Thanks Huiren for your update/corrections to Mr. Stephens' article. Interesting to read your reactions and comments; shows the value of learning across boundaries, no? I was also glad to see that you shared my sense that more data about the innovation value of "open" can only help the cause...hoping your note and mine can stimulate more thinking about that across the network (s). Cheers
On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 3:18 PM, Huiren Woo <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Brook, > > Interesting article and topic, a little controversial so let's see how > this goes. I'll begin by correcting some statements made by the article and > then giving my 2 cents on this issue. (I'm a Singaporean and come from a > diverse metropolitan country but is dominated by Chinese population) > > I think the article has to do mainly with economics whilst culture and > diversity is a secondary issue. > > > The Japanese have lost their appetite for reproduction > > True but take note that most countries that are "successful" economically > are shifting away from reproduction (see European countries, South Korea, > Hong Kong and Singapore). This is because the costs of living is getting > higher and people find that they benefit more from not having children at > all. They shun away responsibility of having children and look towards > enjoying lives together as couples (it makes on a personal economic scale > but not on a country economic scale). > > > Being Japanese, you were raised to make financial sacrifices for your > elders, even if it means not having children of your own. > > Inaccurate, Japan culture has been increasingly shifting away from the > idea of "filial piety" (drop to 60%) and more elders are expected to take > care of themselves. Those whose children take care of them are very likely > to live a fulfilling retirement. Those with children that don't take care > of them looks at staying in prisons instead -- some are even willing to > commit crimes just to be taken care of by the government prisons. (Take a > look at the Japanese prisons, lots of elderly). There are even a minority > that dies and nobody knows for months, until a strong rotting stench smell > alerts the distant neighbours or until someone discovers it [0]. > > > What if the government paid you to have babies? > > People think that throwing money at a problem solves it, it doesn't. TSA > threw in 1.4 billion for a randomizer app [1] that even my grandparents > could make. The main problem is not people not reproducing, but rather high > stress (see suicide rates) and high costs of living which results in people > not wanting to reproduce. This problem cannot be solved in long run with > purely immigration either. A surge of immigration can cause even more > unhappiness and also, a loss of culture. > > Open borders should only be implemented if a large majority of the > citizens are pro-immigration, otherwise, it would be a policy that is > against the will of its people. As for Japan, the people strongly value > their culture over immigration and hence, implementing open borders would > upset the eco-system even more and cause even more Japanese to be upset. > > There is a common idealogical stereotype that for one to be "open", one > needs to have "open borders". I disagree with that. A country can still > attract diverse talents through work visa, internships and scholarships > programs that allows these talents to become a citizen after integrating > into the Japanese culture. This is a slower process but in a long run, it > is definitely more beneficial than open borders. The people will be more > willing to accept this and teach these people about their culture and help > them integrate. Slowly but surely, they would start to see the benefits of > thinking in multiple ways, and not just their own way. > > Of course, words are easy to say, whilst actions are a lot tougher. This > is indeed a tough issue where countries need to balance between immigration > and culture. The country's leaders and government must set a good example > of pragmatic openness that are based on the country's context. > > ... > > Now, onto the questions you've asked: > > > What is the data about innovation and other measures of "good" between > companies that are more open versus those that are less? > > I don't think there's a so called accurate measurement or study out there. > But there is an ongoing trend about employee happiness and productivity in > companies that are more open, and how big companies and implementing it. [2] > > > These are just my 2 cents on this issue. Would love to see how others > think. > > [0] - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3021223/The- > saddest-job-world-Japan-s-Lonely-Death-squads-specialise-emptying-homes- > elderly-people-die-unnoticed-families-weeks-months.html > [1] - https://kev.inburke.com/kevin/tsa-randomizer-app-cost-336000/ > [2] - https://blog.kissmetrics.com/googles-culture-of-success/ > > > Best Regards, > Woo Huiren > > "I don't know about you people, but I don't want to live in a world where > someone else makes the world a better place better than we do. " - Gavin > Belson > > https://twitter.com/woohuiren > > On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 8:01 AM, Brook Manville <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Dear Open enthusiasts....recent opinion piece in WSJ by columnist Bret >> Stephens caught my