JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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Alphaape
@oginome: Tell that to the 11 yr old boy that was stabbed walking on the street that was featured in the crime section of JT.
Of course you know that a lot of these areas fell into decay as a result of not the rich getting richer, but the "Great Society programs" placing rules on the poor that led to their own self-destruction (i.e. no public assistance if a man is in the home, which leads to more unwed mothers).
So in other words, keeping up with the Jones' is why there are poor people here in Japan, never mind that companies are not hiring or as it stated in the article, the inequality in pay for single mothers and women in the workplace.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ oginome:
There is a huge difference between the rich and poor in Japan, it may not be as apparent to some but it is there. Search back on JT and find the articles about the "freeters" and how they live.
From the same article I mentioned:
Freeters are still being shut out of full-time jobs as they approach their 30s. Japanese companies favor hiring recent graduates, training them well and molding them into loyal employees; freeters are viewed as damaged goods, harder to train and discipline. "Companies are reluctant to hire freeters," says Hisashi Yamada, senior economist at the Japan Research Institute. "Freeters will get old as freeters."
Also being left behind economically are single parents — mostly mothers who had to re-enter the workforce in low-paying jobs after a divorce. More than 50% of working single parents in Japan live in "relative poverty," earning less than half the country's median income, compared with an average around 20% in other rich countries.
So it is not as honky-dory as you keep making it out to be.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: From a USA Today article from 2007: - Income inequality rose twice as fast in Japan as in other rich countries between the mid '80s and 2000, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported last week. - The gap between rich and poor in Japan is wider than the OECD average. The OECD's 30 members include many of the world's leading economies, such as the USA, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and South Korea. - Similarly, Merrill Lynch Japan Securities found that the top 10% of Japanese male wage earners now earn 3.2 times what the bottom 10% make; the figure had been steady at around 2.6 times in the late '90s. "I see a serious problem," says lawmaker Takuya Tasso of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. "Japanese society is dividing into winners and losers, rich people and poor people. The middle class is being destroyed."
The trend is troubling in a country where just about everyone considers themselves middle class and where no one is supposed to get left behind.
"There is an expression in Japanese, ichioku-sohchu-ryu, which literally means, '100 million completely middle class' (or) more naturally, 'a nation of middle-class people,' " says Shigeru Miyagawa, a professor of Japanese at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Newspapers are now asking, 'What happened to ichioku-sohchu-ryu?' "
Article Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2006-07-23-japan-usat_x.htm
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ Joseph Garrett Baxter: I guess you have not tried to buy a place in Roppongi HIlls or visited some of the high end places in Ginza or seen some of the opulance that one can find in Japan. There are extremely rich people in Japan. Some of it is "old money" and some new.
I am not saying to keep one person rich just for the sake of Capitalism, but then I don't think just because someone is able to build a better mousetrap, I should demand that he turn over half of his income for society. He should pay a fair share of taxes, but not excessive to the point just to make things even.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ oginome: So everyone should be paid equal is that what you are saying? Tell me, why was it in the old USSR that there were two classes of people, those who had the connections and the rest who didn't. Also, if in the old USSR all were equal, how is it that when it dissolved, a few people in the right position working for government were able to take the land and being to make large amounts of money from selling natural resources. It would seem that if they have had such a collectivist thinking, that the wealth should be shared by all the comrades, and yet it isn't. Same thing in North Korea. Supposedly the workers are in control, but I don't think so.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ Samantha Zoe Aso: A case was just reported in the US about a man smuggling a gun in his rectum into a jail. That would give a new meaning to "shooting bullets" and I guess the guy was a "crack shot."
If they are going to go through the entire porcess of making gold bars into smaller beads, shoving them up your rectum and then when you get to Japan get them all and convert back to bars, wouldn't it be just as easy to pay the damn inport fees? How much are they really going to save?
Posted in: 8 men arrested for smuggling gold from S Korea to Japan in rectums
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Alphaape
@oginome: A lot more die each year, and they have health insurance. Where do you get this number from. Considering that a state like CA has 30 million people, and has over 1 million on welfare receiving cash from the government, 45,000 seems like a small number.
Everyone in the U.S. - including those illegally in the U.S. -- is guaranteed access to basic health care. Under a 1968 federal law, all patients seeking care in hospital emergency rooms must be given a minimum level of treatment, regardless of their ability to pay or health insurance status. The law applies to all hospitals that participate in Medicare -- which most do - and requires the hospitals to provide initial patient screening, life-saving and "stabilizing" emergency care and transfers to advanced trauma centers, if needed. Those services must be provided without asking about the patient's ability to pay. Of course, the growing demand on hospitals to provide this minimum level of free care contributes to rising health care costs.
Most people become uninsured because they lose or leave their jobs and regain insurance coverage when they return to work. In 2007, the Census Bureau reported that 253.4 million people -- about 85 percent of the total population -- did have health insurance.
