Quote from hapaboy:
IMHO you are wrong on some points and correct on others.
I think you're right that Japan will not simply open the floodgates. HOWEVER, I believe you are going to see them accepting millions of third-worlders.
They have to.
They've been allowing skilled, IT proficient third-worlders from India and the like for sometime now. They were letting South Americans of Japanese descent, i.e. Brazil & Peru, for manufacturing jobs, but now many of those jobs are being outsourced to China, and they've pretty much emptied the well on those from SA wanting to live and work in Japan. With the rapidly aging population, they are starting to allow in SouthEast Asians for in-home care and the like. The populating aging/low birth rate issues go hand in hand; millions of workers will be needed for those jobs, which are not the first choice of the Japanese youth.
No, Japan is not "multicultural" to the extent that we or Europe are. They probably never will be. But they will have to let in foreign workers to make up for the human resource inequities.
Well actually, I agree with this. Japan will not allow uncontrolled immigration. I believe they allow all kinds of workers. But they don't let them attain citizenship. They are there to work and that is it. I have nothing against that. These kind of discussions are difficult to have online simply because it is impossible to go into things without writing a book and even there will be misunderstandings that do not happen in person.
Every situation around the world is slightly different. You have to discuss them in historical context and on a case by case basis. The general problem/challenge will be this. If Japan imports the Plaid people in to do the jobs they do not want to do. And say Japan gives them citizenship. And say the Plaid people have big families average 7 children each. Eventually, wether it be in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years with those birth rates Japan would have political difficulties. Are they to surrender their country to Non-Japanese?
Will the Hindus of India surrender their thousands of years of traditions to Muslims just because they have more votes? If it si a democracy that is supposed to happen. However, history has never been kind in these situations. In general, someone looses it all. Ethnic cleansing and a historical restart takes place. That is the ugly part of history.
Of late, the US and others have stepped in and tried to stop ethnic violence. Serbia is a good example. But now the Muslims are ethnically cleansing the Serbs. People with different versions of the past will always have different visions of the future. How do you rectify that? Do you really think Britain are going to surrender their Island in 50 years to a Muslim majority? How about Holland? Are we going to bomb France if the Muslims want to split up the country because they are being mistreated?
Will American just end up a paradise with a Latin American Majority and be one big melting pot? Remember the US took the Southwest from Mexico. They remember it damn well. You think they are going to sit around and pay for all the old gringos retirements? Everyone hopes so. But what if everyone is wrong? Kinda like a big trade. What is going to happen if we are wrong? Well, your downside is some kind of civil war and/or splitting up the country. Correct? That is Americas worst case scenario. Mexicans have a different version of the past. Which means they are going have a different interpretation of the future.
Alot of posters (myself included) have been very hard on the mostly African looters that have been shown all over the place. One fact remains, they have a radical different interpretation of the past. I don't see any way around it. Up until now. It has created a dream political situation of divide and rule. This always creates problems longterm.
This is obviously on my mind. Because right now I am trying to decide were I want to live in the future. I saw enough ethnic violence growing up in Detroit to last ten lifetimes. Nothing I would not to see again.
