and the podcast at no extra cost to you:

* After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre

Links to More Resources:

* Americana at Brand

* Rick Caruso

* Hyatt Regency in Austin, TX

* Buc-ee's

* California, the most regulated state in the USA

* Cafe Frosch in Kyoto

* Yumeji Vintage Villa in Kyoto

* Graduate Institute Geneva Maison de la Paix building

* Picciotto Student Residence Building

* Japan Tobacco International Building

* WWOOF: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

* Change.org Poll Demanding the Immediate Recall of LA Mayor Karen Bass

* Learn Ikebana in Kobe (with me and a local expert!) on TripAdvisor

* The Akiya Project on YouTube

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit akiyaproject.substack.com/subscribe