it has been over a month since i started the drag of businessman life, and that makes me what the japanese call a "shakaijin", which literally translates as "member of society".
now, i have a really big problem with this word.
perhaps it originally had a broader meaning, but recently being a "shakaijin" means that you wear a suit, cram onto a rush hour train, work 9-5 monday to friday (in theory; of course japan is notorious for overtime and weekend shifts), read the financial times and vote conservative.
there is absolutely nothing wrong with this idea, but my problem comes with the fact that for some reason, not fitting into the above stereotype somehow exempts you from being a "shakaijin" in the eyes of many people.
it reminds me of when i was a student and people would often use the term "tax-dodger" (although to be honest we mostly used it to talk about ourselves). I always felt this term was erroneous because
a. we are still paying tax on everything we buy, and we still get taxed for our part time work; and
b. "dodge" suggests that any tax benefits we do get wont come back around to haunt us in the future. If somebody dodges a bullet, then the bullet goes safely over their shoulder and buries itself in the wall or some other poor chap. you dodged the bullet, well done. you're safe now.
however, "tax-dodging" is a complete misnomer, because as soon as you finish studying and get a job you then have to pay taxes sufficient to support the next generation of students. it all comes around again; those few years when you didnt have to pay property tax as a student means that when you start working you have to pay more. it all balances out. it is more like avoiding a heat seeking missile - it is going to catch up with you eventually.
this then leads older people to grumble "my taxes, paying for your education" as if it is some great sacrifice. it isnt. when they were students, someone else paid for them. even more in fact - 20 years ago university in britain was covered by the government for many people; now kids are having to pay more and more out of their own pocket.
working people seem happy to pay a pension, because it is a benefit they will get in the future, but like to grumble about paying for education, something that they have already finished in the past. but it is exactly the same system. people working right now pay for the young and pay for the old. it all balances out. there is no dodging the tax, it all comes around again.
anyway, ive gone off on a bit of a tangent. back to my initial point - .
"shakaijin" is a ridiculous term in japanese, because it excludes shop assistants, sewer workers, gas station attendants, rubbish collectors... the list goes on.
these people are still paying their taxes, and without them society would be fucked. they are "shakaijin" too, and I respect them because without them, nothing would work.
we need students and we need construction workers; otherwise the system collapses. a lot of people dont seem to realise that. we are all equal - i might work in an office, but i sure as hell dont know how to make a moccha chocca frappucino. thankfully there is somewhere i can go and someone i can ask when i need one, so i am definitely not going to think i am any better than them, or dare suggest that they are not a "shakaijin" too. we are all cogs in a machine; i do my thing; they do theirs. that is all.
excuse my ranting on this humid saturday morn.
*this was a good bob dylan song. he may not be a "shakaijin", but he has achieved more than any prick in a suit. rock on bobby d.
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