Japan's (Unknown) Earthquake Superpower

[@spectacles-dm]

❓What do you think of the connection between democratic accountability and disaster performance? 📖 Alrich's book: shorturl.at/gzHNR 🗣Discord: discord.gg/VWcpybH683 😃Patreon: patreon.com/spectaclesmedia - CORRECTIONS - 👻 (for now…)

[@koharumi1]

Please include the standard units (aka metric) to help engage the international audience too.

[@thefolder3086]

Is Japan the worlds weirdest democracy really? As a Thai I can 100% confirm we have the same system if not even more , with the big tent system. Also, if ur interested feel free to ask me in the reply. As for “weirdest democracy”, Patron clan relationship is extremely common across Asia so if the system itself standard it’s not that weird, so I would personally give the title to places with both weird systems on paper and weird actual systems like Malaysia.

[@wyattcole5452]

Ah yes, Democracies are disaster proof. America hasn’t experienced any disasters in its entire history, only because it’s a democracy. Ancient Greece has kept its same government since it was created, because democracy is clearly the greatest government on the planet and anyone who have adopted democracy have never experienced anything bad happen internally

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

@spectacles-dm No offense, but you need to take this video down. This is a terrible interpretation on how ideology influences governmental policy. While ideology may certainly play a part in the nature of how a government responds to any issue, including natural and human disasters, your assumptions that democracies are less susceptible to corruption and mismanagement is not only patently false, but a smack in the face to those who live in democracies and have experienced the failures of a government to respond to a disaster firsthand. You bring up Morocco's government as an example of a non democratic country whose government's response to the quake was shoddy. Let's take a look at the United States, which is supposed to be a beacon of democratic thought and values, and their responses to natural disasters. Katrina- still haven't created policy to address the socioeconomic issues that persist over a decade later after the flooding in NO Hurricane Sandy- Still haven't created policy to address economic and structural issues in most coastal ciites since Maui Wildfires- Many people are still currently dispossessed in the island, and government response has been slow. What did democracy as an ideological concept fail in regards to these disasters, and how do you respond to nature of corruption that still persists in democratic state/federal governments that allows these failures to happen in the first place? I'd like to know why this wasn't included in your video as well, instead of a propaganda piece a la Todd Howard- "It just works" stuff.

[@keyaki5504]

As a Japanese, I can explain Japan's weird democracy from “Nemawashi (laying the groundwork)” culture. Nemawashi is to make decisions based on informal communication with all members. When choosing a restaurant to hold a party with colleagues, the organizer must informally and individually consult ALL members in advance. Even if the organizer has official power to decide on a venue, they must not make decisions by their preference. Sure, taking the majority votes is a better way, but sometimes it sounds violent and even dictatorial because there is no consideration for opponents. The organizer must show some consideration to opponents before making decisions. For example, for the next party, you can promise to give priority to the opponent’s preference. Nemawashi is democratic because you have to take up all member’s opinions, but it is not democratic because there is no open discussion and majority vote. This culture is also too costly. Decision-making in organizations is extremely slow, and companies also have to work long hours. Politicians sometimes engage in corruption to show consideration for opponents. Already many Japanese have recognized that this culture is inefficient and that open discussion and majority voting are becoming more necessary. However, in my personal experience, Nemawashi culture is still very effective for people with low language skills, such as young people and foreigners. They don’t talk in the conference room, but if I invite them for dinner after work, most of them start expressing their opinions, taking a lot of time. So, I am always struggling with this culture.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks so much for sharing! Very insightful. :)

[@ComradeCatpurrnicus]

Sounds like some odd civility politics. When using the example of what restaurant to eat at, it seems rather innocuous. What if it's about politics and some of people's views are far outside of reasonableness? I like to think society is better progressing away fascistic views, and we'd actually be much better off being intolerant of fascism. I'm also happy we no longer give credence and legitimacy, for the most part, to people and ideas as archaic and backwards as something like advocating for slavery. We're better off when people like that aren't even given a seat at the table or attention.

[@arthas640]

I kind wish the US was like that. Currnetly american democracy is "get a slight edge over the other side, do the opposite of what they want to punish them for opposing you, do whatever you want without giving any consideration to the losers for today you hold power over them".

[@Nostripe361]

This sounds good for getting ideas for formal discussion but after privately talking with the parties involved you really need to bring up their views in a public debate and have a public vote over the options

[@bzipoli]

​@@ComradeCatpurrnicusbut wild and extreme opinions are not really a japanese thing. its not like "social-democracy this week, but next week is fascism because we gotta give bob a chance. then its jerry with anarchism the week after". he said changes are slow and they are EXTREMELY slow even on corporate level. for government it takes decades for changes we would do in months in the west. people really outside the norm to get elected in japan in the first place is unusual. except not being cool with immigration. this is a non-issue in japan because it unites pretty much all sides. i'll show you an example of a reaction on an existential threat level: poland armed itself pretty quick and its still doing because of eastern europe threats they judge are to be met with. same with finland, or lets say sweden. japan spent the last 20 years deciding on these kind of matters and rearming and developing ever so slightly, just to relatively recently getting a boom of development and buildup. and the threat is china, with a war with taiwan around the corner. their neighboors. btw a war in which japan is meant to fight. for how many years have china being arming itself and fighting japan over those disputed islands in the south, not even including the taiwan ordeal? and this is an EXISTENTIAL LEVEL THREAT. now imagine with regular sh!t

[@mat60666]

Yes, we want a video about japanese democracy.

