Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began • Hacker News Board

Re: Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began

#131

Post by Eleopteryx » Sun, Dec 23, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

beginningguava wrote: post #97

sprash wrote: post #60

If the Japanese government wants to do the right thing, all it has to do is to let the population contract even further until Asset prices begin to freefall. Then everything will be affordable again for young Japanese citizens and a good longterm economic outlook for the future is the best thing you can do to stimulate birthrates. If Japan wants to screw it up, it should allow mass immigration. This way asset prices…

One of the better takes I've seen on the situation: https://imgur.com/a/Zg32EAl cheaper housing, higher wages, less crime, less pollution The only people hurt by stable population are giant corporations who want cheap labor and more consumers. Japan will be fine, they'll just increase productivity with technology rather than throwing bodies at problems US should solve the problem by giving bigger tax deductions to in…

I see you straightfacedly posting screencaps taken from /pol/ and I'm going to take it as the first sign that this site is now on a cultural downturn.

Re: Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began

#132

Post by hrktb » Sun, Dec 23, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

fiblye wrote: post #23

hrktb wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A whole slice of Japanese workers’ have life that squarely fall in “poor and dull”. The overworking cliche is only true to an extent, but still working poor people are plenty and their number rising could arguably be the main factor in the population demographic change. “I don’t make enough money to build a family” is a very prevalent sentiment looking around IRL and on social media, and seems to be corroborated by t…

The bottom 5% of people in Japan are still generally better off than the bottom 20% in places like America. Very few people are sleeping on the streets and kids aren't absolutely hopeless and joining gangs as a way out. Japan is probably the best country to be poor in, because you can still afford rent, food, and health insurance and you don't need to worry about living in a crime-ridden area with a high risk of murd…

I totally agree with you. Japan is afar far ahead of a ton of countries.

I think there is the external look where we can assert they are well off and don’t risk to die, and the internal look where social pressure, actual mental state and comparing themselves to the image pushed by the media and previous generations make them feel like they are barely alive and way beyond where they should be to qualify as “well off” by society’s standard.

I am not justifying that kind of tunnel view (though I am sympathic to a certain point. Working 12h a day a shitty job to barely pay the rent would make me sick), just that people in that kind of spiral won’t feel like they have enough resource to care for another human or two.

Re: Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began

#133

Post by Latty » Mon, Dec 24, 2018, 1:15 PM UTC

sprash wrote: post #103

Latty wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the native Japanese will eventually cease to exist Uh, what? After a generation, those immigrants will have children who are Japanese. Their native home will be Japan. If your point is about ethnicity, then I don't see what the problem is. It's also ridiculous to suggest that Japanese ethnicity will cease to exist. Sure, you'd see more race mixing, but again, how is that a problem? The US still has native American…

> After a generation, those immigrants will have children who are Japanese. Their native home will be Japan. Since Japanese culture/society will not accept anybody into their "inner circle" those immigrants will build parallel societies. A diaspora usually heavily connected to their original homeland and not their host. If those get really big, they will have influence in politics which again will change the face and…

Why is Japanese culture and society not changing in the best interest of the Japanese people?

Re: Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began

#134

Post by Latty » Mon, Dec 24, 2018, 1:21 PM UTC

saywhatnowman wrote: post #102

Latty wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the native Japanese will eventually cease to exist Uh, what? After a generation, those immigrants will have children who are Japanese. Their native home will be Japan. If your point is about ethnicity, then I don't see what the problem is. It's also ridiculous to suggest that Japanese ethnicity will cease to exist. Sure, you'd see more race mixing, but again, how is that a problem? The US still has native American…

It's very offensive to imply that the Japanese have nothing unique to offer the world other than a passport. In fact it comes off as very hateful and rude. Japan is more than a piece of land, or a group of people who make television programs and video games for you to enjoy. They are many millions of families each with a rich history that the world would be poorer for losing. And yes, if they stop having children or…

You are putting words in my mouth and misrepresenting my argument, as I suspect from your tone you are aware.

Immigrants (and furthermore children of immigrants) can and do respect and uphold the culture of the nation they move to. The idea that immigration destroys culture is patently false and there are countless counter-examples.

This view of immigration as "replacement" is just obviously wrong.

Re: Number of babies born in Japan is the lowest since records began

#135

Post by subjectsigma » Tue, Dec 25, 2018, 2:29 AM UTC

asianthrowaway wrote: post #44

marsrover wrote: post #37

Maybe I’m missing something or not thinking it through but why not pay people to have babies based on their status? It would cause more divide between classes but I feel like the ends might justify the means. Great education and job? You get paid more to have a baby. Homeless? You get paid nothing to have a baby. Put the payment on a sliding scale. The lower the birth rate the higher the pay until you cross your desi…

I'm not sure to what extent the problem is due to economics and to what extent it's due to culture. I read recently that half of single men in Japan are virgins, which is quite staggering. Lots of Japanese people seem to have simply "dropped out" of the idea of having an intimate relationship, replacing that with video games and pornography. When I lived in Japan, what struck me was how infantile and coddled the whol…

Interesting that you frame it as a problem with the men and not the women - I'm not Japanese, but from what I've read, most Japanese men who regress, either by avoiding women or worse, see women as "not worth it". Why would they pursue women who don't seem to want or need them, act like men (rude, outgoing, and independent), don't want to have sex (God forbid children), and forgo traditions like marriage?

On one hand, being upset that women have financial independence seems fairly sexist. But on the other hand, if you're seeking affection and someone to raise your children and nobody is offering that, then ...

Basically it seems to me like both sexes are asking too much, while also being victims of the culture and the economy.