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Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

cnn.com

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Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#151

Post by dukeyukey »

coliveira wrote: post #145
l33tbro wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying you are wrong here, but I think it is important to ground all of these old:young dynamics in culture. 'Subordinate', to me, is a very western lens and looks past the crucial point that the Japanese view power structures with far more optimism than we do. Japan clearly has its own problems, but honour and duty play a significant part in their culture and, admirably, contributes to the creation of a high…

Arguably, the Japanese view a society that takes care of the elderly with respect as a benefit to themselves. In the other hand, it is a characteristic of Western society to see every moment as an opportunity to make immediate profits, even at the expense of their own future.

In this case, it's taking care of the elderly to the huge detriment of the young. And when you do that, you kinda lose the future.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#153

Post by metacritic12 »

wubrr wrote: post #92
encoderer wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating. Is the loyalty reciprocated?

If the subordinates have to lie about taking time off, and intentionally accept lower pay for the benefit of their superiors - then no, it's definitely not reciprocated. I'd argue the subordinates are straight up being abused in this case.

I don't think reciprocation can be analyzed in a dynamic setting like that.

Another version of this is, what happens if the younger generation doesn't take the deal -- do they get fired? Keeping them on is a form of reciprocation, even if bleak.

Likewise, is there an implicit deal where when the young get old, they get to work less? If so, it is eventually reciprocated.

I do think it is not reciprocated instantaneously.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#154

Post by lotsofpulp »

WillyWonkaJr wrote: post #36
cableshaft wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially for something like Social Security safety nets, which relies on a larger younger population paying into it. I'm not sure if Japan has an equivalent but I think they do.

This is a great argument for individual retirement accounts rather than using the young to pay for the elderly. In the United States, if everyone's social security tax were put in an index fund, then everyone would be millionaires upon retirement. There are solutions other than pleading with people to have more kids.

Numbers in a database, whether they are in the millions or billions or trillions, don’t mean anything unless there are sufficient things/services to buy.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#155

Post by bobthepanda »

colechristensen wrote: post #139
orangecat wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually that life is too good for childless people, especially when they're wealthier. Take a DINK couple with high paying jobs, say an engineer and an attorney. Without kids they can have a nice house or condo, regularly take great vacations, and still be saving enough to have the option of retiring in their 40s or 50s. But with kids, that mostly goes out the window. The societal expectation is that you should…

The parents I've seen seem to spend every waking second doting on their children for at least a decade, which seems strange to me. This hovering "what can I do to satisfy your desires" literally just constantly (I've also seen people doing this with their dogs). Maybe I'm missing something or my sample size is skewed. The people I've seen doing this are also just exhausted, as they've said directly. It comes down to.…

It really cannot be understated how few homes we have built since the Great Recession and the terrible impact that has had on COL.

To give an idea of what it takes to solve a housing shortfall, Sweden successfully embarked on a million-homes program over a decade in the 70s when the population of Sweden was 7 million.

NYC recently just celebrated the passage of a zoning reform that allows at most 80,000 new homes, and the population is 8.2 million.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#157

Post by TeMPOraL »

ativzzz wrote: post #79
RiverCrochet wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an interesting discussion with my nephew about this post. He angers me with the way he talks about stuff, but I consider it an exercise in mental fortitude. Allow me to share his absolutely crazy and unreasonable thoughts on this: "Nobody really wants more people except certain religious sects, and that is only because it allows them to use sexuality to control people. Most modern capitalists would favor automa…

He's not totally wrong, just replace "Religious organizations" with "Governments" and "tax-free status" with "solders and workers"

How about we go further, and replace "Governments" with "human civilization" and "tax-free status" with "continued existence"?

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#158

Post by wkat4242 »

l33tbro wrote: post #106
wubrr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the subordinates have to lie about taking time off, and intentionally accept lower pay for the benefit of their superiors - then no, it's definitely not reciprocated. I'd argue the subordinates are straight up being abused in this case.

I'm not saying you are wrong here, but I think it is important to ground all of these old:young dynamics in culture. 'Subordinate', to me, is a very western lens and looks past the crucial point that the Japanese view power structures with far more optimism than we do. Japan clearly has its own problems, but honour and duty play a significant part in their culture and, admirably, contributes to the creation of a high…

Hmm I'm sure I would view that kind of social pressure as a straightjacket and I would have a very fringey and mediocre life in such a society.

I'm just someone who is different and western civilization applauds individualism to some extent (except highly religious communities, army, etc).

For people like me such societies are pretty cruel.

Re: Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

#159

Post by blendo »

7thaccount wrote: post #2

That sounds....huge. I know many working couples where one would probably take that in a heartbeat. You lose some money, but gain more family time and sanity. Having Friday to finish chores and being able to enjoy the weekend unstressed is huge, not to mention clocking out early each day to be able to pick up your kid and not have to get back to work or whatever.

Prior to retirement, I cut back to 32 hrs/week at 80% pay (well, closer to 85% because I kept my full health). I backfilled the pay cut by beginning a small 401k withdrawl.

All of a sudden, every Thursday evening felt like the start of vacation!

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