[@KnarfStein]

And its criminal "justice" system.

[@unitedfront9717]

Yes we do

[@adelalmohtaseb5261]

It's preaty good though@@KnarfStein

[@LoyalSage]

Yes

[@eruno_]

it's fascinating how LDP manages to always stay in power by just coopting ideas of opposition and engaging in backroom deals with major business, bureaucracy and agricultural sectors.

[@Aluminio_siete_tres_siete]

As a Chilean, one of the most seismic countries on earth, and one witch every kind of natural disaster is tragically common, It really hurts me that so many people have to die in Turkey or Moroco from quakes, Truly preventable disasters. For example, last tragically destructive quake in chile (8.8 richter 2010) was such a disaster in part because the government failed to recognize the tsunami risk and evacuate on time, 500 unnecessary deaths, but when the next mega quake hit chile (8.4 Richter 2015) lessons were learned and normality resumed for most of chile the Next day, Chilean building codes requiere sturdy buildings able to handle the crazy geography of the nation, and Chileans know what to do without being told, not fearing quakes is even a thing of national pride. Governments in known quake prone areas need to take action to protect his population, just like the Chilean and Japanese governments does, when so many people die, is not an unfortunate natural disaster but a very human disaster and the goverment is to blame.

[@Willys-Wagon]

I am not sure democracy is the lesson drawn here. Japan is one of if not the wealthiest country in Asia, with a long and rich history of overcoming natural disasters. Few if any could compare in terms of preparedness, in purpose built buildings, disaster and recovery panning, disaster management, emergency response etc. One only needs to look at Katrina to realise, democracy is not the defining character of disaster management. The examples and conclusions given in the video itself not entirely self consistent, under an uniformly distributed vertical power structure Iwate would have gotten the same cookie cutter deal as everyone else. Uniformity does not make every one better, it makes the exceptionally well managed impossible.

[@fungo6631]

Burgerstan is not the most democratic country.

[@chaosPneumatic]

Both China and the US are far more wealthy than Japan and in different ways less democratic. You might have a point about a nation's experience with disasters but governments typically have departments purpose built to research and analyze disaster threats and proper preparedness. I will bet you that all of them pay close attention to Japan's disaster responses as a model. In the case of Katrina, it is simply a result of the US's massive inequality, both economic and political. If it had happened in a mostly white city like Seattle, or a much wealthier city like NYC or LA, you better believe the response would have been much different. New Orleans is comparatively poorer and majority black and so Katrina is a perfect example of how the country is rotting under its majority white 1%. The media spun fake stories about mobs of minorities looting stores and consequently the city was sent riot police for non-existent riots instead of actual disaster relief. As for China, any quick research about the abuses of power regularly done by the CCP will show you how little they really care about their citizens beyond the party's loyal lapdogs. I wouldn't be surprised if the disaster relief was only sent just for international appearances' sake than any actual concern for the victims. Japan has it's own issues but its post-war record on human rights, government accountability, and democratic stability has outperformed many OECD countries, and far outperforms both the US and China in economic equality (see its GINI coeficient compared other nations.)

[@seashellbeesaveres7951]

My thoughts exactly

[@arthas640]

​@@fungo6631and who claimed that?

[@punishedgloyperstormtroope8098]

@@chaosPneumaticjapan is more homogeneous and has closer community ties that’s why Japan deals with disaster better

[@timothytumusiime2903]

Why Japan has the World's Weirdest Democracy sounds interesting

[@PerryKobalt]

LDP one party state for 80 hell of the year Sounds like they are More 1 party state democracy they keep waiting for some reason

[@gregoryturk1275]

It’s a political machine. If you want to know more you should read the book Shadow Shoguns.

[@dino.niichan1991]

​@@PerryKobalti think this form of democracy has to do with the culture. Also, the Japanese prefer that over the American one. That's because they often consider the American democracy as chaotic and diversified, therefore very unpredictable and way too out of control.

[@misterx1342]

@@dino.niichan1991Japanese people especially under 30s just don’t vote

[@dino.niichan1991]

@@misterx1342 that's their choice, that's how it runs in the country...

[@adilachahbar3154]

You have no idea the amount of corruption in politics in Japan You have to see how many ministers worked for Japanese companies, then became ministers in the Japanese government, and then they passed laws in favor of those companies that they were working for. Especially since these companies push them towards politics If that's not corruption, I don't know what you call it. In terms of Japanese earthquake-resistant buildings, you are right Morocco should start building earthquake-resistant buildings, especially here in northern Morocco. There are 2 earthquakes every month. That's very annoying and very scary

[@Lucas_Antar]

In America companies use lobbyists to give "donations" to politicians and many of our politicians worked for corporations or owned them like Trump. It's not uncommon for democracies to be ran by the richest people ever since Athens.

