Punching people is illegal in general. If it was that easy, there wouldn't exist any class struggle.

We're already slaves. They are just making it more obvious.

No they don't. They just have to adopt a culture of euthanasia. I don't say that to be cruel or indifferent. I assume state assisted programs are in a lot of countries' futures assuming they can stomach it. It's not something I'm advocating for. I just think the rich are cold enough to push it to try to fix the problem.

...and most other countries that aren't in Europe.

I love Japan, but I will say it has its issues that often get overlooked. Workplace culture is horrific in Japan and it contributes to their high suicide rates. There's even a word in Japanese that specifically refers to a person dying from being overworked. I know friends who immigrated to Japan, only to regret it because they saw for themselves just how harsh the workplace culture was. Japanese people have no time for their family. Something must change or this problem is going to get worse but given it's a highly conservative culture I'm not sure it's going to see changes anytime soon.

Easy, just make it legal.

Problem solved.

So you'd want to go to jail for a few months (several weeks at least) over someone yelling at you?

Shit I hope you don't get married or have a girlfriend or kids.

I'm sure artificially lowering female med student's grades to increase drop-outs amoung women will help with the financial stability and job security needed to raise a child!

I am lucky enough to not have an English teaching job, and never have. But unless you are highly specialized, or somehow manage to start your own thing here, there seems to be limite scope as a foreigner to really have a strong career.

I am actually moving to Shiga Prefecture in a few days. It's going to be a big change from living on the outskirts of Tokyo for the past six years. Excited to see how my perception of life in Japan changes from the move.

It has two actually, karoshi and karojisatsu, death from being overworked and suicide from being overworked. Etimologically speaking, that gives you some idea of how big the problem is, kind of like the old adage about eskimos or inuits having six words for "snow".

Japans GDP has been almost flat since the mid 90s, they are not following the west's """infinite""" growth. Not that I'm saying capitalism isn't part of the problem, it absolutely is, just saying it isn't the entire story.

Japanese are very against violence, and incidentally it's the safest first world country. And the work culture has been improving in the last decade or so - though not nearly fast enough.

Had me in the first half lol

Even without capitalism you need production, and children used to be part of that. Back then you would have as many kids as you could so that they could run your farm.

I'm not defending the current system, but profit isn't the only reason the birthrate is declining in so many countries.

Japanese workers get more days off than American workers.

Japan 26

USA 10

Japanese on average don't work longer than Americans (2017)

#39 United States 1,765.00

#43 Japan 1,738.36

Don't get me wrong, they have a crazy work culture, but it's worse in the USA.

I would hope it is obviously not a serious suggestion. But it does show a clear difference in modern society that might go some way to explaining current trends.

And the farm would largely be to feed your own family. Not profit.

I think it is a wonderful movie exactly because it is applicable everywhere.
Berlusconi was already walking that path in the early 2000s in Italy.

Jokes on you

America has higher rates of overwork and suicide!

Thing is, we don't really know what's the reason for the current worldwide trend in much, much lower natality rate. We've observed in rich countries and poor countries, religious and atheist countries, capitalist and communist countries (both USSR and PRC, who have had very different economic systems), in countries with no safety nets but also in countries with large social programs, in western countries, but also in eastern countries.

The only thing I can think of these days is education level. Is it possible that education is inversely correlated with natality rates? Or maybe women in the workforce. I'm not arguing for either point, I'm just thinking about what the cause of a world-wide issue might be, because it's happening everywhere and seemingly without any clear common cause.