The following is from an article by Dr. Teruhisa Se, a professor at Kyushu University, which appeared in a three-page column from page 64 to 71 of WiLL, one of the world's leading monthly magazines, titled "Grassroots Conservatives Against Immigration, Ordinary Japanese Do Not Want 'Globalization'" on the 26th.
The following is an excerpt from pages 66 to 71.
This paper is also one of the most essential papers in the world today.
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Go for the "internationalization" type!
As mentioned above, the Japanese government has been promoting globalization based on neoliberalism since the mid-1990s.
This policy seeks to eliminate national borders where possible to stimulate the movement of people and capital.
However, the majority of the public wants an "internationalization" policy that maintains national borders and emphasizes the state's role.
As the answers to the first question indicate, many people in Japan believe that active interaction with foreign countries and people is essential.
The forces pushing for globalization have probably taken advantage of the sentiment of Japanese people who favor interaction with foreigners and foreign countries to push for unfair "reforms" that most people do not actually like.
Ordinary Japanese people want active exchanges with foreign countries and people from other countries.
However, this is not the so-called "globalization" type that seeks to eliminate national borders, create excessive flows of people, goods, and money (capital), and standardize rules, systems, cultures, and customs.
Ordinary people want an "internationalized" type of exchange.
They recognize the importance of nations, respect differences in rules, systems, cultures, and customs, and actively interact with and learn from each other, even if the direction of national development is different.
Let me summarize the discussion in this paper. The anti-immigration theory that grassroots conservatives, that is, ordinary Japanese who wish to preserve their culture and traditions, should be talking about is as follows.
The current neoliberalism-based argument for globalization is unfair. Inevitably, the voices of global investors and business people are more strongly reflected in politics than in the general public.
It leads to widening economic disparities that divide the people into "winners" and "losers."
It is also undemocratic in that it neglects the general public's voice.
The argument for promoting large-scale immigration is also the result of excessive reflection of the voices of global investors and corporations in politics. It does not benefit the lives of ordinary people but instead harms them.
To change the course of globalization and one of its manifestations, immigration, it is fundamentally necessary to create an international economic order that allows each country to exercise democratic control over the global movement of capital to some extent, as was the case before the 1980s.
However, this will require the agreement of significant countries, and it will take time to achieve this goal.
What we can do at this point is to distinguish between "globalization" and "internationalization" and to create an environment in which criticism of globalization and immigration will not be labeled "xenophobia," "extreme right," "isolationism," or the like.
Only when people can say, "I am against 'globalization,' but I am for 'internationalization,'" or "I am against large-scale immigration, but I am in favor of international exchange that recognizes each other's countries and cultures" will it be possible to discuss an ideal world order based on the sensibilities of the majority of ordinary people.
We should aim for a world in which not only Japan but also "grassroots conservatives" in other countries can live in peace.
2024/6/26 in Osaka
