Births hit a record low in Japan: Ministries ruled by silver spoon elites to grand foreign projects
Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The government of Japan continuously focuses on helping other nations like America under President Joe Biden. This is based on a false narrative of endless international responsibility while greater numbers of citizens in Japan struggle. Therefore, Japan, just like America, is burdened by enormous debt and never-ending problems that are neglected internally.
The declining birth rate, increasing poverty among pensioners, the high cost of living, and a never-ending mountain of debt in Japan are all important issues that rarely get addressed. Concerning the birth rate, this issue should have been tackled decades ago. Yet little happened like usual.
Instead, the mainly male silver spoon ruling elites in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which have dominated political power in the last 75 years, remain out of touch with the rest of society. Thus the belittlement of women in the workplace remains, increasing temporary work, declining perks for vast numbers of full-time workers, pension poverty – and other issues concerning the cost of living – are all impacting on wider society. Therefore, the decreasing birthrate in Japan – just like in other nations from Italy to South Korea – is rooted in a plethora of negative factors.
France 24 (AFP) reports, “The number of babies born in Japan hit a new record low last year, official data showed, highlighting concern over the pandemic’s impact on one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.”
The pandemic is the latest factor but the low birth rate in recent decades concerns issues already mentioned. Hence, increasing military spending to helping the international coronavirus (Covid-19) fight, despite being slow in vaccinating people in Japan, sums up the ruling silver spoon elites in the LDP who dominate the various ministries. They are out of touch with real bread and butter issues that concern the masses.
This concerns the LDP being bereft from focusing on real internal issues. Hence the low birth rate to fears concerning the pension system remains the same topics decade after decade, while hidden poverty and the genuine fears of people are neglected by the ruling elites.
Thus taxpayers in Japan are assisting grand non-profitable projects at home, the coffers of market speculators based on the Bank of Japan propping up the domestic stock market, international projects that have nothing to do with their respective concerns, and ruling elites who adore throwing billions away during major international conferences. The result is not only political apathy but also a nation where vast numbers are opting out of bringing up children because of the huge costs that entail – and because of fears about surviving in the future on inadequate pensions.
Hence, the record low of 840,832 births – just like the birthrate being low for decades – is indicative of a society that is in crisis, similarly to other highly developed nations where political elites and throwaway cultures are leading to demographic timebombs. Unlike some nations that support the replacement theory in parts of Europe based on endless immigration – or Hungary that seeks to boost indigenous births based on family-friendly policies – Japan seems to have no plan A or plan B. Therefore, while the low birth rate will continue to bite – and pension poverty will increase – people expect the ruling LDP to continue with grand international projects followed by more internal debt.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210604-japan-births-hit-new-record-low-in-pandemic
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