Japan has the most successful society in history.

I would actually much rather continue this with Pat as he has put forth a much more effective argument. First of all, I want to respond to the Master Debator's latest comment. Australia hasn't kept to itself at all. Yes it is more physically isolated than anywhere else, but they go hand in hand with Great Brittan. It was kind of settled in the same manor as America, and that is through the deportation of criminals. Brittan sent off a bunch of their criminals to Australia back in the 18th century. It didn't even become it's own nation until 1901 and still continues to have close ties with it's motherland. Take a look at the Australian flag. Australia is part of the commonwealth and has been involved in wars alongside Great Brittan since WWI. Though geographically separated from most of the world, Australia is very much involved in global affairs. Also, when you said that nobody has had less problems or conflicts throughout history, that is not only an unfair statement, but also irrelevant. Firstly, it is unfair because Australia is so young that it can't be compared to other countries in terms of who has had the most conflict. Or I could argue that the ratio between the length of existence and involvement in conflict shows Australia as being much worse off than Japan. (I'm not going to bother calculating it for you because I don't think you really care) So with that taken care of, I would like to respond to Pat's comments. First of all, I don't know what you mean by the world's most rapidly aging population, but they have the longest life expectancy in the world. (just google "which country has the longest life expectancy") If you meant to say that in conjunction with the fact that they have one of the lowest birth rates, meaning that the population as a whole is predominantly older, then yes. This brings us right into your second point that a low birth rate is bad for a society. This can be quite the opposite of the truth depending on the situation. As natural resources are diminishing, countries with high birth rates will fail as there will not be enough to go around. Japan has never had much in the way of natural resources, so a decreasing population can only be a good thing. As for the national debt being the highest globally, that is a problem that they'll have to figure out. My knowledge in economics is lacking so I won't try and argue that point. What I will say is that even though America has an arguably irrecoverable debt, it continues to press on. Also by definition of society (see http://dictionary.reference.com...), politics and economics aren't relevant to this conversation. My argument was that Japan has the most successful SOCIETY in history. This means that regardless of their government or debt, they will survive because of their social customs. Speaking of social customs, you also mentioned that Japan is unaccepting of foreigners. Explain to me why this is bad for a society? The most fitting definition for this situation is "a body of individuals living as members of a community", which means that outsiders are just that: not part of the community. Like I mentioned previously, Japan had thrived on a pure isolationist policy for hundreds of years. Obviously, being unaccepting of foreigners was good for the society. The statement regarding age discrimination is taken out of context, and again, not arguably bad for a society. Japan's society is strongly influenced by age. It's wage system in a lot of companies is based on age. This ties back into my statement regarding wisdom. Age translates into experience. The longer that one serves in a particular role, the more they can contribute to the organization. Thus, if someone is looking for a new job at 35, they are at a disadvantage in terms of experience. This also ties into your statement regarding suicides. This is something that America could benefit from. A majority of suicides in Japan are from the older population that does not wish to be a burden on their relatives. Basically, when you have outlived your purpose or are no longer productive, there isn't a reason for you to exist. In America, the old expect to be taken care of until they can possibly hang onto life any longer. This is particularly devastating to social services such as Social Security, which will be particularly draining due to the "Baby Boomers" all reaching retirement age. Again, this suicide of the elderly is a selfless practice that is performed for the good of the community. As for child pornography, that is a weak argument designed to evoke an emotional response that doesn't specifically tie into Japan at all so I'm going to ignore it. Again, I still hold firm that Japan has the most successful society in history and has the greatest chance of survival in the modern world. I'm not saying that it's the nicest or easiest to take part in, but that it is the most successful.