3. The Gaps

                In these days, the gaps between the rich and poor have been picked out as a social problem. Economic statistics underlines the fact, and there are some individuals who criticize the government as a responsible agent for the gaps. Some individuals disagree with the governmental economic policy. Their criticism is toward not only the government or the members of the cabinet, but also toward the Market fundamentalism, and Capitalism in general. If I explain that the current society guarantees the equal opportunity and it is in the Pareto optimum point, they will not understand them. Rather, it can facilitate in intensifying their resentment. “Equality” means that this is the equal rights as natural rights. Those are few people who do not recognize the existence of the gap as the results, or private property system. They are usually called as daydreamers and people will not count on them.

              The gaps do not only exist in the economics but are in competencies, techniques, expertise, connections, reputations, popularity, the fields of the interests and its domains and depths. People are tended to enlarge distinction or uniqueness from others as they are growing up. Denying the private property system is nothing more than the denying one of the aspects of the gaps. I wonder if someone does not understand that it is an idea that discounts the freedom, and even it deteriorates other worse gaps.

That is the question whether it presupposes that people are naturally unique or naturally the same. If people do not agree with one of these propositions, then it is impossible to reach the conclusion. In this case, how can you reconcile this?

              The issue in Japan in 2006 is not what kind of the gaps are justifiable or not, but the poverty covered beneath the gaps. The issue is not increasing the gaps but the increasing the social class recognized as poverty and working poor. The problem is how the society can deal with these issues are substituted for the issues of the gaps, although the central argument should be how to reduce the poverty and how to preserve the right to live.

The cause of this issue is decreasing the typical employment and semi-destructed the Nenkojyoretsu system—it is the Japanese unique reward system that people can get larger amount of earnings based on their working year of the company. The age when the forms of employment itself should be discussed has come.

Employment is one of welfare. The reason why nation attempts to increase the employment and to reach complete employment is because it is a part of welfare. It is basic policy that the government makes those individuals who might not be hired work, in terms of economic reasonability, and cope with the life without receiving any support from the government. The transitions of the economic environment and industrial environment, however, challenge the traditional thoughts of the relationships between employment and welfare.

A lot of philanthropists say that there are many people who are living less than $3 in the world, and they should be paid attention. Yet it is difficult to compare and comparison between such kind of world and Japan. It is possible to live without earning money in the world, whereas it is impossible to live without earning much in Japan.

In Japan, economic activity is fully dependent on the currency, so people will die if they do not have money due to starvation.

It is natural that required labor force decreases as the civilization is progressing. In the past, the slogans—represented labors’ demand –were to reduce the working time and free from working. It does not need to criticize it when it makes true in these days. Moreover, it is in vain to idealize working. An employment as ”slavish working style“ is a special forms whose history is only a few hundreds of years. It is plausible that it will be extinct.

The argument of the basic income may reflect the transition of the age. The idea of the basic income is that the government is responsible for distributing minimum amount of money for everyone that they can live. If the government is unable to provide complete employment, then they must warrant the right to live for those individuals who cannot get a job. People who are worried with the increasing the gaps between the rich and the poor do not understand the reality. It is a daydreamer who believed the existence of the government—have competency to warrant the equality of all of the gaps among people—created by omnipotent God. The idea that the government has to reduce the gaps of the results is not a justice but is an individual belief. In addition, some might criticize Capitalism as an ultimate cause of the gaps, although it is not reasonable.

The very issue which is discussed seriously is to reduce not the gaps among people but to reduce poverty. The obstacle of this discussion is a politician who wants to enlarge their influence by insisting on the reduction of the gaps. These politicians attempt to discount the very central issue, reducing poverty. This kind of illogical argument is widespread through mass media. It is required that the “conflict spirit” and the “conflict technique” to correctly evaluate the validity of the argument. Details of these notions are discussing in the later chapter.