[@chaosPneumatic]

Wealthy busnessmen and trust-fund babies know how to play politics, This is inescapable in a democracy. Japan still outranks most other countries in terms of stability, civil liberties, and the electoral process.

[@CanisVindicate]

???? Do you live in Planet Earth? That’s literally how every single country in the world works, The modern democratic system literally started by giving different interest groups they’re on political parties so they could have a say on the way the government works The Church, The Liberal Economists, The big companies behind Oil and Car Manufacturing, The monopolies behind entertainment media like Disney, They all have an insane amount of power and influence on the decisions and laws passed by the government, That’s just how it works

[@bachvandals3259]

I dont know wtf does "democracy" have to do any of these... Kyoto building have been earthquakes proof since the edo era... Shogunate's Japan i am sure is not known for it's love for "democracy"

[@adlerzwei]

That's the thing. Democracies can survive still advance despite corruption.

[@GustavEule]

An video about the japanese democracy sounds very interesting. I would love to hear about it.

[@chunchunmaru3644]

Too inconclusive and too ideological. Natural disasters are too context heavy to adhere to such simplistic views, if we compare the resources available to japan, and their preparedness to countries that: 1-Have rougher geographies in the affected area (much more mountainous and inland). 2-Have magnitudes less amounts of resources. 3-Have remote villages made of mudhouses (no building code is respected due to 2). 4-Are not aware of the seismic risk. 5-Access to the remote villages is blocked by rockslides due to 1. etc... We can see that it is much harder to coordinate a rescue effort, but all things said, Morocco did a great job with all the available resources and human capital, and didn't even need much foreign aid. Also morocco already made a financial relief effort for the all the people affected by the disaster and is already planning on the rebuilding phase, this time considering the seismic risks. Overall, even though it was a tragedy, it was a well managed one, especially considering how poor the country is. It feels like you just exploited this tragedy for more clout, putting a negative view on the thumbnail while quickly adding an ignorant comment in the middle of the video to not be technically clickbait, you should consider respecting the dead.

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

agreed. This is a video someone would make as a freshman political science student and fail in class with.

[@chunchunmaru3644]

@@PropagandaInc.-te7yv very weak thesis, doesn't control for other variables other than "democracy", so in other words unsubstantiated methodology. Can't see how he thought it's a good idea to release this video, other than to milk the Moroccan tragedy.

[@Achraf-AA]

I thought that you'll cite morocco as the exception to the rule, but unfortunately, you've chosen the easiest path of using clichés about "middle eastern" countries, and comparing traditional rural millennial houses to Japanese antisesmic buildings ... Hope you'll take more time to check your facts in the future. You were doing so fine before this one.

[@cjmoss51]

Definitely want a video about why Japan is the world's weirdest Democracy. I was kinda hooked to the channel after your last video on that Church and Abe's assassin.

[@Harsooo]

I was expecting you to have about 300-600k subscribers after watching this, and was surprised when I actually looked at the current amount; great visual storytelling and analysis, please keep it up!

[@crbielert]

Ya, well spoken, interesting subject matter, and very good production value!

[@videosplus7750]

Great visual storytelling but lacks critical thinking and full of innacurate info.

[@Rocco_loco]

one major fact that you failed to mention is that the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake and the Moroccan one were inland rather than the case with Japan where it was in the sea

[@baha3alshamari152]

Also the rate of earthquakes in Morocco is once per century while in Japan once per 5 years

[@naamloos5535]

@@baha3alshamari152Morocco has had many earthquakes in the last century tho

[@TH-lu9du]

@@baha3alshamari152 Japan has far more than one earthquake every 5 years. Also, wikipedia states 20k casualties, not 200. I have no idea what this KZbin video is talking about. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

[@kamaltorabi774]

@@baha3alshamari152 For the Kingdom of Morocco , the powerful earthquake rate is once per 20 to 25 years .

[@lu881]

It's actually not that democracies are better at handling natural disasters, it's that authoritarian countries are more easily prone to corruption than democracies are. The efficiency of an authoritarian state however depends on the person ruling over the country, and how he uses his power. I mean Singapore is an authoritarian nation and is prosperous and stable, but only because Lee Kuan Yu knew what he doing, and him getting elected out of power because of something he said that offended people for example wasn't something he probably would've loved, as it would've been too destabilising. Authoritarian governments especially that of China is more efficient than the US. If China needs a new railway it will happen. But try to build one in California, and it takes years because some freedom loving American decided to sue.

[@gabbar51ngh]

Singapore is a city state. You can never expect same level of efficiency in China or USA which is much bigger nation. On top of that China's authoritarianism also calls in other problems since due to their single party state there's no checks and balances. Terrible policies are also quickly implemented without any oversight in China.

