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I don't see any government shutdowns in Japan. In fact, life here is generally quite peaceful and stress-free, unlike the hell that is life in the US these day

I don't see any government shutdowns in Japan. In fact, life here is generally quite peaceful and stress-free, unlike the hell that is life in the US these days. >(Kishida) failing to both lead his country (stagnant economy and policies) Kishida has been fine; you can't change a stagnant economy in a few years, and a PM's power is limited. >politicians from mere Parliament members to cabinet ministers engaging in literal tax evasion). Tax evasion by parliament members isn't great, but US congresspeople aren't any better: just look at Bob Menendez. No place has perfect politicians. >I haven't met a single Japanese voter who understands how Parliament members are elected, either. So what? Most Americans have no clue how their own government works either. Japanese could certainly stand to improve their civics knowledge and become a little more politically active, but it's nothing like the shitshow that is US politics these days. It was actually nice seeing how the assassination of former PM Abe actually resulted in real positive change, with the government cracking down on Moonie cult affiliation by many politicians; that would never happen in America.

Dalewyn 2y ago
>I don't see any government shutdowns in Japan. Considering we've gone through like half a dozen shut downs if not more and the sky didn't come crashing down, I say shut 'er down more. We'll all save money and a lot of misery. >In fact, life here is generally quite peaceful and stress-free, Quite a lot of Japanese hate how peaceful life is in Japan because the flipside is there's nothing to look forward to. I'm sure there's a healthy serving of "grass greener on other side" there, but I don't disagree with the assessment. Low risk means low return. >Kishida has been fine Kishida is decidedly not fine, he is enjoying utterly abysmal approval ratings and he was more or less forced out of running for the party leadership and Prime Ministry this party election cycle because of how inept he was. He speaks a lot of fancy words, but he didn't actually do much of anything as a leader. Kind of like Obama in that sense. >Tax evasion by parliament members isn't great, but US congresspeople aren't any better: just look at Bob Menendez. No place has perfect politicians. All of them basically got slapped with temporary suspensions from political activity from their party. Fines? Nope. Prison time? Nope. Amending the law to crack down on this behaviour? Pedantically yes, nothing changed in practice. Incidentally, the LDP is projected to lose seats in the next general election and maybe even lose majority and thus the government because of how utterly worthless they and the Japanese political scene at-large is. >So what? Most Americans have no clue how their own government works either. The difference is Japanese pride themselves on being educated, and most of them can't tell you how Parliament is elected because of how innane it is. If you don't believe me, you don't have to because the numbers speak for themselves: Japanese voter turnouts have been utterly abysmal, and this is after they reduced voting age from 20 (age of maturity) to 18 and campaigned to increase teaching civics in schools. The high school senior kids couldn't care less, let alone the adults, because they knew voting is a waste of time. >It was actually nice seeing how the assassination of former PM Abe actually resulted in real positive change The fact that it took violence of the highest order to effect the bare minimum of change (those cultliticians dragged their feet in disavowing, cult monies are monies) is not a good thing for democracy.

Dalewyn 2y ago

>I don't see any government shutdowns in Japan. Considering we've gone through like half a dozen shut downs if not more and the sky didn't come crashing down, I say shut 'er down more. We'll all save money and a lot of misery. >In fact, life here is generally quite peaceful and stress-free, Quite a lot of Japanese hate how peaceful life is in Japan because the flipside is there's nothing to look forward to. I'm sure there's a healthy serving of "grass greener on other side" there, but I don't disagree with the assessment. Low risk means low return. >Kishida has been fine Kishida is decidedly not fine, he is enjoying utterly abysmal approval ratings and he was more or less forced out of running for the party leadership and Prime Ministry this party election cycle because of how inept he was. He speaks a lot of fancy words, but he didn't actually do much of anything as a leader. Kind of like Obama in that sense. >Tax evasion by parliament members isn't great, but US congresspeople aren't any better: just look at Bob Menendez. No place has perfect politicians. All of them basically got slapped with temporary suspensions from political activity from their party. Fines? Nope. Prison time? Nope. Amending the law to crack down on this behaviour? Pedantically yes, nothing changed in practice. Incidentally, the LDP is projected to lose seats in the next general election and maybe even lose majority and thus the government because of how utterly worthless they and the Japanese political scene at-large is. >So what? Most Americans have no clue how their own government works either. The difference is Japanese pride themselves on being educated, and most of them can't tell you how Parliament is elected because of how innane it is. If you don't believe me, you don't have to because the numbers speak for themselves: Japanese voter turnouts have been utterly abysmal, and this is after they reduced voting age from 20 (age of maturity) to 18 and campaigned to increase teaching civics in schools. The high school senior kids couldn't care less, let alone the adults, because they knew voting is a waste of time. >It was actually nice seeing how the assassination of former PM Abe actually resulted in real positive change The fact that it took violence of the highest order to effect the bare minimum of change (those cultliticians dragged their feet in disavowing, cult monies are monies) is not a good thing for democracy.