According to Census Bureau data, of the estimated 46 million "Americans" without health insurance, more than 10 million are non-U.S. citizens.
Many young workers, whose employers do offer it, simply do not consider health insurance. According to the Census Bureau, 18.3 million of the uninsured are under age 34.
A 2003 Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association study concluded that, "More than 14 million uninsured Americans are already eligible for health insurance through Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)." These people could automatically be signed up for these programs by seeking care at a hospital. In addition, a Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute study shows that 7 out of 10 uninsured children could be covered if their parents chose to sign up for existing government programs.
We have measures in place in America to address those who have the need. I will say this about Obamacare, good thing that it made it so that health insurers just can't drop people for pre-existing condtions.
In addition to the posts above by sailwind to cut down costs in America the next steps should be Tort reform so that the max amount one can sue for malpractice is capped, and malpractice insurance rates whould go down.
One thing about Obamacare, it calls for the hiring of over 12000 new people at the IRS to monitor who is paying their taxes if they chose not to have health insurance. Is that a good thing?
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ oginome: No I don't think so. If a person is making around $65K and pays around $11K in total taxes. A person making $1million will probably pay around $35K. In my opion, that is enough. Just because he makes that much, there is no reason why after he has paid well above 35%. Government needs to learn how to spend what it has, and not just keep giving money away like it was nothing.
You are missing the point. Only about 300,00 people are putting in the majority of state income tax revenue that is received by the state. How are they ever going to get the state moving if the burden of paying taxes move away. Next they will start taxing those who don't have as much.
So tell me, how much do you think a person should pay in taxes? 50% of their income they make has to be taken away? Where is the incentive to work then, if after you put in all of the effort, it is taken away by the government to be redistributed.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@ shady86: Yes I have seen that movie and it does indeed sound like the same situation.
Posted in: Body of naked man with genitals sliced off found in apartment
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Alphaape
@oginome: Almost half of California's income taxes come from the top 1% of earners. In New York, the percentage is now 41%, up from 25% in 1994. In Connecticut and New Jersey, the top 1% pay more than 40%.Being so dependent on super-rich people is great when times are good, because revenues soar. But the trouble is that the earnings of super-rich people are super-volatile, so when times are bad, or even mediocre, tax revenues plummet.
In a boom year, for example, a successful Wall Street managing director might make $5 million. In a crappy year, he or she might make $1 million. Both of these incomes are otherworldly when compared to what normal folks make, so it's no surprise that most people are in favor of socking it to the rich. But with said managing director paying a big slug of those incomes in taxes, the hit to the state's budget is huge.
All of which is to say: There's a downside to socking it to the rich.
So if you keep wanting to sock it to the rich, even in down times, you will not get as much money as before. So where does the state make it up? By increasing the taxes on the middle class and eventually those who can't afford to pay as much, or they do away with services.
A state like CA has 30 million people, yet over 50% of the state's tax Revenue comes from only 1%. That 1% is in a much better position to move out of the state than the rest. What happens if they do as they call it in sports "The Tiger Woods move" where they move to a state that has no state tax. CA will be in worse shape, and that "tax the rich" mantra will mean taxing those people who are in the middle class who are just getting by.
It's all about how people liike you are framing the issue. Do there need to be some reforms on Wall Street, yes. But is there a growning divide between the classes because of greed, I don't think so. I think people are stating to realize that they need to watch out more for themselves since our government can't do it, and now they are finding ways to try to keep more of what they earn than just throw it away to some politician that will piss it away.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: Answer me this. Before Obamacare passed, he had his union backers urging their people to protest and demand that it get passed, and he used union support to help him get elected, as well as those other Dems who voted for it.
Once Obamacare passed, the waivers started flying. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, more than 1,200 companies have been accorded waivers from the healthcare reform law. So far the ObamaCare waivers excuse roughly four million people, or about three percent of the U.S. population, from having to participate in the program. And I thought that it was designed to help the American people and give us affordable health care. This displays an incontrovertible pattern of crony capitalism, as the law openly leans on the side of labor unions, who just so happen to be strong Democratic supporters who wield tremendous political influence. Ever since the administration strapped a tighter leash on application rules, the unionized sector has remained a prominent beneficiary of ObamaCare waivers.
So much for the rest of us who don't belong to a union, and will not get a waiver. But if it is going to be so good for us, why do companies and unions need a waiver?
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: Aan if you follow the news closely, you will see that Germany is really hesitant about bailing out the rest of Europe, and they may be socialist but they realize that they can only do so much before they begin to feel the same pains as the rest of Europe. Wasn't it Merkle who said that the whole "diversity thing" in regarads to allowing the mass migration of non-germans and Europeans into Germany was failing, sue to increas in poverty rates in Germany and all of the other socail ills that are starting to build up in Germany? You are beginning to see the same problems that the US has. There are only so many jobs to go around, and they want their people to get them, and if they have poor and people in need,then of course I don't blamd them for putting their own people first. But when you have massive immigrations of poor people, then tensions will rise. It will not be long before those same tensions that are being fueled in America will be occuring in Europe.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: I sugest you look up what Medicare provides. It was enacted back in 1965, not just a "couple of years ago" as you seem to think.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: What country are you from, and does it have a better system than America. And for your info, these programs have been around a lot longer than 3 years. They have been part of the "War on Poverty" for quite some time. What die-hard ideologes like yourself seem to do is not realize that these systems are there.
