https://archive.md/2021.11.09-212822/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-09/china-s-economic-model-is-probably-broken
I think Japan is incredibly interesting as an example of late capitalism, they seem to be frozen in time: same exploitation, stagnant economy, very weird shit. Seems like final boss of capitalism, ngl
Well, yes, but why seemingly inside the country there is zero opposition. They elect libs fairly consistently, build some trains around and chill, despite very strange working hours :shrug-outta-hecks:
I dunno. From what I can tell Japan has been shifting further and further right just like everyone else.
The LDP is shifting to a more moderate position because they are really a multi faction party and they need internal cooperation to maintain their rule. What’s happening is the country is slowly becoming less nationalist again, but with an increase in privatization pushes from the innovation party. The CDP is viewed as useless, which to be fair they are and the Communists are all old boomers who are dying off. Reiwa is an interesting party but they are too small to have any real influence but they would be your socialism for people below the age of 70 or not 35-50 year old men who lost their job in the bubble crash.
Probably brainwashed. I would look into how Japanese education changed after the US essentially made the entire nation its military base. I would bet there's a slew of smoking guns there
Yes, but I think it illustrates troubling thing - working class can just decide to chill and be exploited. Very weird thing, but then again, language barrier likely hides some undercurrents inside japan
Everyone is getting poorer, but no one has any real plan of how to fix it so no collective action can be taken. Communism is seen as unviable because of it’s historical failures in Japan following the US occupation and also Japan’s geopolitical rival is a “communist” nation. Without any decent proposed ways to get to something society trends towards what works even if their lives are slowly getting worse by it.
But it is, in medieval towns guild members had fair expectation to become masters and get their own apprentices, in villages - to marry and get a house and/or dowry with some animals to start them with. There was clear progression of exploited->exploiter/self-employed, when it broke down due to material factors - there were rebellions and riots. But as a worker you don’t get to this by the age of 30-40, you get there by 70. Which, assuming extra exploitation could mean you material conditions still improve during your work, but now that process have reversed, with housing stuff
working class can just decide to chill and be exploited
The working class can chill so long as the treats flow and the lights stay on. But there's a breaking point (just ask folks in the UK). Enough poor economic management will eventually stress infrastructure and institutions past the point of functionality.
We saw that in Texas, during the Big Freeze. Hundreds of people died in their homes, because we couldn't keep the lights on. Businesses were shuttered for weeks. Grocery stores were stripped bare. Buildings were wrecked by frozen pipes. We're talking about billions of dollars in damages, because we couldn't be bothered to spend a few million upfront weatherizing. And we still haven't, as the sudden spike in energy prices was viewed as a windfall for finance guys rather than a massive waste of domestic capital.
You can only chill for so long before you experience real suffering.
they seem to be frozen in time
Much worse than frozen. The birth rate is plummeting while the population ages out. Their job participation rate has been sliding as a result. More and more of the economy is tied up in managing the depreciating real estate and financial assets, while catering to the wealthy retirees in their later years.
I'd say they're ossifying and crumbling. I'm curious to know what their breaking point is. At what point does the Japanese economy become unsustainable, what with tightly closed borders and a shrinking population?
one key difference is the USA is currently unable to strongarm or hoodwink China into signing something as self-defeating as the Plaza Accords
A lot of present day commentaries on the Japanese economy in the 80s-90s often forgot just how much America hates (and terrified of) Japan.
They "forget" on purpose
https://i.imgur.com/Rft0Vhe.pngIt's the whole reason cyberpunk has that Japanese neon aesthetic, it was a reflection on what people thought the future might look like
And they got to the other side of the crash without electing a Reagan and ripping up their social safety net, which is nice for them.
They're going to make a movie where Sean Connery plays an expert on Chinese culture to help solve a murder?
yeah, screw material conditions. Asiatics always follow the same trajectory no matter what.
For clues as to what lies ahead, look back to what happened to Japan after its supercharged growth
You mean it got all of its IP forcibly handed over to the US because the entire nation is just a huge US military base?
Uhh once again the media doing a projection. If anything it's the US that's likely going to face stagflation. God they really are desperate
Well, what would happen if the media started making a bunch of noise about how much farther ahead of us Chinese states are progressing? If Americans knew that the average retirement age is 60 and they've got lower levels of household debt and higher savings rates and lower cost of living and more job stability and there's no such thing as "medical bankruptcy"...
Would they start envying that quality of life? Would they start emulating Chinese cultural and economic practices? Would they start migrating across the Pacific in pursuit of this lifestyle standard?
Say someone lives in the U.S. and makes relatively little money. How should they prepare for stagflation?
I'm a dumbass riffing off the top of my head, but it's probably best to invest in things like keeping car repairs if any are needed sooner rather than later. Don't re-sign your lease if you can afford not to. Then stay mentally and physically prepared to move cities or change jobs so you can be flexible and pursue better opportunities.
Things are likely to stay "weird" and probably get "weirder" the next couple years economically speaking, but if you're mobile you should be able to find something to keep you afloat. It's unlikely that your current workplace will adjust your wage for inflation (they may not even be able to which is the "stagnation" aspect) so it's all about preparing for that job-hop at the right time.
The next step would be to look at things on a financial level if you have some money in the bank (if someone makes "relatively little" this may not apply). Ideally you want to build up 3 months' savings, and then a 10-20% down payment on a property (anything you could possibly afford) right after that. If you have anyone you trust enough to get a mortgage with, even better. Even if housing prices dip for a bit (I'm waiting for a crash but not convinced it's going to happen tbh), it's very likely to be a "stagflation-proof" investment. Your biggest risks are that it's not advised to sell a home within 10 years of buying it, and a bankruptcy will fuck up your credit for 7+ years. Don't leave anything more than 3 months' emergency savings (a luxury in itself, of course) in the bank at any time, that's where you get hit the hardest
If I remember correctly, looking at income disparity the US looks a lot like France in the 1780s. That must beat 1980s Japan, right?
you ever think about how if we didn't nuke japan the USSR would have got the north of it? We'd have soviet jumon anime girl profiles on our twitters
