An assistant professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. has said that the “clear solution” to Japan’s aging society is for “mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ (ritual disembowelment) of the elderly”.
I completely sympathize with the Japanese view about immigration. Their society has a lot going for it which is held up by the culture. And diversity would lead to a tragedy of the commons in many cases, like keeping public spaces clean.
However, sacrificing your elders is not exactly Japan’s culture either.
The “tragedy of the commons” was an economic thought experiment involving unmanged commons. Learn the history of how commons were actually managed through history and you’ll draw a different conclusion.
Also, don’t let the rich expropriate the commons like they did in the UK in the late 17th and all the 18th centuries. That causes all kinds of social problems, including mass (sometimes coerced) emigration.
I do understand that the words “tragedy of the commons” are not some magic spell that causes any shared resource to become degraded, perforce, always. I am familiar with the origin of the phrase and how it is used/misused.
I use it only in situations where I do believe that the shared resource would be spoiled, and not simply by virtue of its being shared.
The public cleanliness in Japan would be seriously degraded and there would be significant resentment over it. Even conscientious Japanese would stop trying. It would be an actual tragedy of the commons, not just a nominal tragedy of the commons.
I completely sympathize with the Japanese view about immigration. Their society has a lot going for it which is held up by the culture. And diversity would lead to a tragedy of the commons in many cases, like keeping public spaces clean.
However, sacrificing your elders is not exactly Japan’s culture either.
The “tragedy of the commons” was an economic thought experiment involving unmanged commons. Learn the history of how commons were actually managed through history and you’ll draw a different conclusion.
Also, don’t let the rich expropriate the commons like they did in the UK in the late 17th and all the 18th centuries. That causes all kinds of social problems, including mass (sometimes coerced) emigration.
I do understand that the words “tragedy of the commons” are not some magic spell that causes any shared resource to become degraded, perforce, always. I am familiar with the origin of the phrase and how it is used/misused.
I use it only in situations where I do believe that the shared resource would be spoiled, and not simply by virtue of its being shared.
The public cleanliness in Japan would be seriously degraded and there would be significant resentment over it. Even conscientious Japanese would stop trying. It would be an actual tragedy of the commons, not just a nominal tragedy of the commons.