Stephen Bezruchka, M.D. wrote:
>Today, at No. 1, Japan has a life expectancy on average three and a half
>years longer than the United States'. Twice as many Japanese men as
>American men smoke, yet the deaths attributable to smoking are half of
>ours. Why? After the second world war, the hierarchical structure of Japan
>was reorganized so all citizens shared more equally in the economy. Today
>Japanese CEOs make 15 to 20 times what entry-level workers make, not the
>almost 500-fold difference in this country. During their recent economic
>crisis, CEOs and managers in Japan took cuts in pay rather than lay off
>workers. That the structure of society is key to well-being becomes
>evident when we look at Japanese who emigrate: their health declines to
>the level of the inhabitants of the new country.
this conflicts with the common view of Japan as an extremely hierarchical
society (with probably-apocryphal stories of managers hinting that their
subordinates commit suicide, where the latter take the hint). Perhaps the
explanation is that in Japan (up to recent years, at least), the hierarchs
acted on obligations to their subordinates, noblesse oblige. This differs
from the US form of hierarchy, where (more and more) it's "every man &
woman for themselves": "The reason you make only 1/500 of the top manager's
salary is because you're stupid or don't work hard enough."
This article appeared in NEWSWEEK? what's the world coming to? socialist or
social-democratic ideas in NEWSWEEK?
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
