Posted on 08/31/2009 5:46:01 PM PDT by neverdem
Japan's leader-in-waiting has a delusional vision for his country and its relationship with the rest of Asia.
Yukio Hatoyama dreams of an Asian union, a utopia free of rapacious American capitalism, a region bound together by fraternity and a common currency. Were Hatoyama a soapbox orator his fantasizing could be dismissed as twaddle, but he isn't. He's about to become the next prime minister of the world's No. 2 economy, following his party's victory Sunday in a general election.
In an op-ed piece, "A New Path for Japan," that ran in The New York Times recently, the leader-in-waiting revealed his vision of Asia's future, one that has Japan hand-in-hand with China at its center as American economic and military power wanes. He describes his country as being "buffeted by the winds of market fundamentalism," a nation "damaged" by an unfettered global economy. There is, Hatoyama boldly states, "danger inherent in freedom," although he doesn't specify what variety of liberty he finds most hazardous.
There's no suggestion he would want to go as far as rounding up Japan's beleaguered free marketeers and locking them up and throwing away the key, but his public musings suggest Japan is in for a heavy bout of re-regulation that will swaddle the unviable and stymie the fit. Hatoyama is right when he notes the relative decline of America vis-à-vis China, but chooses to overlook the more precipitous decline in Japan's power and influence. As the rest of the world economy grew over the past decade and a half, Japan's stood still, its corporations hobbled by the kind of regulation and bureaucracy seemingly advocated by Hatoyama's brand of economic nationalism.
He also ignores an uncomfortable truth: As an export junky unable to kick-start its domestic economy, Japan relies on other nations keeping their markets free to...
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
“Hatoyama dreams of an Asian union, a utopia free of rapacious American capitalism, a region bound together by fraternity and a common currency.”
They tried this before, as the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. It didn’t work out so well.
Japan Committing Economic Harakiri
Hatoyama is not the first one to have such dreams. Back in 1928 Tojo and his boys thought much the same thing and the Japanese government established the Asian Co-prosperity Sphere Policy ( Translation, massive Japanese immigration to Manchuria and a subsequent invasion in 1931-1932).It was based on exactly the same Utopian hoo haw.
China will devour Japan if this will be Japan's new policy.
and China has done what by embracing capitalism ?
I dropped Forbes as one of their long time investing columnist is one of O’s closet financial advisers and early backers. Forbes publishing this guy’s column helped him become rich so he could fund O’s early campaign. Thanks Forbes.
If that happens within the next three years, do you think the US would have Japan's back?
Duh, they guy’s name in English is “pigeon mountain.”
Ding, ding, you get the cigar.
They haven't been able to replace that chief editor with anyone as good.
His plan is that China will support Japan financially, while the USA supports Japan militarily —I wonder if the Chinese are so enthusiastic about this arrangement...?
Feelings of Asian UNITY..? Hhahahah...! Where does that feeling prevail......? Guam, Disneyland, and in the USA (where many racial Asians do not speak the language, or even have not been there) would be my guesses —freaky places that don’t really matter in Asia, in other words...
The only unusual feature of Hatoyama (who went to Stanford) is that he clearly articulates actual POLICY —for LDP guys it’s all about running their mouths maximally, while making no specific committments....
But however fresh and new, who CARES how clearly Hatoyama elucidates policy and ideology...?
1. It’s nuts (energize the economy by socializing it)
2. It’s a little contradictory (bring China closer, keep the USA close)
2. Bureaucrats won’t permit him to actually DO anything
The first two will grab American attention, but in fact #3 is the most important...
A bulwark has just given way. The Asian markets will tank eventually giving another death blow to the markets.
Japan and the US turning communist and away from free market capitalism. Interesting times.
That's pretty much how it turns out. Only there is a lot of Chinese payback waiting for the Japanese under a communist puppet regime. You'd think they'd have learned about that sort of thing by now.
Why are all the world leaders being lifted up and bred into wanting to bend over and turn their sovereignty over to some globalist idea?
Hope ‘n’ Change?
A Japanese Obama. Who’d have thought?
He (the new DP of Japan leader) will take the already reeling economy of Japan and make everyone of its ailments worse, while doing so with solutions that will be promoted as saving it. When he fails, like any American liberal, he will blame others for preventing him from going far enough in his “reforms”.
I think the little Nippon in the middle has a 9mm in his pocket.
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