THIS IS CRUCIAL FELLAS: https://twitter.com/COLABorcbrand/status/918190928380260352 …
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When Perry reached Japan in 1854, Japan was incredibly backward relative to the USA and Europe.
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How could the people of Japan in the 1850s get that sort of prosperity for themselves?
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"Just move to USA/Europe" might've been the answer if the exchange had happened 150 years later. But it wasn't a choice at the time.
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This left two options: 1- "Just move" in reverse, with Western interests taking over and running Japan 2- "Build it here"
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Very fortunately for modern Japan, Meiji Japan took option 2
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If there had been massive emigration to the USA, Japan itself would have remained mired in poverty (like Sicily or Ireland did)
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With an influx of Western industries and officials, most of the resulting wealth would've been whisked out of the country (like in India)
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Instead, what happened was that Japan caught up with the West on its own terms, enriching its own people, developing its own capacities
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"Let's build it here, ourselves" not "let's invite people to come here and build it for us" or "let's go where it already exists"
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End of conversation
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