An Update on Industrial-Environmentalism | 25 comments (25 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: An Update on Industrial-Environmentalism (4.00 / 3)

Whenever I see anything about Japanese technology I'm immediately taken back to the Onion and

Earthquake Sets Japan Back To 2147 | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

TOKYO--Japanese government officials confirmed Monday that the damage wrought on Japan's national infrastructure by the July 16th earthquake--particularly on the country's protective force field, quantum teleportation system, zero-point fusion energy broadcasting grid, and psychodynamic communications network--was severe enough to set the technologically advanced island nation back approximately 300 years to a primitive mid-22nd-century state of existence.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 02:32:34 PM EST

Future Japan (none / 0)

The last time I was in Japan was in the mid-80s. I wonder if there are still people living in cardboard boxes around Shinjuku.

Solar IS Civil Defense

by gmoke on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 07:57:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Future Japan (4.00 / 2)

Not around Shinjuku, but go to Ueno, and you got a veritable camp of blue tarp tents. Also, in cold weather, the tunnel connecting Ueno JR Station to the Ueno subway station is regularly lined with miserable homeless old men. It is shocking. Also, around Shibuya station, there are two or three regulars you can count on seeing, most conspicuously around last train time: an old lady and an old man, as I recall.

More info on homeless in Tokyo

Having said that, the number of homeless in Japan is estimated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to have declined from about 125,000 in February-March 2003 to 18,500 in January 2007 (Wikipedia).

Taking 20,000 homeless in Japan over a 127 million population, that is a 0.016% rate.

For comparison, as of 2005, 744,000 homeless in the U.S. over a population of 300 million, that is 0.25% -- or over 15 times as many homeless per capita as in Japan.

As of 2007, France had 100,000 homeless over a population of 60 million, which comes out to 0.16%: far less than in the U.S. but still ten times as bad as Japan's.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)

by marco on Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 at 09:44:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (none / 1)

marco: Having said that, the number of homeless in Japan is estimated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to have declined from about 125,000 in February-March 2003 to 18,500 in January 2007

That "about 125,000" should have been "about 25,000" -- 25,296 to be exact. Sorry for the gross mistake.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)

by marco on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 12:05:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (none / 1)

Just so you remember. The social distribution of wealth and the costs of housing are very separate and wholly unrelated issues to whether a country can create enough green technologies to reduce their carbon footprint by 80%.

Of course, I will always argue that the BEST way to eliminate homelessness is to create more good-paying jobs (well, duh!) And the surest way to prosperity is to employ people to build an infrastructure that operates on solar income rather than burn natural capital.

If we do the right thing by the ecosphere, we can afford to do the right things socially.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 01:45:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (4.00 / 3)

techno: Just so you remember. The social distribution of wealth and the costs of housing are very separate and wholly unrelated issues to whether a country can create enough green technologies to reduce their carbon footprint by 80%.

Of course. I only was commenting on homelessness in Japan in response to gsmoke's comment upthread. Basically, my point was that while homelessness, when you see it in Japan, is shocking and pitiable -- as it should be everywhere -- its occurrence is far lower than in other developed countries. Even in the happiest country in the world, Denmark, the number of homeless as of the beginning of 2007 was conservatively estimated to be 5253. Out of a population of just under five and half million, that comes to 0.096% -- better than France (and of course the U.S.), but still six times worse than Japan's rate.

techno: Of course, I will always argue that the BEST way to eliminate homelessness is to create more good-paying jobs (well, duh!) And the surest way to prosperity is to employ people to build an infrastructure that operates on solar income rather than burn natural capital.

If we do the right thing by the ecosphere, we can afford to do the right things socially.

Hear, hear. That said, doing right by the ecosphere is not sufficient: there also has to be political determination to do the right things socially.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)

by marco on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 02:49:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (none / 1)

Any chance that they are cooking the books? If not I'm impressed. How do they do it?

by generic on Tue Jun 24th, 2008 at 08:54:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (4.00 / 3)

I am not familiar enough with the problem. das monde or Zwackus, or tuasfait (if he is still around), might be able to explain better.

They very well may be cooking the books. But I don't think that explains the entire difference.

Japanese social welfare has a bad reputation, but I know there are lots of city- and burrough-level services for providing jobs for the unemployed. If you go to Japan, you will find certain jobs that seem "needless", most conspicuously, uniformed men and women at street construction sites politely waving pedestrians through carefully constructed byways so that they avoid hurting themselves near the site. Any half-careful person could navigate these areas without any guidance, but the presence of these "waver-on's" not only clearly gives you warning that you may need to be a little extra careful around here (especially relevant for Japan's increasingly elderly population), but more importantly, they provide jobs and dignity to people who otherwise may not have such jobs -- and might be on the streets.

Japan also still has a relatively strong sense of family responsibility to elders and family in general. People would rather take care of their own then let them wind up on the streets. For example, my uncle drank himself into decrepit destitution through his adult life (my father is Japanese). No doubt he would have been on the streets had another uncle's wife's resourcefulness not managed to find a way to persuade the local welfare bureau to pay him unemployment and medical insurance (even though I think he normally would not have qualified for these.) While I imagine for any family in any developed society there would be a significant amount of shame in having a homeless family member, I believe this may be particularly so in Japan, where the principle of face is still very significant (though less over time).

Unfortunately I have no numbers to support these hypotheses, just guesses. In short, the numbers may be underreported, but I think there are certain features of Japanese society that also reduce homelessness to a level below other developed countries'.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)

by marco on Tue Jun 24th, 2008 at 07:54:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Correction: 25,296 Japanese homeless in 2003 (none / 0)

That said, doing right by the ecosphere is not sufficient: there also has to be political determination to do the right things socially.

I argue that ONLY a socially enlightened society will be ABLE to build a sustainable society. For example, it will be impossible to understand the issues of sustainability unless you strike the ideal balance between what is individual and what can best be done as a group. I think a good starting place is 50-50 (which gets me into a LOT of trouble with the libertarians.)

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Wed Jun 25th, 2008 at 01:07:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

An excellent way to reduce homelessness ... (4.00 / 2)

... is a job guarantee at a living wage ... and if in a local area a prevailing regional or national living wage cannot obtain affordable secure shelter, then including guaranteed access to affordable secure shelter.

Of course, in the US a substantial amount of homelessness is due to failures of the mental health system, but even so we will be seeing a big spike in homelessness for economic reasons as the recession unfolds.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 at 01:18:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

An Update on Industrial-Environmentalism | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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