> Western commentators will tell us that huge bloc of elders are an impossible burden on Japanese society.
It's only a certain type of ideological commentator, who also tend to insist on the contradiction that the burden of a growing number of elderly is unsustainable for the working age population, but that we are also all being automated out of our jobs.
What about that is a contradiction? Either through public services such as social security, or traditional family values (which are obviously strong in Japan), the elderly invariably become a burden on younger generations. On the most basic level, when the day comes that my father can no longer work for his food, he will pull from social resources and I will personally be responsible for his welfare. A healthy economic landscape is prepared to receive such a burden and cycle it indefinitely through the generations.
A population of elders with a disproportionately small pool of working-aged adults throws this balance out, and is obviously a threat. If you combine that with the fact that those few who are capable of working to support the older generation are without question losing their jobs to automation, I don't see how the combined effect isn't an obvious and looming threat.
When you say that those two things are a contradiction, are you suggesting that the commentator is incorrectly pointing out that this is a contradiction when it isn't, or are you saying that the commentator is mentioning these two things, and you yourself think they are a contradiction?
It's only a certain type of ideological commentator, who also tend to insist on the contradiction that the burden of a growing number of elderly is unsustainable for the working age population, but that we are also all being automated out of our jobs.