1y ago

Japan wrestles with its views on ‘outside people’ amid population crisis

www.theguardian.com Japan wrestles with its views on ‘outside people’ amid population crisis

Low birthrate and ageing population pose ‘an urgent risk to society’, but can opening its borders to skilled overseas workers fix the problem?

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Ugh, this is not an "urgent risk to society" this is an example that the whole world should follow
- The problem is that you still need a productive group of people to fund and care for retirees. Japan has the ability to absorb millions in its rural towns. It just doesn't.
  
  It's not as easy as absorbing people into rural towns and I suspect you know that.
  
  Yeah, but it seems better than the alternatives of letting those towns collapse.
  
  So you're going to have towns full of retired old people? Maybe also include their caretakers and maybe service workers supplying everything the caretakers need. Oh, and schools for the caretakers children. And teachers, obviously. And maybe some industry for the caretakers spouses to work at.
  Retirees aren't going to keep towns alive. They're just usually among the last to leave.
  
  Immigrants don't want to live in rural towns. I remember when a group of refugees were bussed in Sweden and they revolted that they didn't get to stay in a city.
  I mean even LOCAL people don't want to live in rural towns, that's why they're depopulated.
  
  And then we'll need more people to look after those young ones when they retire and then we'll need more people to look after those young ones when they retire and then we'll need more people to look after those young ones when they retire and then we'll need more people to look after those young ones when they retire
  No, no more growth. It's going to hurt the current generation but it's for the greater good. It's time to have a population decline

75 comments