https://archive.md/2021.11.09-212822/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-09/china-s-economic-model-is-probably-broken
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
It's because the US kneecaped their future capitalist development.
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
Prolly trots have some hot takes, they always do :thonk:
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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.
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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
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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.
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?