Definitions: "post-capitalist" = _transition_ towards socialism (not socialism itself); "subjective factor" = at bottom, "bolshevism"
>There is no nation in the world today for which socialism is more
>suitable than Japan. Her workers are productive & well educated; her
>civil servants are efficient; her middle strata are not as
>individualist as other nations'; her capitalists lack self-confidence
>unlike other rich nations'.
Yep, when you slip into the eye of the capitalist hurricane, the "subjective factor" becomes everything. The lack thereof is precisely what draws my attention. But I am quite ignorant of the details of the social terrain upon which the class battle may be fought - the character of this conjuncture has only recently caught my eye. But here is the Japan Institute of Labor (a State body) to start with: http://www.jil.go.jp/index-e.htm
>The problems are working-class
>fecklessness & absence of political leadership comparable to Lenin's,
Actually, the "security" relation with Washington is a big strategic problem even for a _capitalist_ Japan, let alone anything out of the post-capitalist (why doesn't anyone speak of that sort of Postality?) imagination. The fact is, Japans' geo-economic destiny is bound up with Asia much more than North America, especially with China, for whom it is the logical source for high-value, high-tech exports, of precisely the sort Washington would rather Beijing not have. The security relation in particular, and the US military presence in Asia in general, is _the_ single most important factor limiting the maneuver room of any conceivable Japanese state.
>plus the pesky questions of the U.S. military on the archipelago
A capitalist Japan would never dare put itself in this situation, as I've never tired to harangue and argue. But a post-capitalist Japan (leaving the exact definition to the Japanese working class, for the moment), could greatly attenuate these dangers by a combination of 1) close geopolitical/economic regional integration with the rest of East/South Asia; 2) avoiding war by continuation of "non-violent" (as opposed to "pacifist") self-defense in the "post world war" military epoch; and - most importantly, for its international dimension - 3) transform Japans' unique exposure to the world market into a transmitter of advanced post-capitalist social relations to other countries, closely coupled with the _opening up of Japan itself_ to "foreign", i.e., international labor power that equally benefits from those relations within Japan itself. Coupled with the liberation of the largely unrealized labor potential of Japanese women, two key pillars of reaction within Japan would be demolished: xenophobia and this particularly wasteful and socially destructive form of oppression of women. And finally, the "empty culture", instead of being a prettified trash can for everything from "the emperor" to capitalist "cultural" flotsam, would be a fount and channel for a new world culture.
In short, a Glorious Revolution for our time.
> &
>possibilities of capital flight & economic sanctions (which alone can
>wreak havoc for Japan is dependent on import of food & industrial
>inputs) should her workers rise up.
HOWEVER, my short-term perspective is much more modest. I will be happy if Japanese workers repel the impending assault in a defensive action similar to the magnificent struggle put up by French workers in the mid-90's (the transport/state sector strike), greatly slowing the impetus towards "Americanization" that everyone thought "inevitable" at the time. But it didn't reverse it. But it will at least prevent the situation from worsening qualitatively. Optimally, a reasonably successful outcome for the struggle might even begin the process of reversing the reactionary tide, on a world scale even.
-Brad Mayer