[@lu881]

@@gabbar51ngh that's why I said that authoritarian states are more prone to corruption in the first paragraph. Singapore being a city state has nothing to do with its efficiency. The comparison was political systems. There are plenty of small nations that are democratic -like Nauru fir example, who were once a rich little island nation, but because they had a bad leadership in their democracy, they have failed and become poor. Singapore succeeds because the right leader is leading their one party state.

[@gabbar51ngh]

@@lu881 It's simply far more easier to run a small city state as compared to a vast nation like China or USA. Lee Kuan Yew himself stated that. Sure, there are other similarly smaller nations which didn't make it but that doesn't negate you can't make large nations run like Singapore verbatim. Political systems get affected by the size of the nation too. Democracy is far more effective on smaller scale. That's why nations like Switzerland can getaway with direct democracy, not feasible in US, China or India. That's what I was getting at.

[@mhadimoh]

As a moroccan i can say that the last chapter about "AL HAOUZ EARTHQUAKE" was wrong, Because : ✓The buildings in that area in built centuries ago, like all house in morocco. We have some neiborhouds in Marrakech and fes and taroudant build 1000 years ago. ✓The gouvenment didn't fail no one. And, the gouvernment just announce a plan to reconstruct 50k house in the areas affected by the earthquake ✓In morocco we have a lot of solidarity between us as poeple. Thats why everybody helpd with what they can.

[@YoussefAzaroual]

He won't listen, he already had his idea set and done! This kind of people are useless to argue with, he sounds like the french media, if not copy/past what they said about us, ignoring everything else, most importantly IGNORING THE TRUTH

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

You're not incorrect. This video has a lot of problems and desperately needs to be fixed.

[@justmeddling]

'The government didn't fail no one" STFU

[@DavidBrain-w2h]

Very interested in the oddball Japanese democracy topic

[@bigiron9334]

I would love to here about Japan's government

[@charlesbrain6220]

Does it count as following the advice if you know your neighbors but hate them?

[@spectacles-dm]

technically correct is the best kind of correct

[@BioluminescentTree]

How is the earthquake in China comparable to the one in Japan when the epicentre in the latter was in the sea??

[@poodlegod7162]

Because he wasn’t comparing earthquakes. Instead he was comparing the responses to natural disasters from the respective governments.

[@herp_derpingson]

3:25 Most people who died were old because most people were old. PLOT. 👏THAT. 👏BELL.👏 CURVE. 👏

[@lordwind9745]

An area 20x the population has a vastly different cityscape, a city with lots of apartment buildings will naturally be more vulnerable compared to a city with sprawling suburban developments that are only a few stories tall. I feel like it’s also unsuitable to draw conclusions with only two instances of earthquake, especially since Sichuan was one of the most deadliest ones in China off the top of my head, they could be statistical outliers . Ignoring all the other factors, could the lack of strong building codes not simply be due to China not being as earthquake prone and being considerably poorer proportionately to Japan? I wouldn’t expect most poorer countries to have strong building codes, especially compared to Japan, which specifically build for earthquakes. If India suffered a similarly deadly earthquake, would it be fair to attribute also the deaths to their government system?

[@Var_]

Agreed, video was fun but it didn't feel like the conclusion was sufficiently supported.

[@serebii666]

1. The area affected, Sichuan has an averaged density of 170 people/km2, for the region affected in Japan, that density was 120 people/km2. So despite having only 1.4x on average more people and an earthquake that was 10x weaker, they managed that staggering death toll. The mentioned schools were exactly 1 storey low buildings, not high-rises. In general most of the buildings there were midrises of a few storeys along with many low rise buildings. The Sichuan earthquake also caused lots of landslides which killed many of those people - but that is again a failure of government allowing construction in those very dangerous zones, with no reinforcement or berming. 2. While incredibly deadly, that region experiences earthquakes very frequently. Just 2 years later, the 2010 Yushu earthquake, which was even weaker at 6.9, killed over 2000 people. To compare another earlier time period, the 7.6 1976 Tangshan earthquake killed at least 242,000 people. Compare to Japan's 7.8 1978 Miyagi earthquake that killed just 28. Or take the 7.3 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake who's epicenter was right under Kobe. That killed 6,434 people for an urban density of 560 people/km2. The 2008 Sichuan quake just in Deyang killed 17,121, which had a comparable urban density of 590 people/km2. And Kobe was the catalyst for severe building code reform, before which Japan had not updated it's codes since WW2. 3. China literally is similarly earthquake prone. The Himalayas are literally growing due to the plate tectonics. Especially Sichuan, which lies directly on top of the Longmenshan Thrust Fault 4. The failure of not implementing strong building codes, especially when having experience with the issue, as the government itself was embarking on centralized urbanization scheme literally betrays the unaccountability of the regime. Strong building codes are literally just basic longterm planning mechanisms. China had (and continues to have little regulation) exactly because it does not affect anyone important. Moreover, most of China's cities cityscapes have been built up only in the past 3-4 decades. It is unthinkable then, that they did not implement even basic building codes to prevent even a fraction of these deaths, especially since so much of the Chinese economy is based in construction and government stimulated infrastructure projects, so capital was not a significant limiter. 5. India is notorious for their level of corruption and mismanagement and inability to reform (compare them even to China in 1990). India literally operates on an incredibly tribal organization, with unequally distributed accountability (which is why the South is so much wealthier than the North). So your point is not only moot, it actually supports the thesis of the video.