eye (below)--talking about immigration, open borders, >> greater diversity and innovation; and imply such things should be more part >> of today's policy debates (but aren't). There are some "meta" themes about >> "open" at the national level that might deserve more attention among us. At >> a minimum, it makes for some interesting compare and contrast discussion, >> e.g. how much of the culture-building implied by best open organizations >> should be/could be applied to a nation's public policy? What is the data >> about innovation and other measures of "good" between companies that are >> more open versus those that are less? etc...Regards >> >> Other People’s Babies’If the U.S. slipped into demographic decline like >> Japan, it would tear itself apart. >> [image: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with President Trump in West >> Palm Beach, Fla., Feb. 10.] >> Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with President Trump in West Palm >> Beach, Fla., Feb. 10. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS >> <https://www.wsj.com/articles/other-peoples-babies-1490050955> >> By >> BRET STEPHENS >> March 20, 2017 7:02 p.m. ET >> 786 COMMENTS >> <https://www.wsj.com/articles/other-peoples-babies-1490050955#livefyre-toggle-SB10780801779306074119304583034393448048174> >> >> *Tokyo* >> >> Japan is an excellent place to test the proposition that countries do >> better with low levels of immigration. In a land of 127 million people, >> there are just over two million foreign residents, and only a third of them >> are here for the long term. The number of illegal immigrants, which peaked >> at a modest 300,000 in the early 1990s, is down by 80%. >> >> As for refugees, in 2016, Tokyo entertained 10,000 requests >> <http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170211/p2g/00m/0dm/008000c> for >> asylum. It accepted a grand total of 28. Steve Bannon would smile. >> >> The result, say immigration restrictionists, is plain to see. Japan’s >> crime and drug-use rates are famously low. Life expectancy is famously >> high. Japanese students put their American peers to shame on international >> tests. The unemployment rate clocks in at 3.1%. All this is supposed to be >> a function of a homogenous society with a high degree of cultural >> cohesion—the antithesis of cacophonous, multiethnic America. >> >> Just one problem: The Japanese have lost their appetite for reproduction. >> To steal a line from Steve King, the GOP congressman from Iowa, the only >> way they can save their civilization is with “somebody else’s babies.” >> >> Japan’s population shrank by nearly a million between 2010 and 2015, the >> first absolute decline since census-taking began in the 1920s. On current >> trend <http://www.ipss.go.jp/site-ad/index_english/esuikei/gh2401e.asp> the >> population will fall to 97 million by the middle of the century. Barely 10% >> of Japanese will be children. The rest of the population will divide almost >> evenly between working-age adults and the elderly. >> >> Imagine yourself as a 35-year-old Japanese salary man. You can expect >> that an ever-larger share of your paycheck will go to the government to >> fund the pensions and health care of your parents—who, at 70, can >> reasonably expect to live another 10 or 15 years, and who aren’t likely to >> vote for politicians promising to strip their entitlements. >> >> Being Japanese, you were raised to make financial sacrifices for your >> elders, even if it means not having children of your own. Besides, it’s >> hard to want children with the economy in such bad shape. As Morgan >> Stanley <http://quotes.wsj.com/MS>’s Ruchir Sharma has noted >> <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2016-02-15/demographics-stagnation>, >> lousy demographics mean a lousy economy: The average rate of GDP growth in >> countries with shrinking working-age populations is only 1.5%. In 2016, >> Japan’s growth rate was 1%—and that was a relatively good year by recent >> standards. >> >> What if the government paid you to have babies? Alas, along with millions >> of your countrymen, you suffer from what the Japanese call >> <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex> >> “celibacy >> syndrome” and aren’t interested in sex, never mind procreation. You’re also >> unhappy: In 2016, Japan ranked 53rd on the U.N.’s World Happiness Report, a >> notch above Kazakhstan but below El Salvador and Uzbekistan. >> >> So Japan is in trouble, and the government knows it. Prime >> Minister Shinzo Abe has tinkered with formulas to bring in lower-skilled >> temporary workers for housecleaning and farm jobs, and he has promoted >> various tax breaks and subsidies to ease the burden of raising children and >> caring for aging parents. >> >> But whatever their other benefits, “pro-family” policies won’t reverse >> the demographic trend. Only large-scale immigration can do that, and the >> Japanese won’t countenance it. The flip side of cohesion is exclusion. The >> consequence of exclusion is decline. >> >> Which brings us back to Mr. King and the U.S. immigration debates. A >> decade ago, America’s fertility rate, at 2.12 children for every woman, was >> just above the replacement rate. That meant there could be modest >> population growth without immigration. But the fertility rate has since >> fallen: It’s now below replacement and at an all-time low >> <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/06/07/behind-the-ongoing-u-s-baby-bust-in-5-charts/> >> . >> >> Without