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Turning Japanese? I really think so

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40 comments

Turning Japanese? I really think so

POSTED: Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 8:26 PM

I was thinking about the election for some reason today, and that got me thinking about Japan. It seems like the American voter is whipsawing between political parties and political extremes in part because of bigger problems with solutions beyond the capacity of either party, whether that problem is ending the war in Afghanistan, creating jobs, or reducing the deficit. As for the economy, we all know that Japan has long been mired in an economic slump from which it never fully recovered -- and I wondered, not being a student of Japanese politics, whether that had resulted in political instability.

Uh, yeah:

Japan had a remarkably stable leadership from the end of World War II until their bubble burst in the 1990s. As the country has stumbled over the last two decades, unable finally to extricate from its slump, it has suffered through a rapid of succession of leaders, several of whom, like Obama, have stirred hopes of renewal and reform, only to create disillusionment and despair within the electorate. From 1950 to 1970, Japan had six prime ministers. It has had 14 from 1990 to the present, and six from 2005 to the present. That kind of political instability is both cause and effect of Japan’s inability to transform its economy and international relations to meet the challenges of a new century.

So when the Tea Party's whole nopey-strangey thing doesn't work out by 2012, I guess will turn to the Americans for Bloomberg Party, and then when that doesn't work? We'll just keep on, in the words of the great Graham Parker, discovering Japan:

Will Bunch @ 8:26 PM Permalink | 40 comments

40 comments

Comments (40)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:32 PM, 11/03/2010

A nation of 300 million will not economically, politically and militarily dominate a world of seven billion for very long. This is the 21st Century. Scoff at this concept at your - and your country's - peril.

— E.Plebnista

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:37 PM, 11/03/2010

Plebs, don't worry. Other nations are light years behind our ability to mass produce cultural icons like Snooki and Justin Bieber.

— RG

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:41 PM, 11/03/2010

Now you're an expert on Japan? Nopey-strangey? Such an adult thing to say. You were probably one of those kids who stayed on their porch and called the other kids names, then when they came after you, you ran behind your mother's skirt.

— jeandarc

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:42 PM, 11/03/2010

Will, is this your way of lobbying for more anime p*rn?

— RG

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:06 PM, 11/03/2010

///in part because of bigger problems with solutions beyond the capacity of either party, whether that problem is ending the war in Afghanistan, creating jobs, or reducing the deficit.//// Well, color me an optimist. Seems to me that ending the war, creating jobs, and reducing the deficit are all within the capacity of either party. It is silly to claim that all three are beyond the reach of Democrats or Republicans.

— General Turgidson

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:08 PM, 11/03/2010

Funny swifty, but why did the economy grow under Democrats since the 1940 elections? I'll wait for any solutions to come from the Republican party, but when looking at Japan, it's doubtful. Especially considering that the conservative LDP party was in charge from 1955 to 2009. The twenty four hour news cycle combined with a two party system is an issue that this democracy hasn't adapted to yet, which is causing the whiplash election effect. Batty, the President and the Senate still are Democrat, and Fox News catch phrases won't change that.

— HandNik

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:16 PM, 11/03/2010

Japan's problems were caused by *exactly* what Ben Bernanke is doing right now. Did you see how big of a check he just wrote? Who's your daddy?

— theodotius

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:27 PM, 11/03/2010

Swifty, a Heinlein fan no less. It's comforting that you can see a cosmic purpose for liberals. We grow by birth, but we evolve by death and renewal. That applies to human society, as history proves.

— montani semper liberi

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:45 PM, 11/03/2010

There is no easy or quick fix to the problems we are facing. It's a global world, and we own the highest standard of living and as a result the highest salary requirements. Technology and science are the only answers left because Labor jobs are gone, and we just elected a party that opposes the department of education, thinks evolution is a myth and the bible should be taught in public school. And the Fox Mormon in charge, did I say Mormom, I meant moron......well his taking credit for the movement. Yes, the same Mormon, I mean moron, who had a agreeable discussion on his show two weeks ago in which they said the Bible is their proof that there is no such thing as Climate Change.

— gee1971

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:46 PM, 11/03/2010

sloboat - have you ever met a paranoid fantasy founded in your obsessive hatred of libz that you didn't subscribe to? BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 Japan's population is shrinking. BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 And ours will too! BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 The Mulims are coming, the Muslims are coming! BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 Sharia law is about to be imposed in the U.S. BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 Obama's a Nazi BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 The media is out to kill us all BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 The Black Panthers are killing white voters left and right! BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 Hide the women and children under the beds! BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 It's all the libz fault! BWAAAAACCCKKK!!!!1!!1 Run for your lives, run for your lives!!!!1!!!!!!!

— Talking point sleuth

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:46 PM, 11/03/2010

Speaking of evolution, the kid's are alright. They've wised up that the whole game is rigged, and besides, they're busy building their own cyber-societies on the new frontier. They won't get fooled again.

— montani semper liberi

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:48 PM, 11/03/2010

I suppose this is the kind of incoherent moping we can expect for 4-6 months while the left-wing pundits find a new groove. When your guys all lose, Will, that makes it "instability"?

— MaggieL

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About this blog

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

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