- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticizes Japan’s rapidly growing foreign population.
As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.
Sanseito, while still a minor party, made big gains in July’s parliamentary election, and Kamiya’s “Japanese First” platform of anti-globalism, anti-immigration and anti-liberalism is gaining broader traction ahead of a ruling party vote Saturday that will choose the likely next prime minister.
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Feels like everyone is getting more racist and hate filled. Is it the microplastics in our brain, is this our lead?
It’s the classic:
A) economy goes down (for real, or perceived)
B) grab power by blaming minorities
Jews, black people, foreigners, Asians, Mexicans, Italians, LGBT, women, Muslims, you name it, it works.
The book “Future Shock” was written five decades ago and predicted pretty much everything that’s happened since.
The author, Alvin Toffler, realized that the coming Digital Age was going to change everything. He looked at massive changes in the past and saw a pattern; when people couldn’t/wouldn’t adapt to change they would cling to the past even more strongly. The Native American Ghost Shirt Society thought they could wipe out all the settlers and bring back the buffalo.
The racism never went away. It is thus very convenient to put all the blame on to the “foreigners”. It is a thing that can be seen nearly anywhere in the world. Politicians love this simple trick as any country has some of them and every country has major problems that would take real effort, time and money to solve. So we don’t.
Politicians these days just want the opportunities that come with the job so all they do is uphold the status quo while trying to milk their constituents for some more of their cash.
What makes this even funnier is Japan is one of the most genetically homogenous populations on the planet, and has the lowest immigration intake of any developed economy… but they are super conservative, so “foreigners are the source of all your problems” is like shooting fish in a barrel. Wouldn’t be surprised if the percentage of immigrants in Japan is equivalent to the percentage of trans people in any country.
Wonder when they’ll realize that capitalism — wealth inequality — is to blame for the enshittification of their lives.