[@lordwind9745]

@@serebii666 In the first point, you’re using the overall density of the entire Sichuan region, there’s no way an earthquake 10x weaker affected 20x the people if the densities were that close. It’s obvious the Sichuan earthquake hit much closer to the population centre, looking at a map, it’s clear that it was right next to the capital Chengdu, which had an urban population of over 7 million people in 2008, I’m very confident such a large city isn’t made of of only mid-rises, and if the main deaths were from mid-rises, then clearly the larger apartments were built to withstand it. However, I’m not here to dispute that China had a higher death rate in earthquakes I was criticising the video by pointing out there were some leaps made in their argument in extrapolating death rate versus population. Your second and third points are statistics, and I will take your word for it. For the fourth point, this brings me back to China being relatively poor. Disasters simply hit poor regions harder because they can’t afford to make all the buildings to such a high quality, as they’d go bankrupt before even half the necessary housing is complete. It’s not good by any means but it’s just a fact of life that poor people need to make do with less otherwise they don’t have anything. To your fifth point, the conclusion he reached was that democracies innately handle disasters better, I was making a point that there are way more factors at play by bringing up India. I think the factors you brought up support my point rather than oppose them.

[@serebii666]

@@lordwind9745 Are you literally ignoring half of the data presented? I literally went over the individual death tolls per provincial level. You are also forgetting that the 2011 earthquake directly struck off next to Sendai, and Sendai had a density of over 1.400, which surpassed the worst affected 2008 prefecture of Mianyang (density of 240 ) where 21963 people died. So no, the only "obvious" thing here was the fact that China's building practices were/are criminally negligent. "Disasters simply hit poor regions harder because they can’t afford" Again no. Sichuan was literally among China's first special economic zones, where capital and investment was funneled to develop the state capitalist economy and competitiveness. That was already in 1978, when Deng took power. This area literally was flush with cash as the central government pumped it to spur development (the most famous of which is the Three Gorges Dam). Which again brings me to the point that most Chinese urban zones are VERY young. There absolutely was opportunity to build "right" from the outset, considering the time frame and investment. Even today the province is the richest in Western China and in GRP is wealthier than the GDP of Turkey, for a similar population. So, no trying to hide behind "poor China can't afford to not let its people it's people die" is an awful argument considering the decades of planning and developments that preceded this event. As for India, sure lets wait for their next big earthquake. The last I saw of that similar magnitude that hit them was the 1988 Myanmar-India earthquake at 7.3 but only 3 died in India because it was remote. India is itself in a difficult position to be able to label as even for a federal system it functions very differently and asymmetrically from any other democracy. Fundamentally, Indian democracy exists because it exists - there has been no challenger capable of usurping the already misfunctioning system for the whole country, and with it being semi-detached from its various states. The lack of accountability from voting (as opponents and few and far between) is exactly why the system has given rise to political dynasties who are able to remain in power based on nepotism rather than merit - which however lead to an ourobourous of stability making detachment more difficult, especially in the face of a lack of party organization especially at local level. The bigger question here is whether India should be called a democracy at all considering single-party rule has been characteristic since the 1990s. So no. If you think the points I brought up serve your arguments, then you have not read what I wrote.

[@lordwind9745]

@@serebii666 for you first paragraph, I literally wrote that I’ll take your word for the statistics in 2 and 3. I was disputing 1 because you were saying the two regions had a similar density, so their cityscape should be similar, which is wrong because you were considering the overall density of the entire province and not that it went off right next to the population centre, which is why it affected 20x more people. There is no way that a 7+ million person city has a similar cityscape to cities in the countryside with a few hundred thousand people. Second paragraph, I don’t doubt the area was flush with investment, but the government doesn’t build housing, developers and small construction companies do, they don’t instantly get richer and can afford to build better because they get paid by the home buyers, not the government. That’s also besides the point, My argument was that China being poorer than Japan is a factor, which is still true if you only compare Sichuan and Japan. It doesn’t mean it’s the entire reason but are you claiming it wasn’t a factor at all? Third paragraph, my argument was that democracy doesn’t guarantee better response to disasters because of a lot of other possible factors, and India is widely considered more democratic than China, so by the logic of the video India should have better standards than China. Corruption would fall under the "other possible factors" category. If you want to argue that India isn't more democratic than China that's alright, but that's not related to my point. My point isn't even that the video is wrong, maybe democracies are better than other systems in disasters. My point is only that the evidence the video maker has put forth is lacking to defend their position.

[@Gleifel]

7:47 ok this is true but the time of the earthquake was one of the rare episodes of a non-LDP government (main ruling party of Japan). The LDP did, however, have a large part in allowing the issues to build up before the DPJ. They effectively made a mess and left it at the doorstep of the DPJ to fix, when they got the slag for the mess the party literally just collapsed.