As far as the American system being decentralized, I have seen many cases reported here in JT of how a strong central bureaucracy like here in has let people slip through the cracks because of an inability to adapt qucikly and meet the needs of the people. There are safety nets in America run by the states, which is how the American system has always been.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@cleo: Thanks for the info. But what would it be if you assumed that it was just a middle income earner and not a poor person. How much would it cost them? Also, if you are a low-income earner, where are you going to get $5,519 from? That seems like a lot of money that they somehow would have to come up with.
So, even though the majority of the cost may be paid, people will still be on the hook for something, and that amount owed is what may be the tipping point between being homeless and having a home. I am sure that there are just as many people in Japan living paycheck to paycheck as there are in America, and having to pay an extras $5K will be just as devastating as having to pay the whole bill.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: Name me one purely socialst country that has all of these safety nets that you wish America had that is running debt free and not worrying about the financial crisis that is going through the world.
As sailwind said in his post, there are numerous programs that abound in America. I have family members who take advantage of them, and there is a safety net. What the angst is in America is that just as in Greece, people are realizing that the "free ride" is about ready to end. Welfare reform back in the 90's under Clinton was supposed to put a limit on the amount of time a person could recevie benefits, but that has gone by the wayside.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
Yes it would. Since you say Japan has a better healthcare system than America, the government pays 70%, the individual is responsible for the remainder 30%. So in the case I cited, it cost almost a $1 million for his stay and care. So if we had the same system as Japan, he still would be on the hook for $300,000. But this guy, an illegal alien, does not have to pay anything. All the while, a regular middle income family would not have had the luxury of that kind of extended care, even with health insurance. Most policies have a cap at what they will spend in a year.
Just multiply this issue, along with how people who sometimes have no right receiving benfits that they don't deserve get them, while those in the middle class are not afforded the same opportunities, and you have the situation America is in today. Those big businesses that get bailed out are just as bad as those who receive benefits that they shouldn't be receiving. I am not saying "screw the poor" but there has to be a better way at determining who is actually eligible to recive help, and those who shouldn't.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
So you are saying it is my responsiblitiy as an American taxpayer, to provide health care for someone who is in my country illegaly? I don't think so. The discrepancies you cite are the result of the regulations that make it hard for middle class Americans to take advantage of the services of health care, that they are subsidizing through their taxes. Yet, someone who is not a citizen gets a free ride. .
But you see, the state is taking care of the costs of the hospital. The majority of the charity cases get paid by Medicare, which is financed through the state by taxes and federal subsidies. I doubt that one hospital alone in Fresno can generate $100 million in donations. If so, they would be on the level of major universities in collecting donations. Americans do give to charity, but not that much.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
@oginome: That's not true. You cited a story, but I can show you another where an illegal alien spent 1 year in a hospital for complications from a walk in visit. It was the longest stay at this hospital for such a visit. He was illegal from Mexico, had no insurance, and was not turned away for a year. As a matter of fact, as you read the story, you will see that this man't mother even made trips up to visit him. Also from the article, it points out that this hospital, in Fresno CA spent $100 million on charity care.
So many people are just gettig fed up, not so much with the Wall Street system, but how the government takes care of its own people. If this guy would have been just a middle class family man, who had a job, he would have been charged for his care and for that long of a stay it would have wiped out his family economically. If he would have had health insurance, they would have found some way to drop him. But yet, someone who is in the country illegally, gets a free ride for a year. That is the real reason why tensions are increasing between the rich and the poor. An unfair balance in the way assistance is given,and whpo should receive it.
So, there is free health care in America, it's just that the overburdend tax payer pays for it. By the way, do you know what income you need to have in the state of CA to be classified in the top income bracket for state taxes? $45,000 for a person filiing single. So that same guy is paying state taxes at the same rate as any A list Hollywood actor making millions for a movie. So much for taxing "the rich".
Here's the link to the article: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/01/03/2669593/man-will-leave-fresno-hospital.html
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor
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Alphaape
Having come from an area not as bad as you depict above, I can tell you that there are opportunities for people who come from those areas. That is part of some of the problem between the classes in America. Those people who come from the middle class are uupset at some of the soical programs that poor have, not so much that they are given to them but that they are squandered. They see money being poured into poor schools and areas, and yet these areas still remain poor, and the only people bettering themselves were the ones who adminsitered the programs or "profited off the poor." Take a look at the"War on Poverty." Great idea, but big failure.
Posted in: Social tensions increasing in U.S. between rich,poor