Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press • Hacker News Board

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#81

Post by Qantourisc » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 7:50 AM UTC

Fando wrote: post #79

If you could redesign a system of government free from major flaws we see today, how would it work? Current systems almost seem to have a tendency to "breed" the types of malevolent, inefficient, greedy and problematic power structures we see. I think that at the root of the problem are natural human flaws. It seems almost certain that given enough time, no matter how well intentioned people are, the cumulative effec…

Pick 30 random people and replace them every 3 months. The new laws have to be voted on by either a referendum or a large random draft (1000 people) (which are also often replaced).

Problems are: keeping the random random. People in general making immature decision, like lowering the taxes.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#82

Post by RightWingRabble » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 7:55 AM UTC

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #72

RightWingRabble wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nationalism doesn't lead to wars, massacres and other oppression and brutality. That's tribalism leading to that. Tribalism is one of those built in human behaviors we have that we can't get rid of. People have tried with globalism, with cultural marxism, with communism. The pendulum always swings back toward tribalism because genetics is a powerful force. Nations are the people, not the dirt, as is pretty obvious to…

> Nationalism doesn't lead to wars, massacres and other oppression and brutality. That's tribalism leading to that. Could you explain the difference between nationalism and tribalism? > If you want real danger, you should want to curb and reverse the mass immigration we're still seeing. History is very clear on this point; if immigration continues unabated, eventually the immigrants will become targets. Hopefully it'…

> Could you explain the difference between nationalism and tribalism?

A tribe could be described as a people of common genetic ancestry. On the occasion they have an ancestral homeland, that's called a Nation. For example, the Germans have Germany, the French have france, etc. If you were to replace the German people with Syrians, for example, the nation of Germany would cease to exist. The Syrians living in Germany have no loyalty to the nation. The loyalty the Germans have for their nation (or their nationalism) is only a function of the fact that Germans live there and they feel that is their home.

> Are you saying that we should deport the immigrants for their own good?

Nothing makes a Tribe feel more fiercely nationalist than a perceived invasion from an outside group. That really triggers the deep seated need we all have to ensure our genes and our race survive. That means expelling the invaders, one way or the other. The Reconquista is a good example of an event that was somewhere in the middle. There were lots of wars, lots of deportations, but not an outright genocide.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#83

Post by adrianN » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:14 AM UTC

Qantourisc wrote: post #81

Fando wrote: post #79

If you could redesign a system of government free from major flaws we see today, how would it work? Current systems almost seem to have a tendency to "breed" the types of malevolent, inefficient, greedy and problematic power structures we see. I think that at the root of the problem are natural human flaws. It seems almost certain that given enough time, no matter how well intentioned people are, the cumulative effec…

Pick 30 random people and replace them every 3 months. The new laws have to be voted on by either a referendum or a large random draft (1000 people) (which are also often replaced). Problems are: keeping the random random. People in general making immature decision, like lowering the taxes.

Good luck implementing anything that takes longer than three months to bear fruit.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#84

Post by kagamine » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:14 AM UTC

mhurron wrote: post #50

DonaldFisk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SNP (Scottish National Party) isn't nationalist in the usual sense of the word. It's well to the left of, and more liberal than, the other UK parties, with the exception of the Greens, and potentially Labour if Jeremy Corbyn remains leader. It's better described as separatist.

> It's better described as separatist. Nationalism is not part of the political spectrum. You can easily have right and leftist Nationalists. They're separatists because of the belief of a strong Scottish identity. That is basically the definition of Nationalism.

The SNP are very much pro multiculturalism, the 'nationalist' agenda in Scotland is about the long and complex history with England/Westminster, not the rest of the world. It is about self-determination and it is difficult to get a handle on from abroad as the media fails in it's attempts to understand what the Scottish referendum is really about (as did many Yes voters). This could have something to do with almost all of the Scotland's media being controlled from south of the border, which emphasizes the point really.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#85

Post by creshal » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:15 AM UTC

hackuser wrote: post #77

cmurf wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nationalism has a strong component of devotion, an emotional attachment, to the state. Its a derivative of statism, which itself is a derivative of tribalism. You can have either liberals or conservatives subject to such an emotional appeal to the state. Due to the strong emotional appeal in nationalism, the political ideology is more nuanced. In classic liberalism, power comes from the individual who then grants a r…

Thanks for raising some interesting issues > the political ideology is more nuanced ... I think it requires some research ... I agree on one hand. On the other, any issue like this is much more complicated than what can be presented in an HN comment, so we all need to simplify things a little. > You can have either liberals or conservatives subject to such an emotional appeal to the state In theory, yes. I find this…

One example for a non-nationalist conservative party would the German CDU (Merkel's party): They were one of the driving powers behind the ECSC, EEC and later EU, and staunchly pro-NATO, even at the cost of German sovereignty.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#86

Post by kagamine » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:21 AM UTC

BowBun wrote: post #6

For a country whose culture already stifles expression and speech, this is bad news. I'm proud that supposedly so many Japanese stood up to protest these legislative actions. Having lived there, I can say that the government comes across as way more untouchable and heightened than here in the US, and that it takes a LOT before action can be taken against them. The US messing in their politics in order to get more aid…

Had a friend who lived in Japan for 35 years whose opinion of Japanese politics was basically that the ruling party were the largest and most powerful of the triad gangs.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#87

Post by acd » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:23 AM UTC

I think that the Japan public debt house is starting to crackle and they do not want the public to know. Thus they are silencing the media.

Here is a graph of Japanese debt to GDP ratio http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/government-debt-to-gdp

Here is demographic Changes in Japan's population. It shows a top slope, population starting to fall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#/media/F...

So a retiring Japanese population is going to pay for rising public debt. Sustainable in the long run?

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#88

Post by jld89 » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:29 AM UTC

acd wrote: post #87

I think that the Japan public debt house is starting to crackle and they do not want the public to know. Thus they are silencing the media. Here is a graph of Japanese debt to GDP ratio http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/government-debt-to-gdp Here is demographic Changes in Japan's population. It shows a top slope, population starting to fall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#/media/F... So a re…

You forgot to mention that Japan is the biggest creditor in the world and the one that possesses more foreign net assets than even China.

So even if debt is colossal, it has the assets to maintain it for a long time.

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#89

Post by monort » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:33 AM UTC

Fando wrote: post #79

If you could redesign a system of government free from major flaws we see today, how would it work? Current systems almost seem to have a tendency to "breed" the types of malevolent, inefficient, greedy and problematic power structures we see. I think that at the root of the problem are natural human flaws. It seems almost certain that given enough time, no matter how well intentioned people are, the cumulative effec…

Remove a government monopoly and solve the problem with competition:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycentric_law

Re: Japanese government dismantles freedom of the press

#90

Post by rangibaby » Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 8:52 AM UTC

gozur88 wrote: post #40

scribu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If only the people of Japan stood up for their rights.. As mentioned in the article, there already are massive protests around this issue. What more could they do? Try to take down the government by force? Even if they succeeded, I'm sure the U.S. would be happy to step in to "calm the waters" and impose martial law outright.

They don't need to have a violent revolution. They can just vote for a different party in the next election cycle. If the votes aren't there, revolution wouldn't succeed anyway.

"They can just vote for a different party in the next election cycle."

The last time they tried that (2009), the different party was literally more of the same. The only thing worth mentioning about the following two elections was their extremely low turnout (the lowest ever in Japan's modern history in the latter).