Chapter 218
Elon Musk has announced the establishment of a new political party, the America Party. Musk is not the only businessman interested in politics; in Japan, politicians such as Yataro Iwasaki, Kounosuke Matsushita, and Kazuo Inamori have also tried to nurture them. Running a business allows them to see the trends of the world well, so they were probably interested in the country's policies. Musk has Asperger's syndrome, which is a self-proclaimed syndrome, so he has a strong tendency to stick to things. In running a company, it is essential to have a balanced income and expenditure, so he probably cannot tolerate an imbalanced national income and expenditure (lol). It is not that he is trying to use politics for business purposes out of self-interest, but rather that he is driven by the urge to correct the clearly wrong path. This brings us to the fundamental discussion of what is a good country, but the common understanding among businessmen is that a country must be economically balanced. Even if a country appears rich at first glance, it cannot tolerate a situation where it has large debts and could go bankrupt at any time. Trump is also a businessman, but there is a big difference between whether he has been successful as a businessman or not. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Trump is a type of person who is not good at balancing, having caused many businesses to go bankrupt. As a cabinet member, Musk probably intended to correct the balance of income and expenditure that was dependent on national bonds, rather than the Trump administration. He may also be considering running for president himself. Musk became the head of the Republican Trump administration's DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) about six months ago. He is a bit of a whim to change things up, but as you would expect, the actions of a genius cannot be judged by common sense. Although it is different from his original intention, he does not think about taking it easy and just waiting to see how things go. He takes action one after another on what he thinks is best at that time. It is probably a sign of his intention to become president himself in the future. Now, turning our attention to the domestic situation, the House of Councillors election has begun, but both the ruling and opposition parties are disappointed with low-level policies such as consumption tax cuts and handouts. Right now, the urgent issue is tariffs, but no matter how many times the prime minister or minister goes to the United States, it seems like a waste of time to go if there is no evidence to persuade them. Unless they use Trump-style honey traps or other dirty tactics, it won't be a negotiation. Depending on our way of thinking, a politician with many flaws in his backside may be easier to control than a hard-headed politician. There's nothing we can do about it because the Japanese politicians are hard-headed, but if the automobile industry continues to fail, Japan will be finished. The automobile industry is a huge industry with a product shipment value of USD 406 billion and an employment population of 5.58 million people (JAMA 2023). On the other hand, agriculture is only one-seventh, with an economic scale of USD 56.8 billion (total agricultural output in 2021) and an employment population of 1.11 million people (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website in 2024), and the gap will only widen due to farmer’s aging. If Trump complains that Japan doesn't buy rice, buy rice until Trump will be satisfied. The automobile industry have to pay 35% tariffs, and the additional tariff of 25% every year, which is USD101.6 billion, so why not buy rice or whatever until Trump is satisfied, rather than having it taken away as tax? It would be good if the automobile industry bought it, but if the country doesn't show that kind of attitude, the future of the LDP will be in jeopardy. A crisis is also an opportunity to show that they have a backbone. We need to act with enough force to astound the public.
How does Bodhidharma view Japanese politics?(Dharma dolls are popular as good luck charms during election campaigns in Japan)
June 7, 2025
The American Party and the Upper House Election