immigration, our demographic destiny would become Japanese. But >> our culture wouldn’t, leaving us with the worst of both worlds: economic >> stagnation without social stability. Multiethnic America would tear itself >> to pieces fighting over redistribution rights to the shrinking national pie. >> >> This doesn’t have to be our fate. Though it may be news to Mr. King, >> immigrants aren’t a threat to American civilization. They are our >> civilization—bearers of a forward-looking notion of identity based on what >> people wish to become, not who they once were. Among those immigrants are >> 30% of all American Nobel Prize winners and the founders of 90 of our >> Fortune 500 companies—a figure that more than doubles when you include >> companies founded by the children of immigrants. If immigration means >> change, it forces dynamism. America is literally unimaginable without it. >> >> Every virtue has its defect and vice versa. The Japanese are in the >> process of discovering that the social values that once helped launch their >> development—loyalty, self-sacrifice, harmony—now inhibit it. Americans may >> need reminding that the culture of openness about which conservatives so >> often complain is our abiding strength. Openness to different ideas, >> foreign goods and new people. And their babies—who, whatever else Mr. King >> might think, are also made in God’s image. >> >> *Write [email protected] <[email protected]>.* >> >> On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 8:10 AM, Bryan Behrenshausen <[email protected] >> > wrote: >> >>> ### Editor's Note ### >>> >>> Hi, friends! It's been another exciting, whirlwind week here in OpenOrg >>> Land. Yesterday, we announced the next book in the Open Organization >>> book series—this one devoted to open principles in the IT organization. >>> We're building it the open source way, and (if you missed the >>> announcement) you can see the links below for more details about getting >>> involved. >>> >>> Today we're publishing the second half of Ajinkya Pawar's two-part >>> series on open agencies. In this article, Ajinkya lays out a concrete >>> and specific plan for creating the agency of the future. >>> >>> –B >>> >>> ### New Today ### >>> >>> Ajinkya Pawar: What does an ad agency's source code look like? >>> >>> https://opensource.com/open-organization/17/3/how-build-open-ad-agency >>> >>> red.ht/2o855Xy >>> >>> Sample social media: >>> >>> If an ad agency is to go open source, then what's its source code? >>> @thejinxedone red.ht/2o855Xy #TheOpenOrg >>> >>> .@thejinxedone explains exactly how to build an open ad agency. What are >>> you waiting for? red.ht/2o855Xy #TheOpenOrg >>> >>> .@thejinxedone with five benefits to turning your ad agency into >>> #TheOpenOrg: red.ht/2o855Xy >>> >>> >>> ### Previously Published ### >>> >>> Bryan Behrenshausen: "Help us write the next IT culture book" >>> >>> https://opensource.com/open-organization/17/3/announcing-it-culture-book >>> >>> red.ht/2nmnfYB >>> >>> First day page views: 157 >>> >>> Sample social media: >>> >>> Help us write the next great book on IT culture—in the open: >>> red.ht/2nmnfYB #TheOpenOrg >>> >>> We're writing a book at the intersection of #TheOpenOrg and #IT culture. >>> You can help: red.ht/2nmnfYB >>> >>> The next book in #TheOpenOrg book series is under active development. >>> Pull requests welcome: red.ht/2nmnfYB >>> >>> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >>> >>> Simon Phipps: "7 ways to discuss legal matters with an open community" >>> >>> https://opensource.com/open-organization/17/3/legal-matters-community >>> >>> First day page views: 131 >>> >>> ### Site Stats ### >>> >>> Page views yesterday: 753 >>> Total page views for the month: 12,213 >>> Page views from newsletter: 106 >>> >>> Leaders Manual downloads: 5 >>> Leaders Manual downloads for the month: 71 >>> >>> Catalyst-In-Chief downloads: 4 >>> Total Catalyst-In-Chief downloads for the month: 30 >>> >>> Field Guide downloads: 2 >>> Total Field Guide downloads for the month: 37 >>> >>> ### Social Media Stats ### >>> >>> @TheOpenOrg Twitter followers: 3,918 (+1) >>> @JWhitehurst Twitter followers: 15,204 (+2) >>> Facebook likes: 526 (+0) >>> >>> ### Full Daily Stats ### >>> >>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/196RzNrhAiHRBcZHtrDYY >>> Ky0I9m8Bqa67K9OOPbDxuME/edit?pli=1#gid=46325027 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Openorg-list mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/openorg-list >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> *Brook Manville* >> *Principal, Brook Manville LLC* >> >> *http://www.brookmanville.com/ <http://www.brookmanville.com/>* >> *Twitter* <https://twitter.com/> >> *@brookmanville* >> *blogging at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookmanville/ >> <http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookmanville/>* >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Openorg-list mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/openorg-list >> >> > -- *Brook Manville* *Principal, Brook Manville LLC* *http://www.brookmanville.com/ <http://www.brookmanville.com/>* *Twitter* <https://twitter.com/> *@brookmanville* *blogging at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookmanville/ <http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookmanville/>*
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