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There was not a lot of honor or integrity involved in the circumstances leading up to the real estate meltdown in the late 1980's that lead to the current economic malaise that Japan has endured for over 20 years. In many ways our own financial crises is similar than theirs.
For all the Japanese people's accomplishment and they are many they are subject to the same human fallacies and weaknesses that affect other human beings.
I wouldn't know about that. I can only speak to the time and circumstances when I was in Japan.
Last edited by pommysmommy; 08-26-2011 at 08:34 PM..
Reason: typo
When you look at all of the collectivist programs and ideology running around in America, it's hard to believe that America "values individual liberty." Especially if you couple that with our police state actions, like the Patriot Act and FISA, and I'm sorry but I wouldn't say that America "values individual liberty." Pays lip service to it, maybe, but values it? No.
I think it'd be more fair to say that they don't value individualism on a social level. If you listen to the sayings of their intellectual class and cultural commentators, many of them, certainly an unusual number from a Western perspective seem to speak on individualism as though it were a social malaise.
I don't think a lot of the people who are singing the praises of Japanese society would ever be able to stay sane through the strict conformism and naked judgementalism. Not us social liberals who balk at perceived social backwardness, not the self-styled conservatives who balk at invasion of privacy.
While the Japanese have put together a healthy society by most metrics, let's not forget in our discussion of homogeneity that they became this wealthy through abdicating their own culture for foreign culture on several occasions from several different sources and many times were on the receiving end of rather aggressive and unwanted foreign intervention forcing them to make reforms that they otherwise were very culturally strongly against. So you can't blanket generalize their success (in some regards) to any country that stays racially and culturally homogenous.
Regarding the low amounts of looting (and I say low because it did exist) I wouldn't be surprised for a country with extremely low income inequality and an adequate social safety net which adds up to a population that largely isn't very needy. So at the end of the day, all human affairs come back to money.
Japanese citizens have turned in money that was found to the government. Why? The Japanese are people of honor and integrity. They do not take handouts and they have pride in their integrity.
I'll agree with the honor and integrity but they do have much in the way of social programs that i'll presume they have no problems using.
Regarding the low amounts of looting (and I say low because it did exist) I wouldn't be surprised for a country with extremely low income inequality and an adequate social safety net which adds up to a population that largely isn't very needy. So at the end of the day, all human affairs come back to money.
Whatever. Some of the most corruption and crime goes on in communist countries. Income disparity, indeed.
It's sad that so many act like the nurture/nature debate was settled and still blindly promote the blank slate theory. As comfortable as it makes some people to accept, you need to understand that much of our personality is influenced by our genes. Culture is part of it, but it's not the whole reason.
It's sad that so many act like the nurture/nature debate was settled and still blindly promote the blank slate theory. As comfortable as it makes some people to accept, you need to understand that much of our personality is influenced by our genes. Culture is part of it, but it's not the whole reason.
I'm sure that by now there has evolved, genetically, an authoritarian-obediency culture of people on that island whose few aberrants go ape-ship over Elvis.
Pretty politically-stilted buncha people on that island.
They have been executing "criminal" types on that island for over two thousand years.
They've almost got a pure gene pool by now.
It's man-made evolution (selection of the obedientists).
Someone is out to get them!
“Atmosphere Above Japan Heated Rapidly Before M9 Earthquake:
Infrared emissions above the epicenter increased dramatically in the days
before the devastating earthquake in Japan, say scientists.” http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26773/
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