Re: [tlug] Looking for Summer Internship in Japan

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Benjamin Kowarsch writes:

 > I don't care what the motivation is, [age discrimination] is simply
 > wrong and evil and there cannot be any excuse for it ever.

This is a level of intolerance for Japanese culture that's quite
inappropriate on this list.  Note: I am neither a cultural relativist
nor a moral relativist, but to say that a society's long-established
practice is evil because it's not purely meritocratic is going way too
far.[1]

Let me just point out that until recently Japan had very low
unemployment and very high economic security precisely because of
"lifetime employment" and related practices.  That implies a certain
amount of inconvenience for those over 50 or so who want to change
jobs <gesture mode="raises hand" />, but is wonderfully comforting for
those who don't want to change jobs.

The fact that this system is slow to adapt to the post-bubble economy
is sad, and especially wrenching for the older workers who get
"restructured" and the new entrants who are relegated to the "haken"
system, but that doesn't make it "evil".