Does he see the same solution for old people everywhere, or just Japan? Seems like anyone can become a professor nowadays. There used to be standards, dammit!
He might have to talk about this with his universities ethics commission…
Oh yes! Anything but immigration!
But seriously, I feel like this is the broad sentiment of Japanese and the non-Japanese alike. Anti- immigration right applaud Japan for “keeping their country theirs” (as if ethnic Japanese aren’t the ones who came later and displaced the local Ainus already living there), and not going on supposed national suicide, unlike the West. Not having enough babies is tantamount to suicide anyway. The narrative then becomes: either allow immigration and go on national and cultural suicide; or don’t allow immigration and not have enough babies, which is still considered national suicide. Either way is committing national suicide.
I am not naive to think that immigration has no baggage; but at the same time, if countries want to increase birth rate, then increase the wages and standard of living for young people and families to encourage more people to marry and raise families. However, the elites aren’t going to do the former because they don’t want to disappoint their shareholders. If they don’t want to do that, then allow more immigration, which they also don’t want to do.
Yeah, plus consider how many people already learn Japanese as it’s considered to be a sexy language in many countries
Orrrr (and this applies to most western countries in the near future too) they could maybe kinda consider not creating conditions in which its fucking impossible to have kids?
The problem is already well underway in the west. Some potential growth has already been squandered, acting now is an emergency.
For a lot of people, delaying to settle down and have family is a choice (like for myself), but you are right that conditions are being created to dis-incentivise raising a family.
I think South Korea could provide a model to encourage more birth rate. They created a new administrative capital city where it is more family oriented. The result? Explosion in birth rate. In the following years, other places replicated the model and South Korea as a whole experienced more birth this year for the first time in nine years.
Counterpoint: Everyone who ever attended yale should commit mass suicide
I know this is meant to be a joke but it is incentive.
Actual Japanese here, even within the dark humor context, I wholeheartedly agree with Yusuke Narita.
It’s precisely the gerontocracy in Japan why the nation is heading extremely far right. The aging oppressive population needs to retire, vacate, and leave the younger generation capable of making their choices. We are the lowest GDP first nation because of elders oppressing.
I’m glad Yusukeさん is in the 🇺🇲, but I’m afraid he’ll be deathcamped soon.
I’m thankful 28 folks read the article correctly. Fuck oppression.
Thanks for the added opinion and context.
When I read he actually used the word “seppuku”, I immediately knew that it wasn’t just suicide he was talking about. He’s also saying that the oldest generation needs to admit they screwed everything up beyond repair, and answer for it.
It’s precisely the gerontocracy in Japan why the nation is heading extremely far right.
Is it 参政党 and their ilk were mostly voted for by the younger crowds whereas the olds stayed with the LDP, at least from the exit polling I saw. I mean, for me personally, the LDP is too far right, but Sanseitou is definitely a lot further off. Some older also split to the DPFTP to show disappointment, but I’m less clear on those numbers.
I think old people in the US should do this too. I actually think it would have a net positive impact.
Kind of sad death with dignity is not allowed in most places. I really dont want to be a walking corpse like my great grand parents were with Parkinson and/or alzheimers. Ill take hard drugs please. I get its hard to say goodbye to love ones but I saw them as already dead wasting away.
Just asking out of curiosity, but if that occurred, would that actually solve the problem of population decline?
To be clear I’m not advocating for this, I’m just trying to understand the what’s going on.
No. This would have lots of weird impacts. In the countryside, a lot of employees are quite old. A lot also do childcare for their grandkids at least some of the time. A lot of farmers would be gone as well. There’s also a lot of paperwork that suddenly needs to be done grinding a lot of government to a halt. A lot of businesses as well since, from what I’ve seen form friends’ older relatives dying, a lot of people do NOT have their shit in order and Japan has lots of small businesses and sole proprietorships.
Depending upon the wording of the policies and suicide, life insurance companies might have big issues or families might have huge monetary issues. I guess we can pretend they don’t all die at once and clog up the whole morgue and funeral infrastructure which is a whole other thing.
The religious and political implications could be interesting. Bhuddist gravesites in Japan for family graves tend to be very expensive to buy and maintain.
I could actually keep going for a while, but the short version is that, at least in the short term, it would likely do more harm than good. This says nothing of the actual emotional impact on people.
Thanks, it’s seemed that his “solution” was off.
Well it would free up a lot of resources that could be redirected to free child care.
but it seems more like people are being over worked and underpaid. They just can’t afford to spend time or money on kids
My wife and I make decent money and could afford a kid, but we do not have the time.
We are both working over 40 hour weeks.
We have the time and money but we don’t like kids. Most of the population decline is because more and more people realize they don’t need kids to be happy.
My wife and I mainly worry about what will happen to us when we are very elderly.
I think having kids as a retirement plan is pretty selfish. I would rather save money so that when I’m old I can afford proper assistance. This of course is not a valid option everywhere but where I live nursing homes are good and affordable and euthanasia is legal.
I think the problem is that there might not be people to staff those nursing homes.
No, staffing will not be a problem. Those jobs are fairly easy to access (you only need some courses and certification), are not dangerous or highly stressful, and will not be replaced by AI or automation. Worst case scenario we will import nurses from developing countries. The only issue can be founding but in countries with stable social security retirements will cover most of the cost. If you’re living in country with weak social security you will be fucked and kids may be necessary.
Grandparents are a major source of free childcare
The article is from 2023 and the source is a anti abortion site. The big red flag for me was the tweet from Pierre Pollievre saying how Conservatives are there to help people.
From what I’ve seen when Japanese people saw the footage and context of the conversation they do believe it was more about older generation moving on.
Dr Narita has now told The New York Times his comments were “taken out of context”, and the paper reported that he added “they related to demands for older people in leadership positions to make way for the younger generation”.
Old people in Japan should commit mass suicide says random asshole idiot
Just because he’s something something from Yale doesn’t mean he’s right or even an authority on the subject. With the statement he made it’s fairly obvious that he’s an idiot and likely a psychopath soooooo why is the press giving this any attention?
Heck, I could argue that by giving this attention, some people might be tempted to implement this idea, this article it just plain stupid.
These people should sacrifice themselves in service of an economic system’s growth I.operative.
Capitalism is the atheists religion.
Why the fuck does this publication abbreviate assisted suicide as “ass suicide”
It should obviously be ass suc
Any means you choose. Ass suicide is just a recomendation.
And why Apple is using “Liquid Glass” for “Liquid Ass”?
“Since 2008”
Australian dude used a home-made robot to kill himself in 2008
https://www.wired.com/2008/03/australian-man/
9 years late on a corporate model
“For an extra quarter, would you like to have your eyes scooped out by a melon baller?”
I would very much love to have the choice.
I’m not confident that courting the suggestion of suicide by bringing public attention to it is the ethical move for a journalist.
If you’ve ever seen Thank You for Smoking and appreciated the dark political satire, check out Boomsday from Christopher Buckley by the same author, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomsday_(novel)
Cassandra Devine, “a morally superior twenty-nine-year-old PR chick” and moonlit angry blogger, incites generational warfare when she proposes that the financially nonviable Baby Boomers be given incentives (free Botox, no estate tax) to kill themselves at 70. The proposal, meant only as a catalyst for debate on the issue, catches the approval of millions of citizens, chief among them an ambitious presidential candidate, Senator Randolph Jepperson.
It’s been a decade or more since I last read it, but I remember it being pretty funny and insightful.
It’s a good book. And I remember them to be good to read back to back.
Interesting. Thanks!
Oh hey, I’ve read that Vonnegut story.
We are what we pretend to be?
