プシュケ

日本人均GDP由世界第5，跌落至世界第37。 2000年，日本人均GDP位居世界第五，除卢森堡和瑞士等小国外，跻身世界顶尖国家之列。然而，预计到2025年，日本的人均GDP将下滑至第37位，与前共产主义国家水平相当。 很多人似乎仍然认为日本是一个发达国家，但这才是事实。 历史上很少有国家经历过如此迅速的经济实力衰退，但如果非要举一个例子，阿根廷可能是最接近的。 1900 年左右，阿根廷的人均 GDP 曾位居世界前列，但如今已跌至第 50 位左右。 阿根廷发生了什么事？ 经济停滞不前，民众不满情绪不断积聚，催生了迎合这种不满情绪的民粹主义政治。这最终导致了军政府的建立，加速了国家实力的进一步衰落。 日本未必会走上与阿根廷相同的道路，但过去的历史可以给我们提供许多借鉴。 我认为我们自身需要更加意识到经济状况下降对社会和政治的影响。

历史冷知识：日本在中东的正面形象，其实源于赤军 1972年5月30日，三名日本赤军成员袭击以色列本·古里安国际机场，造成26人死亡、80多人受伤。奥平刚士在袭击中用手榴弹自爆，冈本公三被活捉。在阿拉伯世界，他们不是恐怖分子，而是英雄。 此后几十年，巴勒斯坦武装组织每一次换俘，都把冈本公三列为第一人。1972年出生的阿拉伯男孩中，相当多的人被取名为“奥平”。仅有400万人口的黎巴嫩，1985年竟有250名律师自愿为冈本公三免费辩护。 更讽刺的是，1973年石油危机爆发时，阿拉伯产油国对支持以色列的西方国家实施禁运。但因为日本赤军的这次袭击，阿拉伯世界对日本人的感觉很好，日本被撤下了敌对国名单，石油供应得以保障。 一个被日本政府严厉打击的恐怖组织，竟在无意中为日本的国家利益做出了贡献。 2022年，赤军领袖重信房子刑满出狱，巴勒斯坦人仍在为她庆祝。重信房子当年说过：“要跳出民族主义的圈子，成为国际主义者。”这句话在今天的中东，依然有人记得。 历史有时就是如此诡谲。日本在中东的正面形象，不是来自政府的外交努力，而是来自五个激进青年在1972年那个晚上的枪声和爆炸声。

🇯🇵 Former Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba just dropped the truth about Trump. I met him three times. If you tell him he is wrong, he gets angry right away. You cannot say that. You have to say you are absolutely right and flatter him to save face. That guy judges everything by loss or gain. This is not a secret. This is how the US operates. Flatter the leader. Stroke the ego. Pretend he is always right. That is not diplomacy. That is servitude. Japan has been doing this for decades. Bowing to Washington. Flattering US presidents. Ignoring its own interests. Ishiba is speaking the truth that Japanese politicians usually hide. Trump cannot handle criticism. He cannot handle being wrong. He judges everything by what benefits him. Not what benefits the US. Not what benefits Japan. What benefits him. The world knows this. The US knows this. But no one says it out loud. Ishiba just did. The mask is off. The empire is run by a man who cannot be told he is wrong. And the world is expected to bow. Japan is waking up. The rest of the world is watching.

Japanese and Thais have been fighting on Twitter all day. Here’s the tea lol: A Thai man at a 7-11 attempted to buy a box of instant ramen. He opens it, pours hot water, and then goes to pay. Why? Because in Thailand this is common, as Thais live in a high interpersonal trust society and people can be trusted to pay for things at shops. For added clarity, this practice is mostly done with noodles to save time and not much else. However, in Japan, people are expected to pay for noodles before opening them. A Japanese 7-11 cashier corrects him. No problem. The man pays. Great learning experience. The video is shared online in case other Thais don’t know. A Japanese nationalist account reposts the video: many Japanese netizens harshly criticise the Thai man, with many being racist and xenophobic, even attacking the man for not knowing how to insert cash into the machine, calling him backward, a country bumpkin, and stupid, etc. Thais reacted by criticising the Japanese for their uptightness, saying how when Japanese tourists make mistakes, the Thai mindset and approach are to act calm and reasonable. Thais are confused why it’s so hard to adopt an “it’s okay” mindset, especially when no harm was caused. In Thailand, this is a quintessential mindset that Thais live by. The Japanese side responds and basically says it doesn’t matter… you’re in Japan, and the Thai man is practically stealing. Thais respond by saying, okay, understood but who attempts to steal and then goes to pay? Thais then pull out receipts of all the times Japanese tourists have behaved badly in Thailand, pointing out that bad behaviour stemming from moral bankruptcy like discrimination, sexual assault, and theft is more common from Japanese tourists than from Thais, with many cases making headlines over the past few years alone. Comments about Thailand being backward because the Thai man put the cash note in the wrong way were also met with confusion from the Thai side. In Thailand, QR payments and e-wallets are the default payment methods, and most Thais now adopt this new-gen banking tech. Japan is still a cash heavy society and relies on older infrastructure habits. It’s worth writing that not every Japanese comments are attacking the Thai man. Many are being reasonable and those who have travelled to Thailand have been pushing back against other Japanese netizens comments.