Yeah, I need to broaden my Asian history more. I've spent way too much time on American/European/Soviet mostly. That totally makes sense. Particularly since I see this in a place like Japan, where the people seem to hold a lot of values I do, yet are still quite accepting of government control.
I've tried to get that whole American free speech thing across to liberals before as they just don't get it. That's something I did know that is most certainly exclusively American. Some of the crazy stuff the left does here wouldn't fly in other countries, even those that are very good on free speech. They just don't understand how unique we have it.
Japan having Democracy is a unique circumstance of modern times showing the value of a democratic process for legitimacy.
Japan was ruled by a single authoritarian dynasty from the Sengoku Jidai to the Meiji Restoration. This dynasty took intensive and totalitarian interest in it's population and resources, including death penalties for people who would cut trees in a sacred forest (so that Japan didn't lose all of it's lumber supply), and was significantly isolationist. After which, it was replaced by an Empire under a royal monarchy, after which it was replaced by Fascist Militarists, after which it was replaced by Authoritarians who embraced Keynesian (Fabian Socialist) Economics.
They moral authoritarians, even totalitarian, and have very strict focus on family because of an ancient Clan culture. It's very difficult for socialists to make cultural headway in Japan when they already have Communist China as a rival, and their own form of authoritarianism is already culturally ingrained.
Yeah, I need to broaden my Asian history more. I've spent way too much time on American/European/Soviet mostly. That totally makes sense. Particularly since I see this in a place like Japan, where the people seem to hold a lot of values I do, yet are still quite accepting of government control.
I've tried to get that whole American free speech thing across to liberals before as they just don't get it. That's something I did know that is most certainly exclusively American. Some of the crazy stuff the left does here wouldn't fly in other countries, even those that are very good on free speech. They just don't understand how unique we have it.
Japan having Democracy is a unique circumstance of modern times showing the value of a democratic process for legitimacy.
Japan was ruled by a single authoritarian dynasty from the Sengoku Jidai to the Meiji Restoration. This dynasty took intensive and totalitarian interest in it's population and resources, including death penalties for people who would cut trees in a sacred forest (so that Japan didn't lose all of it's lumber supply), and was significantly isolationist. After which, it was replaced by an Empire under a royal monarchy, after which it was replaced by Fascist Militarists, after which it was replaced by Authoritarians who embraced Keynesian (Fabian Socialist) Economics.
They moral authoritarians, even totalitarian, and have very strict focus on family because of an ancient Clan culture. It's very difficult for socialists to make cultural headway in Japan when they already have Communist China as a rival, and their own form of authoritarianism is already culturally ingrained.