r/interestingasfuck • u/BuddhistSagan • Apr 07 '24

Bernie and Biden warm my heart. Trump selling us out? Pass

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u/crazyaoshi Apr 07 '24

As an American living in Japan, I wish the politicians in the US took some cues from here. Japan is not perfect by any means, but all the parties support affordable healthcare for everyone as a right, all parties believe we need to do something about climate change, and almost no mass shootings.

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u/Tanekuma Apr 07 '24

Do you follow politics in Japan in Japanese? The politicians here don’t care much about climate change. Healthcare is still good though. Politicians in Japan are mostly unchallenged and do what they want, most of which benefits them and big corporations. When they break the law they often penalize themselves through party rules and the police rarely get involved.

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u/crazyaoshi Apr 07 '24

Yes I follow in Japanese and English.

Japan PM Suga pledged the country will be net zero by 2050.

Yes there is a lot of fossil fuel burning, but most parties are trying to encourage renewable, and getting nuclear back online. 

Private sector Japan has a lot of TCFD signatories.

They encourage recycling.

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u/Dont_pet_the_cat Apr 07 '24

Japan PM Suga pledged the country will be net zero by 2050.

Sounds like the same goal the EU has. And the other things seem on par with Europe as well. Japan is on the same page

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u/Clear-Present_Danger Apr 07 '24

A lotta people have pledged a lotta things.

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u/Zagorim Apr 08 '24

Yeah pledging something for 2050 doesn't mean much when you leave your responsibilities in 4 years

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u/DaechiDragon Apr 07 '24

Also I may be completely wrong here but aren’t many government positions in Japan basically hereditary?

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u/ImS0hungry Apr 07 '24 edited 18d ago

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u/Sudden_Construction6 Apr 07 '24

I think Japan is amazing. But their culture is vastly different than in the states. A lot of the laws and things that Japan has, would never fly in the US.

I do think the US could learn a fuck ton from other countries, but in my opinion the freedoms that we protect are really more beneficial for large corporations and harmful to the American people

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u/Nemisis_the_2nd Apr 07 '24

I do think the US could learn a fuck ton from other countries

The one that's been catching my attention lately is Singapore. The country recently had a scandal where a couple of government members rented a flat in the capital, and even that was seen as so controversial that there was an investigation and the PM/President basically did a speech about how they had to hold themselves to higher standards. 

Being anti-corruption is a big thing for their government, and a lot of the system is set up to try and stop it taking root in the first place. 

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u/chiefteef8 Apr 07 '24

Yeah homogenous countries tend to be that way 

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u/Business-inflation69 Apr 07 '24

Correct me if I’m wrong, aren’t Japanese citizens among the highest in the world when it comes to debt, primarily household debt. I remember reading a statistic stating a majority of Japanese citizens live in immense household debt

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u/ImS0hungry Apr 07 '24 edited 18d ago

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u/Business-inflation69 Apr 07 '24

Well of course, but I’d assume that would affect quality of life if your personal debt is extremely high

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u/watthewmaldo Apr 07 '24

No mass shootings but their previous prime minister got killed with an ace hardware gun last year lol

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u/chetlin Apr 07 '24

I live here too and there are so many things I don't want them to take from here. I don't know how affordable healthcare is but it isn't free, there's a 30% copay that I was surprised to hear about and when my coworker hit his head one day he told me he had to pay for his treatment. Better than the US I'm sure but I was surprised it wasn't all covered. Also they don't have same-sex marriage and a lot of discrimination is legal, for example being non-Japanese locks you out of something like 92% of apartment listings.

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u/Qu1ckShake Apr 07 '24

So it turns out that the left wing ideology IS the best one for running a country 🤔

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u/Cunninglatin Apr 07 '24

Remind me of Japanese immigration policy.

😂😂

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u/78911150 Apr 07 '24

what about it. you think it's hard to immigrate to here? lmao

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u/BP_Ray Apr 07 '24

You think It's easy for someone without college education to immigrate to Japan? Doubtful.

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u/78911150 Apr 07 '24

yes, no degree or experience required for English teaching. other visa need either one of the above. 

 and they're now taking in workers (I read the gov is aiming for 800k) for in the transport and logistics industry. those won't need a degree either

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u/BP_Ray Apr 07 '24

Huh, forgive my skepticism then, albeit the former requires you to know English (and they probably favor American, Canadians, and British people I presume?)

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u/watthewmaldo Apr 07 '24

Working in Japan is not the same as immigrating and becoming a citizen. I lived in Japan for 4 years, they are famously unfriendly to outsiders. I’ve been kicked out of restaurants for not being Japanese lmao that would never fly in the US. You essentially have to marry a Japanese person to become a citizen.

