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Japan is a monocultural civilisational state. That is a big factor.

by NordStreamYacht 6mo ago

garbawarb 6mo ago
American children are in more danger because the country's more diverse?
- paulryanrogers 6mo ago
  Diversity doesn't make places more dangerous (if i understand the stats). But humans are naturally tribal and fear those who look and act significantly different.
  - coldtea 6mo ago
    Because humans are tribal they will also go on to attack and prey on those who are outside their tribe, making diversity more dangerous. Especially when diversity is not merely some people of different ethnic/racial backgrounds living and working together, but a population split into isolated cultures with different circumstances. Unless there's a big strict enforcer to keep everyone in line of course.
    - macNchz 6mo ago
      This is something a lot of people seem to believe that is not borne out in the research. Plenty of specific counter examples like Queens NY, a densely populated and exceptionally diverse place with crime rates comparable or better than many much more homogenous places in America. Poverty and income inequality are much better predictors. I felt this reddit comment from a while ago did a pretty good job rolling up sources on this: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/comments/1jxff1e/comment/mmpy4yi/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/comments/1jxff...
  - mmooss 6mo ago
    That depends on an arbitrary perception of 'my tribe'. Irish and Italians used to riot against each other. Germans were hated (look up a quote from Benjamin Franklin). Protestants and Catholics used to riot. Every wave of immigrants seems to get the same treatment by some. Within a few generations, their decendants marry each other.
- xavortm 6mo ago
  To his point - I would say, it's a bug factor BECAUSE on average their culture seems more safe. But it's not because it's monocultural. Bad "monoculture" is bad, good one is good, nothing complex there. Simplifying, but that's pretty much what is said
- rawgabbit 6mo ago
  It is the difference in culture. In big cities, Japan doesn’t tolerate public deviance. Police are visible in every block. They are very strict about weapons; you can’t bring a knife in public for no reason etc.
  - spinach 6mo ago
    They also have a culture of enduring things in silence for the greater collective good. For instance, most girls and women will have stories of harassment, especially by men on crowded trains but almost none of them will do anything about it.
- bdlowery 6mo ago
  Yes
- NordStreamYacht 6mo ago
  You're missing the more important word.
sfifs 6mo ago
Russia is fairly mono cultural too. Is it safe?
- GerryAdamsSF 6mo ago
  Yes. Russia is inarguably safer in terms of street crime than the USA. Philadelphia in 2025 had a higher murder rate than Belfast during the height of a civil war. https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Russia&country2=United+States https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?co... Crime in the USA is also extremely regional and local in pattern.
  - deepsun 6mo ago
    Oh no, no way. Child violence on the streets and in school is WAY higher, it's ingrained in culture. It's also pretty rare if a Russian kid would tell his parents about it (only if property damage is involved). I don't know how your link gathers data (website only shows one dude, software engineer, not a professional survey statistician), but from personal experience I can surely say it's rankings are BS. The closest in US are the "bad towns" like East Palo Alto or some neighborhoods of Oakland, with their respect for ex-cons and prison slang.
    - insensible 6mo ago
      1) Russia is generally very safe, and 2) I agree that the violence amongst children is crazy. It’s a great place to homeschool and free-range and I have not found a way to send children to school in a way that’s acceptable to us.
      - weregiraffe 6mo ago
        Russia doesn't have reliablr statistics on anything. It like saying North Korea is safe.
        temp8830 6mo ago
insane_dreamer 6mo ago
monoculture has nothing to do with it, as if more diversity creates a less safe environment but Japan is much safer than the US, in no small part because they have the sense to not allow people to own weapons

Japan is a monocultural civilisational state. That is a big factor.

garbawarb 6mo ago

American children are in more danger because the country's more diverse?

paulryanrogers 6mo ago
Diversity doesn't make places more dangerous (if i understand the stats). But humans are naturally tribal and fear those who look and act significantly different.
- coldtea 6mo ago
  Because humans are tribal they will also go on to attack and prey on those who are outside their tribe, making diversity more dangerous. Especially when diversity is not merely some people of different ethnic/racial backgrounds living and working together, but a population split into isolated cultures with different circumstances. Unless there's a big strict enforcer to keep everyone in line of course.
  - macNchz 6mo ago
    This is something a lot of people seem to believe that is not borne out in the research. Plenty of specific counter examples like Queens NY, a densely populated and exceptionally diverse place with crime rates comparable or better than many much more homogenous places in America. Poverty and income inequality are much better predictors. I felt this reddit comment from a while ago did a pretty good job rolling up sources on this: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/comments/1jxff1e/comment/mmpy4yi/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/comments/1jxff...
- mmooss 6mo ago
  That depends on an arbitrary perception of 'my tribe'. Irish and Italians used to riot against each other. Germans were hated (look up a quote from Benjamin Franklin). Protestants and Catholics used to riot. Every wave of immigrants seems to get the same treatment by some. Within a few generations, their decendants marry each other.
xavortm 6mo ago
To his point - I would say, it's a bug factor BECAUSE on average their culture seems more safe. But it's not because it's monocultural. Bad "monoculture" is bad, good one is good, nothing complex there. Simplifying, but that's pretty much what is said
rawgabbit 6mo ago
It is the difference in culture. In big cities, Japan doesn’t tolerate public deviance. Police are visible in every block. They are very strict about weapons; you can’t bring a knife in public for no reason etc.
- spinach 6mo ago
  They also have a culture of enduring things in silence for the greater collective good. For instance, most girls and women will have stories of harassment, especially by men on crowded trains but almost none of them will do anything about it.
bdlowery 6mo ago
Yes
NordStreamYacht 6mo ago
You're missing the more important word.

sfifs 6mo ago

Russia is fairly mono cultural too. Is it safe?

GerryAdamsSF 6mo ago
Yes. Russia is inarguably safer in terms of street crime than the USA. Philadelphia in 2025 had a higher murder rate than Belfast during the height of a civil war. https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Russia&country2=United+States https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_countries_result.jsp?co... Crime in the USA is also extremely regional and local in pattern.
- deepsun 6mo ago
  Oh no, no way. Child violence on the streets and in school is WAY higher, it's ingrained in culture. It's also pretty rare if a Russian kid would tell his parents about it (only if property damage is involved). I don't know how your link gathers data (website only shows one dude, software engineer, not a professional survey statistician), but from personal experience I can surely say it's rankings are BS. The closest in US are the "bad towns" like East Palo Alto or some neighborhoods of Oakland, with their respect for ex-cons and prison slang.
  - insensible 6mo ago
    1) Russia is generally very safe, and 2) I agree that the violence amongst children is crazy. It’s a great place to homeschool and free-range and I have not found a way to send children to school in a way that’s acceptable to us.
    - weregiraffe 6mo ago
      Russia doesn't have reliablr statistics on anything. It like saying North Korea is safe.
      - temp8830 6mo ago

insane_dreamer 6mo ago

monoculture has nothing to do with it, as if more diversity creates a less safe environment but Japan is much safer than the US, in no small part because they have the sense to not allow people to own weapons