<< But if you ask the average citizen of either country whether they'd prefer lifetime employment to massive cyclical layoffs, what answer do you think you'd get? >>
the above average in talent & skill would say "let me compete with possibility of layoffs and cycles"
the below average would say "give me security of lifetime employmt"
the middle of the road would be split with indifference issuing comments like "huh? gaijin pigs!! I love John Wayne!! how bout that Big Bertha driver?"
the masses are saying loud and clear that they are pissed off... they want some change, but not much change... give them another year of pain, and they will be rejecting portions of their own culture
sadly, Japanese culture is built around honor and shame, not forgiveness and renewal... that is a serious spiritual shortcoming that has infused their business world
they will have to arrive independently at the same conclusion the Europeans made recently... that is THE U.S. BUSINESS MODEL IS SUPERIOR, MORE ADAPTIVE, MORE COMPETITIVE --- CHANGE, COMPETE, OR SUFFER
Japan is a curious amalgam of mafia, socialism, mfg efficiency, dynamo savings... did you know they have two federal budgets??? one is voted upon by the Diet, the other is a massive slush fund of nearly equal size controlled by the Ministry of Finance... or is it Trade? or is it govt mafia
a wise European once said "Capitalism results in the unequal distribution of wealth... Socialism results in the equal distribution of misery" ... Japan is a closed socialist nation masquerading as a capitalist economy
debatable whether their culture has served them well for 1000 years... they toss out their deformed children... fathers are never home... treat Korean and other minorities worse than Americans do blacks or English do Irish... allying with Axis and Hitler brought total devastation in WW2... treated prisoners of war worse than any major nation in recent history... national inferiority complex results in fascination with US westerns, golf, baseball, and almost no original nuances since the shogun age
Japan will change only when Nikkei gets at or below 10,000 and riots take place in the streets... not far off
/ Jim Willie |
