What if the Japanese don’t want to move forward and are happy to live out the remainder of their lifespans as is?
Progress without purpose is not progress. GDP over quality of life is like measuring your success of curing HIV in a human using bleach. You’ve succeeded, but for what?
It’s sad people are downvoting this. Maybe they disagree but this is absolutely a question all of us must ask.
There are side effects to growth. We lose cultural practices, we lose languages, we lose neighborhoods, we lose species, we lose entire ecologies.
I actually really appreciate the conservative (well...Republican) argument that sometimes it’s worth it. Maybe we should burn some fossil fuels to help developing countries build economically, bring down mortality, be able to support larger investments, etc, in exchange for some extinctions, and the loss of some indigenous culture. I’m open to that.
But you also have to be open to the fact that sometimes it’s not worth it, and ask what does it look like if we were to try to preserve our cultural and biological heritage. This is a conservative ideal too.
And when I think about how to do that, I am drawn back to Japan over and over who solved many of these problems hundreds or thousands of years ago. Japan has already asked the question: “should we destroy all of our native ecologies and cultures in order to fuel industrial growth?” And they are one of the few countries who has taken a stance on that issue, and succeeded at preserving things America seems destined to continually destroy in its relentless path towards an industrial monoculture.
We can’t write that off as provincialism or regressiveness. We (in the U.S.) have something to learn here, and the advantage is not entirely ours.
I don't think that's an accurate description of what's actually been happening in Japan. They have literally paved over ecologically sensitive sites and built bridges to nowhere in a misguided, counterproductive attempt to stimulate economic growth. For details see "Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan" by Alex Kerr.
Japan answered "Yes" to that question. Every river in Japan is dammed and concreted, ~all old growth forests have been logged and replaced with cedar plantations, and all native minorities (Okinawan, Ainu, etc) have been steamrollered by mainstream Yamato language & culture.
By most measures, progress in happiness and quality of life in has stalled compared to other industrialized nations. Fewer people are getting married with many citing economic pressures. The world happiness report lists the worlds 3rd largest economy in 56th place in the list of happiest countries.
From my own experiences living there, Japan may have a strong sense of community that shines during crises, but that connection is often only surface level. Relationships are heavily compartmentalized. You may have drinking buddies, golf friends, etc. But they aren't friends in the sense that you'll visit them outside of those activities or really open up to them to reveal your vulnerable side. If an older person loses a spouse, they often don't have anyone else for companionship.
Japan's suicide rate is still among the highest in the world and 2nd highest of rich, industrialized countries. It is the leading cause of death for women 15-34, who are amongst the longest lived in the worls.
Career satisfaction is also pretty low. The reality of work. The system is based on seniority. Hours are unecessarily long, most likely hurting produxtivity. Gaining advancement based upon merit is rare.
What incredible timing. I just got off the phone with some friends in Germany who were accusing me in particular and programmers and SV in general of being cold optimizers who leave out basic human needs and can't even make their own surroundings a better place. I think there is at least some truth in their accusations. To me part of the problem is that you can't quantify quality of life readily. We usually just have proxy metrics like life expectancy, child mortality, income etc. If you can't measure it, you can't optimize it. I'm somewhat in agreement but at a loss of actionable thoughts.
> What if the Japanese don’t want to move forward and are happy to live out the remainder of their lifespans as is?
They don't want to move forward, under the condition that Japan would still be rich and prosperous as it is/was today.
No, not anymore.
The Japanese has lost their electronics industry to US/South Korea/China. The myth of Made by Japan equals high quality is debunked by scandals that just doesn't seem to stop. And look at the crazy policies Japan had used to stimulate their economy. Don't want? No, they are more than desperate.
When you stay static, the world moves forward, you will be left behind. If US decides not to move forward, then China would happily reap all the economical outcome for the years to come, and US would become poorer and jobs would go away too. It is indeed a myth that politics can fix this. No, it cannot. Conservative thinking that they can freeze the time by voting is fantasy. Growth is a game you have to participate, it is a capitalist world, after all. However, what politics could fix, is to solve the redistribution problem, to have more people share the pie, not a handy few.
It depends, people can move in the wrong direction too. I especially worry about country with recent growth too tied in their fever. I appreciate countries with experience. Also not all new is good. Look at the nutrition theories of the 50s that are somehow bogus, while old japanese villages and Mediterranean islands have longer lifespans. We need perspective and patience.
You're saying like it's a dichotomy, but in reality it's a false one.
And I would agree with you if they didn't have things like long work shifts that are almost mandatory, because they're not exactly happy as is.
They don't need to focus in growth, they could focus in improving their conditions, but instead it seems they're coasting aimlessly and no one is grabbing the steering wheel.
>What if the Japanese don’t want to move forward and are happy to live out the remainder of their lifespans as is?
Then the country will die -- and in due time it might be taken to be a satellite to another power.
It's not about wanting to present their current way of life (as opposed to changing customs etc). They could be doing that and be still fine.
But they've already sacrificed quality of life over GDP (working themselves to death), and now they're also dying in numbers (not enough young people).
All countries will eventually experience a population death spiral due to structural issues. It’s how we keep quality of life high during this period in human history that will define us.
And by the way things go, it seems they froze in time. Nobody moves the country forward
Japan’s tech cannibalism saps Abenomics - https://www.ft.com/content/238c993c-427d-11e6-9b66-0712b3873... might need to Google it
Some other day I saw people complaining that in Japan they still use a mechanical mouse (not an optical one, the older ones)