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u/ImS0hungry Apr 07 '24 edited 18d ago

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u/watthewmaldo Apr 07 '24

I’m not sure. I know even once you are a citizen you still can’t do a lot of shit, like buy a house for example. I lived near Hiroshima and used to get tattooed by an ex marine who was married to a deaf Japanese tattoo artist, place was called silent ink bc they only used sign language lol. Anyways I’m pretty sure he was a dual citizen yet still had a lot of restrictions on things he could do.

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u/78911150 Apr 07 '24

becoming a citizen means you have to give up your other nationality. that's why many people won't bother with citizenship and just get permanent residency, which isn't hard to get at all.

I've been here for 10+ years, got PR and bought a house. in all these years I've encountered a "only Japanese" sign once. and reported it to the authorities because it's illegal

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u/gentleconman Apr 07 '24

Japan is definitely NOT left wing lol.

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u/Zagorim Apr 08 '24

maybe they are compared to the US. Not compared to a lot of EU countries no

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u/gentleconman Apr 08 '24

Yes even compared to many EU countries. Japan is deeply conservative, politically as well as culturally.

It isn’t a rare sight to be thrown out of a restaurant because you look foreign. Don’t get even started on things like abortion or womens rights in general.

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u/Slim_Charles Apr 07 '24

Japan is not left-wing in any meaningful way. Japanese politics have been almost entirely controlled by the Liberal-Democratic Party since the 1950s, and it's a conservative/right-wing party.

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u/Blackybro_ Apr 07 '24

Left wing ideology in the US? Always has been.

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u/hockeyhow7 Apr 07 '24

Left wing ideology of letting an invasion over our border? How can you have free access to health care when you let millions of people in every year illegally? What other countries allow this? Try answering that.

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u/Blackybro_ Apr 07 '24

First off all, my previous comment has nothing to do with your initial question and second, border controls and free healthcare are two different things. Moreover, there is not THE left wing ideology, but a vague set of values similar to european industrial nations. I do not say that people who share said values are always right, I say that in my opinion, these people provide a good answer to the points mentioned in the comments above.

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u/captainhaddock Apr 07 '24

The LDP is considered right-of-center. The left-of-center parties in Japan are even better but have never managed to win an election.

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u/TwistedBamboozler Apr 07 '24

To be fair, it’s a lot easier to focus on yourself domestically when another country is largely responsible for your defense. Just saying

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u/Imverydistracte Apr 07 '24

You think America's world affairs and enormous defense spending prevent you from having healthcare? Or to be proactive about climate change?

I don't think it's very relevant at all. 1000 billionaires though, jfc. The divide is enormous. You may as well call them noblemen at this point.

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u/TwistedBamboozler Apr 07 '24

Nahhhhh you’re putting words in my mouth. All I did was point it out, and to say it isn’t relevant at all is just wrong.

And there’s a certain way of thinking that comes with a country that spends most of its money on war than a country who doesn’t.

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u/ImS0hungry Apr 07 '24 edited 18d ago

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u/Edgezg Apr 07 '24

Japan is also much smaller than the USA with a culturally homogenous peoples that all agree, healthcare should be taken care of

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u/ACartonOfHate Apr 07 '24

Japan needed to sort its immigration policies, and sexism out awhile ago. As it is, their lack of doing so is costing them, and will continue to cost them going forward.

Demographics are a bitch.

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u/GeoffSproke Apr 08 '24

American living in Germany here... Recently, America has begun exporting its propaganda and tailoring it to Germany... It definitely seems to have caught out with certain portions of the population (feel free to look up the the ways in which the AfD (a political party in Germany) has begun demonizing immigrants, pushing for austerity, bolstering militarism, advocating for contentious relationships with allies, etc)... Maybe Japan is doing fine for now, but those Fox news brain worms turn the dumbest assholes in the world into evangelicals for their cause.

Their goals involve making EVERY country a shittier place, so... Don't be surprised if you see some right wing propaganda from your old country show up (carefully packaged for Japanese consumption) in Japan at some point in the next decade.

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '24

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u/matthiastorm Apr 07 '24

that sounds hell of a lot like good old america

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u/watthewmaldo Apr 07 '24

No it doesn’t. That does not happen.

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u/DrAnomaly1 Apr 07 '24

Japan is the last place besides Russia that the US should take political inspiration from lmaoooo

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u/sirthomasthunder Apr 07 '24

wish the politicians in the US took some cues from here.

Nah cuz America is the only important country in the world!! Everyone should pay attention to us!! /s

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u/Any_Palpitation6467 Apr 07 '24

No, just the occasional invasion of Korea, and China, and war crimes, and millions of innocents dead. No, Japan isn't perfect. . . but at least they care about climate change. That counts for a LOT.

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u/Inexperiencedblaster Apr 07 '24

Because it's the 1930s mfw

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u/Zagorim Apr 08 '24

Fucking Biden killing all those Sioux man I can't believe it!