2Bob comments

She's cracking. Her party is failing badly in the polls and will be voted out next election. NZers have had enough of her racist policies, lies and deceit .

Twitter ... source of reliable information

Haha, seriously?

She makes good sense to me.

These things are always a bit of a pissing contest aren't they? Still... it's always fun. Can't wait for the football !

I don't blame Japanese for being worried about tourists being dis-respectful. Watch the cases rise as the tourists come in. Many countries have a far more selfish and less respectful culture than Japan does, unfortunately.

The ones refusing to wear masks are likely from countries that killed off many of their elderly, and they really don't care. In my country I've often heard people say "oh, i'm not worried about covid, it's ONLY killing old people".

Seriously, who thinks like that? Too many.

You'll see them by the number of thumbs down this post gets.

Not a fan of Truss at all, but does anyone else find it more than a little surprising that announcing a minor tax change could immediately cause the imminent collapse of an entire nation? I mean, seriously?

I find this incredibly exciting. Elon dreams big, maybe bigger than he can deliver sometimes, but thats probably a required personality trait for game changing innovators.

I think this is only part of the first wave of what are essentislly just very useful, adaptable machines - freeing humans from repetitive, dull or dangerous work.

The worry is if they become sentient.

Companies should be barred from requiring, and especially storing, crucial identification documents such as passports, birth certs or drivers licences.

There is simply NO company on earth capable of keeping them securely. Even governments can't.

I've been stopped many times while staying in tokyo hotels and using a complimentary bike. Probably my fault for forgetting to turn the light on to be fair. While its a little annoying to be held up while they verify the bike's owner, they were always polite and helpful. Once even pumping up my tyre! In any case, I always remember that I'm a guest in their country.

@guru

I am aware of that. I'm also aware of studies that show the opposite. in some European countries the crime rate is x3 amongst migrants. At the end of the day, it depends on the destination country, the origin country, and many other factors. There is no single answer.

But in this case we're not talking about immigration to a country with appalling crime rates like the USA. Japan has a very low crime rate.

And also quite a high degree of social cohesion. Don't mean to be rude, but the USA is not exactly in any position to advise others on racial harmony is it?

In any case, my post waa not arguing against immigration as a whole. Migrants just want opportunity and a good life like everyone else. My post was in reply to a toxic SJW calling a previous poster racist simply for asking if importing cheap labour is worth the problems. I believe thats a valid question to discuss.

@lamilly

Maybe you misunderstand what i'm saying. Allow me to clarify...

Crime and antisocial behaviour is clearly correlated with poverty and disconnection from the community. 

1) immigrants are, on average, somewhat less integrated with the communities they move to, and somewhat less knowledgeable of the new culture/language than those who have lived there their whole life.

2) low pay/poverty has a correlation with crime

Which of these do you not understand?

Crime and antisocial behaviour is clearly correlated with poverty and disconnection from the community. These issues can affect anyone, but somewhat more so amongst migrants who did not grow up as part of the community and may imperfectly understand the language and culture. Obviously this affects low wage migrants inparticular.

Any issues would be due to a vanishingly small percentage to be sure. But the issue does exist, and should be considered.

I've visited many countries and it seems to me that the relative homogeneity of the Japanese society is in no small part responsible for the low crime rate.

No. A cashless society is only desirable if you can 100% guarantee a benevolent government at all times and forever. Because if a dictatorship or foreign power should ever gain control, cash allows the people to resist, or flee. Not so if the government can simply remove access to your money, which is what a cashless system allows.

Remember, the situation may not always be like it is now. Cash ensures the people have more options should the political environment become dangerous.

3 shots caught it twice and still alive.

How about those you passed it on to? Its not all about you.

Yes, with the benefit of hindsight.

But I suspect that our feelings on the matter now would be quite different to how they felt at the time, having experienced 6 years of brutal war, death, destruction, rations, etc etc. I imagine there was a great deal of justified hatred, and an eagerness to simply end the horror.

So it's hard to judge that realistically from our comfortable perspective. Different times. But i think (hope) the world has learnt enough to not let it happen again