Why the Japanes Economy Doesn't Work Well

The long-term recession of the Japanes economy is structurally attributed to the political power and the interior establishment, not high currency value, globalization, the developing nations closely running in chase of them.

The Japanese people have been too much dependent upon the ruling political parties and adminstrative bureaucracy, which are generally proved as incompetent and lethargic in any countries around the world. Historically analysing, competent leaders and excellent bureacracy are exceptions. Only Advanced countries have continually had some great or excellent leaders, and the great people, for example, the U.S, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the small but wealthy nations like Swiss, Denmark, Sweden in the Western Europe.

Since the 1990s of the bursting of bubble economy there has had no excellent leaders in Japan like Thatcher, Reagan, Clinton, earlier Blair. The establishment consisting of the political bosses and high bureacrats from a few prestigious families and universaties has preferred some smooth improvements to innovation and revolutionary changes.

Japan’s economy needs the voluntary participation of the grass-rooters, not mobilized by the bureaucratic campaigns or catch-phrases of the political leaders. They have too much relied on the privileged elite as if the ancestors had been loyal to Shogun and Samurai classes unconditionally in the medieval ages.

Whether a country becomes a real advanced nation or not lies in political leaders being able to expolit the grass-rooters fully and orderly. Japan’s economy has been said for a long time, “The country is wealthy, but the people are poor.” Dispite having heard such a ‘mocking’ indication, the Japanese grass-rooters have obeyed to the establishment. In fact, Japan has the foolishly innocent people as well as the unexcellent leaders. They believed that the elites would guide them to best directions, which afterwards proved to impose only sacrifices on them. The Japanese elites have traditional wealthy nation’s biases, which mean strong military and foreign power, exterior status of state regardless of individual welfare and happiness. Except the Western democratic countries, most countries have such an out-of-dated vision. The Chinese people and elites also seem to have such a wrong goal incurred from a collective way of thinking.

The Asians need the democracy of economy. In the era of globalization, the borderline is not so important. It is meaningless, if the economomic development does not lead to individual wealth and happiness. If the economic fruits are turing to the elites and few wealthy classes, we must change the regime and institutions. The Asians must understand the real value of individualism. It is wrongly known to the Asains that the Western society has had no tradtion of community spirit. Absolute wrong. The western democratic societies make highly of individual happiness and benefit, in the base of the community spirit. The Asians must learn more, not boasting temporary eccnomic prosperity. (The end)

The Explosive Selling of the Book Named 'Justice'

“Justice: What’s the Right Thing to do?” written by Michael Sandel, Harvard professor, was translated into Korean language about three months ago. This serious, heavy-subject book was sold over 300,000 copies in Korea.

As the Korea’s publisher was excited at the tremendous hit, it invited Michael Sandel to give his lecture for the promotion of more selling. So many people gathered to hear the lecture at a big hall of a university, a surprised attendant jokingly said, “ A dead Micahel Jackson came here to sing?”

‘Justice:--‘ could be classified as the humanities and liberal arts category, in which if a new book is sold over over 10,000 copies, the one is regarded a super bestseller in Korea. Therefore, the figure of over 300,000 copies is a very, very super bestseller. This size of selling is a kind of social phenomenon, which needs to be interpreted, for example, why people read it, what their hidden intentions represent.

In my opinion, Korean people seem to feel that the present social situation is not in a state of justice, especially part of which is at least to blame on the recent hearings about some minister nominees.

While the polarization of wealth between the high and low classes widens greatly, the irregularities of some minister nominees were consecutively disclosed in a seires of hearings. An appointee to the Knowledge Economy minister's post had bought an old shabby house one year before the local government’s announcement of the developmemt master plan. Another appointee to Culutre and Tourism minister's post moved his addresses illegally in order to send daughters to good schools. Even the incumbent foreign minister resigned his office on suspicion that he might interfere with the recruitment of the new staff members belonging to his mininstry. His daughter was by chance passed alone in the special adopting test.

The present young and middle-aged generations are more furtherly angry about these irregularities of the high classes than the elder one. The public senses aggravated rapidly. The ruling power was forced to cancel the appointment of the two nominees and accepted the resignation of the foreign minister immediately.

In Korea, there have existed two insensitivities, one is no sense for safety, another no sense for irregularities. No paying attention to safety still results in many industrial disasters and accidents every year. No sense for the irregularities, however, shows basical changes. The young and middle-aged generations (the thirties and forties) do not forgive the elites misdeeds sternly. More encouragingly, the generations would not accommodate themselves to corruption other than the elder ones.

Although the steps towards the advanced nations are slow, it seems clear that the young power is changing the established people’s insensitivities for several customary corruption and nepotism forcibly. (The end)

Why aren't there 'Theodore Roosevelt' in Korea

In the early nineteen hundreds, President Theodore Roosevelt enforced the Sherman Anti-Trust Law against the only railroad company [trust] that a group of wealth American businessmen formed jointly.

Roosevelt said he would no compromise in enforcing the law. He asked the Supreme Court to break up the railroad trust. “We are not attacking these big companies. We are only trying to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them. But we believe they must be controlled to serve the public good.” The Supreme Court eventually ruled against the railroad trust.

Theodore Roosevelt also successfully coordinated the coal miners’ strikes of 1902 after many complications.

The present President smashed the hardlined Korean Confederation of Trade Unions as soon as he took office. The unions were gradually softened to continual governmental threats. Now the horned bull was changed to a meek sheep.

Some experts friendly to medium- and small-sized companies have criticized that big companies, especially conglomerates, squeeze extra ‘profits’ out of them. But it is also problematic that the medium and small companies are dependent upon the big ones excessively without technological and managerial efforts.

The President stressed many times that the conglomerates and subcontractors get along with each other. Recently the President referred to the big companies’ unfair dealing with subcontractors and lukewarm new employment. At the President’s saying, the conservative press criticized the President as anti-corporatism and anti-marketism. In my opinion, however, the Korean conservative presses are anti-medium and small company and anti-people. The conservative presses write the conglomerates and their descendants as celebrities and describe them as heroes or patriots contributing to exporting. They are not s journalism, but a press merchant for ads.

In Korea, the President must make efforts to be similar to Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt simply did not referred to it but showed himself the conducts. (The end)