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Comparing a large multicultural richer country does seem weird. Indeed a tiny 126 million soul tiny country can not be compared with a country of 330 million s

Comparing a large multicultural richer country does seem weird. Indeed a tiny 126 million soul tiny country can not be compared with a country of 330 million souls. Also the USA having 1.5x the GDP / Capita does make Japan the richer country. These countries unlike the USA have more economically and socially interventionist governments. I do wonder if the culture of Germany is closer to Japan or USA. To tackle a pandemic do you need more leadership or culture? I mean beyond national security where is USA leadership?

lonelappde 7y ago
> the USA having 1.5x the GDP / Capita does make Japan the richer country. ???
- adventured 7y ago
  I'd guess they made a mistake in thinking that because the population ratio is greater than 1.5 (it's 2.6), therefore the GDP / Capita ratio they reference is then favoring Japan. That of course would need to be run against actual national GDP, not per capita. US per capita GDP was about 60% higher than Japan as of the end of 2019.
  - jbay808 7y ago
    No, I think it was intended as sarcasm; 126 million is also not much less than 330 million.
jonfw 7y ago
Japan has high population density but a small piece of land, and it is probably the most mono-cultural population of it's size in the world. I agree that we need in America is stronger leadership. But we shouldn't be looking to the government for leadership. The government should follow the will of the people, not lead it. Democratic governments act when they feel the people want them to act. The reason the US government didn't act early is because the majority of Americans were not yet concerned about the coronavirus until recently, and it would have been unpopular. Japan would not have acted so strictly and so early if their culture and respect for community weren't strong. It would have been unpopular and ineffective. What's needed for Americans to tackle these types of issues better is more trust in the community and stronger citizen leadership.

lonelappde 7y ago

> the USA having 1.5x the GDP / Capita does make Japan the richer country. ???

adventured 7y ago
I'd guess they made a mistake in thinking that because the population ratio is greater than 1.5 (it's 2.6), therefore the GDP / Capita ratio they reference is then favoring Japan. That of course would need to be run against actual national GDP, not per capita. US per capita GDP was about 60% higher than Japan as of the end of 2019.
- jbay808 7y ago
  No, I think it was intended as sarcasm; 126 million is also not much less than 330 million.

jonfw 7y ago

Japan has high population density but a small piece of land, and it is probably the most mono-cultural population of it's size in the world. I agree that we need in America is stronger leadership. But we shouldn't be looking to the government for leadership. The government should follow the will of the people, not lead it. Democratic governments act when they feel the people want them to act. The reason the US government didn't act early is because the majority of Americans were not yet concerned about the coronavirus until recently, and it would have been unpopular. Japan would not have acted so strictly and so early if their culture and respect for community weren't strong. It would have been unpopular and ineffective. What's needed for Americans to tackle these types of issues better is more trust in the community and stronger citizen leadership.