EPTOn December 18 2012 05:51 Sanctimonius wrote:
It's the strangest thing, to me. Japan has undergone what in many countries would be political instability leading to riots, clashes between rival supporters, mass demonstrations, whatever. Yet Japan has just continued, and the people there never seemed to care who was in power. They just shook their heads and said shoganai - it can't be helped. International news has pointed to the unprecedented election results a couple of years ago as a sign things are changing - nope. Couldn't be further from the truth.
Japanese politicians tend to come from the same schools, the same small pool, and they are pretty similar in outlook and temperament. This one downplays their recent past, that one apologises, but the economy continues in a downward spiral. The construction industry calls the shots on domestic spending, forcing through projects unnecessary and destructive, simply to keep the money flowing. All that matters is that the bureaucracy keeps on trucking, and the yennies keep getting spent, and it does no matter who is in power.
The Japanese people have the same problem as a lot of countries do these days - lack of a viable alternative. The US faced that very problem last election, with too many dissatisfied with Obama but Romney was a terrible choice instead, and there just aren't any other legitimate parties to choose from. They don't have a decent choice who will stand up and deal with the vast problems they are facing - the strong yen and the massive gulf between spending and income, the population that is way too old and immigration that is very restrictive. Japan is heading for implosion very soon as they just don't have enough workers to pay for their elderly, and nobody is addressing that. I fear for their future.
It's the strangest thing, to me. Japan has undergone what in many countries would be political instability leading to riots, clashes between rival supporters, mass demonstrations, whatever. Yet Japan has just continued, and the people there never seemed to care who was in power. They just shook their heads and said shoganai - it can't be helped. International news has pointed to the unprecedented election results a couple of years ago as a sign things are changing - nope. Couldn't be further from the truth.
Japanese politicians tend to come from the same schools, the same small pool, and they are pretty similar in outlook and temperament. This one downplays their recent past, that one apologises, but the economy continues in a downward spiral. The construction industry calls the shots on domestic spending, forcing through projects unnecessary and destructive, simply to keep the money flowing. All that matters is that the bureaucracy keeps on trucking, and the yennies keep getting spent, and it does no matter who is in power.
The Japanese people have the same problem as a lot of countries do these days - lack of a viable alternative. The US faced that very problem last election, with too many dissatisfied with Obama but Romney was a terrible choice instead, and there just aren't any other legitimate parties to choose from. They don't have a decent choice who will stand up and deal with the vast problems they are facing - the strong yen and the massive gulf between spending and income, the population that is way too old and immigration that is very restrictive. Japan is heading for implosion very soon as they just don't have enough workers to pay for their elderly, and nobody is addressing that. I fear for their future.
I largely agree with you, but I think you're severely discounting the requirement for stability and how scared the Japanese public is to allow large institutions to fail.
But to put it out there - this election was as much a repudiation of the incumbent DPJ as it was a desperate cry to return to the past through the LDP. Between the response and post-disaster mess of Fukushima and the malaise of continued low growth (with ominous rumbles within Japan that Samsung maybe doesn't make crap any more, despite being 3x bigger than Japan Inc put together), the incumbents were of course going to be thrown out on their asses. Japanese voters are also VERY unhappy about sales taxes being doubled (from 5% to 10%), plans to raise it further.
It is scary, however, that the LDP is coming in sounding more nationalist notes and is making it pretty clear that they're going to use China as a distraction for many domestic problems, just as Beijing is using the Senkaku islands to distract from reports that Chinese factory workers suffer from mass depression and they want better conditions.
