Japanese continue to grapple with low paying jobs despite the county’s strong economy. In this piece, I will explore economic and social alienation in Japan, reviewing some of the latest turn of events in the country. The article is titled “Japan’s Disposable Workforce: Alienation, suicide and social responsibility.” The article theme concerns alienation together with poor quality of life and poverty. These and other more reasons depicts Japan persistent alienation culture leading to high rate of suicide in the county. I got attracted to this article because Japan represents the most advanced societies in the world and as such should be remunerating employees within or above the market rates. Initially, I viewed Japan as the best place to live and get the best remuneration package compared to any other country following their industrial economic growth. This story of alienated workers augurs well with Oedipus story in that, Oedipus lost all the support and community sympathy something that subjected him in solitude.
In the article, the Japanese workforce are presented as homeless, restless and live uncertain life due to the precarious nature of their jobs. Graduates cannot get decent employment that will pay them well. They have resorted to working in clubs which earn them meager pay that is hardly enough to take care of their basic needs. However, the Japanese economy is presented as one of the strongest with the most advanced economies. Typically, such economy is supposed to pay workers handsomely from the executive posts all the way to entry level jobs that require little skills. The workers are spending most of their hours working but are underpaid (Zevallos, 2012). Some are forced to resort to 24-hour cafes to pass time as they wait for their shifts because they cannot afford a comfortable home.
Increased rate of suicide in Japan among the working class is a worrying trend for such a developed country. Previous suicide reports point finger at physical exhaustion and a cute mental condition caused by stress as these citizens struggle to make ends meet but to no noticeable success. The workers are believed to have undergone a series of stress as they fail to even give their families a decent life after a spirited fight by the family to see them through higher learning institutions. Suicide remains their only weapon to forget the harsh economic situation and lack of government commitment to ensure an impressive pay slip at the end of the month (Wingfield-Hayes, 2015). Also, these underpaid citizens have lived isolated life as they cannot get time to interact with other members of the society. This has made it difficult for other people to come to their aid when they need the necessary support because the other members of the society failed to understand them and went ahead to disregard thus forcing them to live a solitary life while staring poverty at an early age. The problem has been further compounded by the worker inability to access vital services such as health facilities, quality food and social amenities which makes them resort to committing suicide because they feel nothing can solve their problems better than ending their lives.
This article showcases alienation in the following ways; despite the fact that Japan is considered the most advanced societies with high GDP growth, it has failed to guarantee quality life for its citizens. The workers in the article are all educated but are paid peanuts making it difficult to even get a comfortable roof over their heads. These employees continue to live in abject poverty yet japan is an industrialized country with strong moral and cultural values that protected their economy from foreign market infiltration.
In summary, Japanese workers continue to live stressful life coupled with unending life challenges which the government seem not to pay attention. Understanding the life of these Japanese workers require one to be friendly and compassionate with these workers to get along with them since they feel neglected and does not see the value of living. Suicide has become the only comforting act to these citizens. In this task, I have learnt that alienation makes one lose oneself and become a vulnerable member of the society who feel devalued and stressed but cannot communicate due to fear of rejection and being looked down upon. Their voices have gone silent and have they turn to unimaginable acts such as committing suicide in order to communicate their displeasures and what their remaining colleagues are going through hopping someday things will change.
Reference
Wingfield-Hayes, R. (2015, July 3). Why does Japan have such a high suicide rate? Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-33362387
Zevallos, Z. (2012, December 22). Japan’s Disposable Workforce: Alienation, Suicide and Social Responsibility. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from https://othersociologist.com/2012/12/22/disposable-workers
