
A Workers’ Paradise Found Off Japan’s Coast - kqr2
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/world/asia/22japan.html?_r=2&hp
======
tjic
> the village ... now directly or indirectly employs a fifth of all working
> islanders. Most of the rest are engaged in fishing, also government-
> subsidized.

Dollars to donuts, we're looking at a case of massive subsidy from the
national government.

Jobs may sound good, but if there's a ton of labor going into not-very-
productive folks going through the motions (being paid to catch fish that are
worth less than the cost of the labor that produces them!??!), then the whole
thing is just an elaborate kabuki (pardon me) show masking the fact that it's
fundamentally just a case of welfare transfers.

~~~
donw
Couldn't agree more -- the work-theatre kabuki in Japan is both charming (the
three men directing traffic around a hole in the sidewalk), and incredibly
idiotic (being paid to catch unprofitable fish).

What's strange is that the three guys around the mini-construction-site make
sense to me.

But I'll still go visit this place, just because it's part of my favorite bit
of Japan (Kyushu).

~~~
poiuhjkl
(being paid to catch unprofitable fish) Isn't necessarily bad. I live in area
where coal was deemed uneconomic to mine 20years ago with a subsidy. The
result of closing all the mines is that for 20years the area has had the
highest unemployment, highest crime, highest drug use and worst health in
Europe. The cost of the social security payments, health care, policing and
continual 'renewal' attempts have been many times the saving on buying
imported coal.

~~~
donw
Yorkshire?

------
danteembermage
I think socialist utopias are a lot more palatable when you can know everyone
you're sharing the wealth with, see the good it does first hand, have the
scale small enough to make individuals feel empowered enough politically to
change policies that are unpleasant or inefficient, and enjoy the freedom to
move out at any point.

~~~
radu_floricica
Palatable, yes. But it's workable for very different reasons: a traditional
society, fear of ostracization, respect to authority.

~~~
quoderat
Also, it helps to be ethnically homogeneous, as much as that displeases some
people.

~~~
Rod
Sweden is a prime example of that...

------
teilo
The attempted parallels to N. Korea and Cuba are non sequester. If Hime was an
independent nation the comparison would be justified. As it is, they are a
part of the Japanese economy, and enjoy the same military protection (provided
by the West) as the rest of the nation. They could never stand on their own.

------
TweedHeads
How can it be paradise to work the same and get paid a third?

Do all of them have health insurance covered? Housing? Savings? Internet?
iPhones?

They can eat their fish without sweat but can they travel to the bahamas for
vacation?

Tribal living is good for a thousand, try applying that to 20 million in New
York.