[@gregboi183]

Seems like cashing in on a recent tragedy to get a popular video and some western propaganda based on anecdotes and theories

[@crishhari5903]

How could you forget a very important factor? Development of the country is very important since a richer country can affort higher regulation and better building standards. 2008 China was a poor country and the inner part like Sichuan was ever poorer compared to the rapidly developing coastal cities. 2011 Japan was a very rich and well developed country which was challenging US technologically only a decade earlier. Additionaly, Japan is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, most earthquake prone region so they put in additional measures to protect building. You also forgot to mention epicenter of Sichuan earthquake was in the land compared to the sea in Japan. Because of that, even if the richter scale Japan faced was 9.1, Sichuan earthquake was much more damaging at 8 because of the location of epicenter. I also don't understand why you ignored population density since it's clearly matters. Why take a political twist at the end, trying to blame political system for level of natural disaster is not logical. Blaming the compitance of government is one thing, but blaming the system of govenment is just stupid. Natural disaster and resulting death toll is mostly based on science and economical reality. Most countries in the world cannot afford to build earthquake resistant building like Japan can because they lack the funds and expertise. I don't think being democratic suddenly stops building from collasping during an earthquake. Accountability is also very difficult when the cause is a natural disaster. You can always blame some as a fail guy to give people some sense of justice. But real accountability is how the disaster response and relief is handled, not putting a fail guy in prison.

[@mokhtaramran7041]

True that!

[@alexanderl.6207]

This video is a very liberal way of thinking

[@enigma6682]

And do you think why Japan is richer and more developed in the first place? That's right, democracy.

[@crishhari5903]

@@enigma6682 If you think democracy makes a country rich then why is the biggest democracy in the world, India poor than China? Japan learned the fastest way to get rich when it wasn't even a democracy which is c called industrialization. Industralization happened in a period called Meiji restoration (military dictatorship), not when Japan became democractic. After WW2, Japan had to do what it had already done and learned in the past. US also assisted massively in the early stage and later US opened it's biggest market for Japanese goods, helping Japan sell it's excess production in a profitable price, i.e. until Plaza Accord. FYI, Japan has been ruled by LDP ( Liberal Democratic Party) after WW2, except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. Not a healthy democratic system when one party is so dominate. Similar to Singapore, one paper it's democracy but in practice, a lot of irregularities are present. There are many factors that leads to a countries becoming richer, too many in fact. If just turning into a democratic system was the answer, there would be little suffering in the world.

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

@enigma6682 I fucking hate people who utilize democracy as a duct tape for government. Democracy is not some catch all term people can throw around and say 'yes this is how government works'. Just because everyone is voting does not mean that the government will have a proper response to natural disasters, let along having a functioning economy. T You don't need to be democratic to have a robust economy- look at Nazi Germany pre WWII. If all a government had to do was ensure that everyone voted to keep a government going, we would have absolutely no problems in most democratic countries. But, given the response by the United States to certain natural disasters, I don't think that's true at all.

[@lizcat3767]

Makes me wish we saw more about the importance of community in disaster recovery in Shin Godzilla. It drew a lot of imagery from the earthquake, wave, and nuclear meltdown, but didn't give a lot of focus on civilian response.

[@hahaha01357]

Did you re-upload this and change the thumbnail from China to Morroco?

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

Morocco's response to the earthquake was fast and good actually. The social response was also fast and good. To explain while the government did take the role of opening roads and providing rescue teams (by airdropping the teams was used) and air assistance. The NGO and volunteers did take the role of assisting the population that was reached by the rescue team and logistic team. For even remote area the The buildings that did crumble are very old and in rural areas. The modern building did not because the building code after the 1960 earthquake in Agadir was changed. Now the government is taking over the role of the NGOs which are now fading, as you said in the video. Even the foreign rescue teams were disappointed because there was no additional help to give other than the moroccan all ready done.

[@omar-hy3th]

He didn't even talk about Morocco in the video.

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

@@omar-hy3th In the end he did

[@omar-hy3th]

@@ilyasbouriaz1767 lol for like 60 seconds

[@naamloos5535]

@@omar-hy3thso? 60 or 6 seconds he still did

[@Propants]

its not democracy why places survive but because of the lack of corruption

[@aluisious]

"How Japan solved earthquakes" is a stupid title when 20 thousand people died and nuclear reactor melted down recently.

[@dabb8145]

0:41 Fun Fact: we dont know exactly how strong the 1960 Valdivia's earthquake in Chile was. The instrument used to measure the intensity just broke, cuz the limit of that shit was only 9.5

[@yassineberrada4419]

Hi Spectacles, I just saw your video and I was frankly appalled by your claims that the Moroccan government response was "miserable". As a Moroccan and doctor who has many colleagues who went to help on the ground, I have a clear overview of what's happening and what you're saying couldn't be far from the truth. I even googled articles mentioning protests and anger towards the handling of the situation, I haven't found any. On the contrary, there's a massive wave of solidarity and the response from the government has been efficient. Plus you should note that the earthquake mostly damaged remote and hard to reach communities, and you're talking about a country that does not have Japan's infrastructure... Using Morocco's earthquake out of context just to make your point and without sources shows a huge lack of subtlety and nuance...

