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Japan wasn't always filled with old people (even this is overstated as a percentage of the population,) and it was still extremely safe. I witnessed this firsth

by Torgo 11y ago

Japan wasn't always filled with old people (even this is overstated as a percentage of the population,) and it was still extremely safe. I witnessed this firsthand. Japan has a culture that expects and reinforces cooperation and responsibility and respect, and it's ethnically homogeneous enough that this is manifested even between strangers. It also doesn't have the kind of downright devastating poverty that I've seen in the USA even in well-off cities. There are a lot of reasons that Japan can do things we can't do, but I don't believe the percentage of old people has much if anything to do with it.

Mz 11y ago
This is where we agree to disagree. "Old people" is just one factor in my opinion. It doesn't throw any of the others out. (For that matter, "high average age" doesn't mean "a country of old people." It can also mean "A country with fewer children." Edit: I guess I am the person who used that phrase to start with, but I feel like you are twisting my meaning, I guess.) Have a good day.
- Torgo 11y ago
  I interpreted it in the context of repeated "demographic crisis" claims about Japan getting older. I still read it that way, but if that wasn't your intent, I apologize.
  - Mz 11y ago
    I used to have several friends in Pakistan, a country with a relatively low average age. IIRC, Pakistan is the "youngest" country on the planet, demographically speaking, and has a lot of problems that grow out of that. So I have read up a bit on how average age interacts with things like crime rates, tendency to be involved in violent organizations, etc. More adults/higher average age/demographic shift in one direction or the other has a known impact on group tendency towards either civility or violence. The most violent groups on the planet are predominantly made up of young men under a certain age. Governments take advantage of that reality for filling the ranks of their military branches. Anyway, maybe I am just saying it badly. Have a good day.
    - selimthegrim 11y ago
      Why the "used to"? Did they all leave?
      - Mz 11y ago
        Friends come and go. We fell out of touch.

by Torgo 11y ago

Mz 11y ago

This is where we agree to disagree. "Old people" is just one factor in my opinion. It doesn't throw any of the others out. (For that matter, "high average age" doesn't mean "a country of old people." It can also mean "A country with fewer children." Edit: I guess I am the person who used that phrase to start with, but I feel like you are twisting my meaning, I guess.) Have a good day.

Torgo 11y ago
I interpreted it in the context of repeated "demographic crisis" claims about Japan getting older. I still read it that way, but if that wasn't your intent, I apologize.
- Mz 11y ago
  I used to have several friends in Pakistan, a country with a relatively low average age. IIRC, Pakistan is the "youngest" country on the planet, demographically speaking, and has a lot of problems that grow out of that. So I have read up a bit on how average age interacts with things like crime rates, tendency to be involved in violent organizations, etc. More adults/higher average age/demographic shift in one direction or the other has a known impact on group tendency towards either civility or violence. The most violent groups on the planet are predominantly made up of young men under a certain age. Governments take advantage of that reality for filling the ranks of their military branches. Anyway, maybe I am just saying it badly. Have a good day.
  - selimthegrim 11y ago
    Why the "used to"? Did they all leave?
    - Mz 11y ago
      Friends come and go. We fell out of touch.