Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

In recent years, major train stations in Tokyo have been increasingly home to a new type of poster. Amidst ubiquitous ads for commercial products and services are government-issued notices encouraging citizens to look out for terrorist activities. Frequently highlighting scared citizens at the front and center, these posters call upon citizens to report to the local police on any sort of suspicious persons and activities, under various slogans that state that "preventing terrorism is the responsibility of all citizens." Highly trafficked train stations, as the posters imply, ought to be the focus of vigilant citizens.

As an avid reader of the Economist magazine, I often admire the publication's willingness to take a more pragmatic approach to advance a progressive agenda that it cherishes. The "progressive pragmatism" the magazine shows is on full display when it comes to the issue of international migration. On one hand, the Economist is unabashedly pro-migration, arguing that a freer movement of workers would greatly boost productivity and wealth in destination countries. But on the other hand, the magazine concedes that hostility toward migrants is a reality in the same destination countries, and new practical thinking is needed to appease the anti-migration crowd.

The elite in every country, first and foremost, is defined by money. Your normal middle-class person cannot fathom the amount of money a member of the elite has. It is not just about the ability to buy whatever material goods or services without having to worry about budgeting to not run out of money. Instead, there is so much money in their bank accounts that they can buy up entire companies, start brand-new ones, and pay to make governments and laws work for them so that they can continue to retain and increase the amount of their wealth across multiple generations.