Comments on: The Freedom to Leave

By: outcast

outcast — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:26:33 +0000

Well, I don’t think the “cultural trauma” of the Meiji Restoration was much of a trauma, since traditional western and eastern cultures have many suprisingly similair values. The problem is they held onto their traditional thinking and haven’t changed much since, and that more than anything else has been holding Japan back for the last couple of decades, and their continued unwillingness to change it. Japan will just continue to fade into the background.

It seems clear that China’s future society will not be like Japan’s, and that makes me feel positive about the country’s future.

By: Bill :D

Bill :D — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:20:45 +0000

You make an excellent point, Outkast. In an sense, the Japanese went through their “cultural” trauma as early as the Meiji Restoration, after which they figured out what they were about (much to the horror of their neighbors); then exported their model to Korea and Taiwan.

Well said.

By: outcast

outcast — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:01:11 +0000

Something we should also consider is that even though the Asian Tigers went through their industrial revolutions, their societies haven’t changed nearly as much as China’s and in many ways they are stilled chained to the 50′s (especially Japan).