Comment by kemiller
11 days ago
This is a great article, but I think it’s hard to ignore that Japan’s culture of harmony is a big part of why they were able to choose sensible regulations that benefitted everyone. We struggle to pass even the most sensible land use reforms because entrenched interests want to remain entrenched even if it hurts the system overall.
So America's culture of individual liberty is why people don't have the freedom to build whatever they want on the land that they own?
American's culture of me, me, me, now, now, now is why.
If it doesn't benefit the individual almost immediately they're strongly opposed.
They want the benefits of strong infrastructure but let someone else build it without inconveniencing ME or costing ME a dime.
It is a culture that teaches greed is good and society should be built around all gain no cost.
> They want the benefits of strong infrastructure but let someone else build it without inconveniencing ME or costing ME a dime.
Which is what the Japanese have. private railways
As an American, I always hear all these weird stories about New York and its subway system. All the random busker type nonsense, the petty crime and the “mugger wallet” type jokes. Not to mention the major crimes that make the news.
I’d rather not deal with it? Yes I know roads are dangerous. I’d still rather not deal with the expected culturally imposed insanity that the Japanese curiously seem to lack.
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America's culture of individual liberty moved into the national mythos in the last century, replaced by a culture of consumption and commerce over all. People don't have the freedom to build whatever they want because pockets need to be greased, permits need to be reviewed, HOAs need to have their fees, etc.
Yes, that’s exactly right. Maximal ‘individual liberty’ is my right to maximize my land’s value. My neighbors either agree to maximize theirs in a way that increases, or doesn’t hinder, mine, or they are my enemy to be litigated to death by my lawyers for damages.
It's also hard to ignore that Japan was bombed to smithereens in the 1940s and undertook a nationwide rebuilding effort that might have contributed to a more uniform approach to land use.
Not to mention that every few years either a typhoon or a 9.0 earthquake defeats any effort to build exceptional value in your property.
It seems the only thing that is permanent in Japan is impermanence.
> Not to mention that every few years either a typhoon or a 9.0 earthquake defeats any effort to build exceptional value in your property.
Isn't that the same in certain regions of the US?
> because entrenched interests want to remain entrenched even if it hurts the system overall.
You might say it's because we live in a "low trust society," but not for the reasons the people who usually invoke that term claim.
What are the reasons people usually invoke? And what are the "true reasons"?
Most people using the term "low trust society" are implying that certain subsets of the population are the cause of it, often with racial (non-white) and/or economic (lower class) components, whereas somebody like me views those groups and their behaviors, to the extent that it's true, as a symptom of the low trust society rather than the root cause. For me, the root cause is systemic corruption all the way to the top, for decade after decade.
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> Japan’s culture of harmony is a big part of why they were able to choose sensible regulations that benefitted everyone.
Is there evidence of that? It sounds like a broad stereotype of a complex, large country by an ignorant outsider.
> entrenched interests want to remain entrenched even if it hurts the system overall
Another way to look at that is prioritzing the individual over the system, a hallmark of liberty and human rights.