[@omar-hy3th]

He didn't even talk about Morocco in this video..

[@jamadir]

Denying international help because of petty politics...

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

somebody didn't watch the whole video @@omar-hy3th

[@sashkynok5757]

@@omar-hy3thyeah came to the comments to say that. Isn’t that clickbait?

[@mirkojevtic988]

Japan has earthquakes every day. Because of that, they are the only country that builds for earthquakes of that scale and could do this. It has nothing to do with their democracy. Furthermore, they are much richer per capita than China, making your points very weak. To prove the hypothesis, look out for democracies that didn't prove disaster-proof. When I try to find any evidence in my knowledge, I think about Serbian buildings and what would happen if a strong earthquake struck here. I'm certain that ugly socialist buildings which used strong materials even when completely unnecessary, would outlast all the buildings from the capitalist democracy period, where capitalists stand to gain by avoiding regulation or doing just enough to pass them.

[@adelalmohtaseb5261]

I would love to see about Japan's one party system

[@treefarm3288]

Good video. I suffered from a powerful tropical cyclone in Queensland, Australia in 2006. The following day the Prime Minister and state Premier together said, 'This will be different from Hurricane Katrina, ' and it was.

[@diegogalvan1110]

Makes sense. Interesting how Chile is also somewhat inmune to this strong earthquakes.... and is not as wealthy or developed as Japan. But still somewhat wealthy and a democracy.

[@robertwest6350]

Can we talk about how Mr.Tanaka accepted his fate like a MF BOSS!

[@ayandas874]

I think this is a bullshit premise, and you used only 2 data points.

[@oscarpistorius3710]

Hey man, big fan of your videos. I just noticed you changed the thumbnail to the one with Morocco and felt that was kind of cold. It hasnt even been a month, and many thousands of people died. It just seems kind of flippant and disrespectful to have a little graphic contrasting them with japan so soon afterwards, and especially one which portrays them as less capable. The thumbnail you had earlier with China was fine, so why change it? No hate intended. I think the video itself is great, and i really enjoyed it. Just think the current thumbnail is a bit too soon.

[@spectacles-dm]

Your feedback is appreciated. I recognize your username. The original thumb had morocco, then we changed to China, then we changed back. We do discuss the event in the conclusion, and it is the most relevant current benchmark for a lot of people. But we will consider feedback like this moving forward as we continue to experiment with the thumbnail and title. Thanks.

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

because liberal propaganda matters more than actually making a video where you cite your sources and take the time to explain your claims, apparently.

[@koharumi1]

I want to hear about How Japan democracy was eroded from a fledgling democracy during the 1910s and transformed into the absolute military authoritarian society in the mid 1920s. I feel it is becoming increasingly relevant as democracies around the world are threatening to slide into. The vid eo "Imperial Japan the fall of democracy" does this but unfortunately they haven't continued the series. So hoping that someone else will pick it up. [(This was known as the Taisho democracy lasting from 1912-1926) (the emperor during this time had neurological problems so couldn't govern, plus the emperor had already been a figurehead for centuries before)]

[@punishedgloyperstormtroope8098]

Democracy is bad and removes freedom from the people and hands power into a small group of elites

[@donaldbrain2722]

Another timely and well produced video. Very informative.

[@kennethbrian806]

With Japan's Democracy mentioned, how about Singapore's as well? Both look quite interesting from the lens of a neighbor.

[@fungo6631]

Singapore's democracy is more like Orban's Hungary democracy, but with more competent leadership.

[@gymboo1st]

Nasty move to talk about Morocco earthquake that way just to prove your opinion about democracy, let me teach you the things you don't know! 1. The earthquake happened in a 2000m+ area, and the roads was blocked by thousands of huge rocks (can reach 60 Tones) that felled from mountains which slows down the rescue forces. 2. The earthquake area is 67 sq km (same size of Ireland) and it's all just mountains of Atlas (The biggest in north Africa that reach 3,660 meters) 3. Some buildings on this area are 1000 years old, and the new buildings didn't fall. in that said, you cannot underestimate the efforts of Moroccans to reduce earthquake victims while you know nothing about the Circumstances of the incident just for some views. get them in a clean way!

[@i_am_a_toast_of_french]

he also completely ignored the fact that japan experienced relatively small impacts from the earthquake because the earthquake happened far out at sea

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

It really seems like this person wanted to push propaganda about democracy without understanding that ideology is not the only part in how a government & people respond to a disaster. Like, this is a genuinely bad video- not because of the top tier editing, but because of the need to embellish and outright make a false claim about ideology that barely has to do with the nature of governmental response to disasters.

[@sebastianganovich8865]

I think your focus on the political system is a bit misguided. Sure, having an autocracy where politicians aren't held responsible doesn't help, but what's more important is that Japan has an extreme "Safety First" culture. To the point where, when they have a tiny roadside construction in a back alley where one guy digs a two foot hole, they will hire 3 guys to stand around him to guide pedestrians safely around this "hazard". And for obvious reasons they take earthquakes even more serious. So it's not that the politicians are just afraid to lose face, people on all levels and of all professions are deeply concerned with safety. (Except bicycles - they have zero safety concerns as soon as they sit on a bicycle).

[@towrofterra]

Why did you not use "Coastal Town"'s real name?

[@afterhourscinema782]

It's amazing what society could achieve if we looked out for each other

[@tanyushing2494]

Btw the ruling government during the tsunami was the DPP, not the LDP. So your argument kind of falls apart.

[@bladepeterson778]

What a fascinating way to describe links in society. Vertical and horizontal. The two disaster's highlight how both are needed in these kinds of situations. Democracies can handle these things better because those in charge are accountable to the people they serve. If they fail their people (vertical tie) they will likely vote against them in the next election. Also yes! Most certainly a video about Japan's democracy. I've heard a bit about Japan is effectively a 1 party state, yet is one of the best democracies around the world. At face value those two things would seemingly contradict each other.

[@spectacles-dm]

Glad you liked the video, Blade. Many have responded well to the topic, so we'll likely be on it soon!

[@Reilly-Maresca]

The concepts of vertical and horizontal integration are key to understanding Emergency Management, and I'd recommend you give them a closer look.

[@Mirifaw_Akukazi_icici]

As a Moroccan, I can't deny the fact the this earthquake were to take the lives of max 50 people instead of the 3000 actual victims. People can't fathom how very bad and very fragile houses these villages houses are, made out of mud centuries ago most of times because of extreme poverty.. and in these villages near Marrakech it's not allowed for the locals to build with cement and bricks because tourists love the clay houses.. of course the majority can't afford it anyway, but it still shows how the solely responsible aka the monarch and his pawnies government see the citizens as human zoo so the western tourists guarantee a pleasant stay ... not to mention the monarch is the 5th richest ruler in the world, yet gdp per capita is 3000$.. 3K I feel so ashamed of this fact... however the people especially the boomers love the monarch to the point of idolising

[@ZiyadAl-Atherah]

Oh man that sucks, I really hope things get better one day, love from Palestinian ❤

[@onlyahuman493]

You forget that Government proposed several years ago to rebuild those villages but the inhabitants refused , it's THEIR culture to build their houses with their hands and those are very difficult areas to access so even if the government want to enforce its regulations it's not guaranteed ! You also forget another thing , Morocco is facing existential threats because of the Sahara issue and was blocked by its hostile neighbors since its independence ( Spain in the north and the west , Algeria in the east and then hostile Mauritania in the South ) , the country was literally in war from 1976 to 1991 from a front heavily equipped with arms from the Libyens , the Algerians , the vietnamese, the Cuban and the USSR and was heavily financed to promote itself internationally even in the Arab world Morocco didn't had allies except Gulf countries . Without having a monarch we could ceased to exist in that hostile environment , so let's stop reacting emotionally and understand what's going on rationally because blaming governments is easy

[@Mirifaw_Akukazi_icici]

@@onlyahuman493 I don't blame the government because simply it doesn't exist. I blame the monarchy first and last. Sahara issue was caused by another monarch، however I'm not a Saharawi so i really don't give a f*ck about the subject anyway. Well I know many countries that had wars even in the 20s and still have stronger economies. Another point is that all these 4 neighbour countries have absolutely fine relationships with all of their other neighbors.. i mean if all your neighbours got a problem solely with you . Logically you're the problem, the finest example is Israel .. and you have to be sooo pathetically stupid if you thought gulf countries are you friends... we're talking about ridiculously wealthy countries befriending a 3K $ per capita country!!!!! Maybe Spain with an economy of 1500B $ is also a friend of 130B $ economy!!!! مكتشوفش شحال حنا فوقارااا؟؟؟ و الملك و رباعتو بوحدهم لي دايرين الصرف

[@onlyahuman493]

@@Mirifaw_Akukazi_icici Nope sorry , I disagree . First , Countries don't friended others based on their GDP that's stupid and unrealistic and those Gulf countries are friends and real ones ! Secondly, if we wanna have a fair judgement we should consider things in their historical contexts and don't forget Sahara issue is a result of European imperialism in the 19th not the monarchy and I think before any fair judgement regarding the monarchy or the state in general we should consider the huge cost of this cause on every level including economy...the proof of what I'm saying is that immediately after ending the war in 1991 , negotiations started with the progressive opposition in the year that followed to form a government . What I'm trying to say here is that the country have some kind of democracy but it can't go further without resolving this Sahara conflict and it's not related to the monarchy , like even if we have a republic we won't go further unless resolving that issue in particular ! Hope it's clear

[@Mirifaw_Akukazi_icici]

@@onlyahuman493 I highly disagree dude. Not everything is caused by western İmperialism.. you believe sahara issue is what holding back our economy.. maybe it is. Anyway if so, then Morocco is suffering from moroccan imperialism!! And gulf countries take Morocco as a joke basically btw

[@zinjanthropus322]

Japan has millenia of history of recovering from disaster and just a few decades of democracy.

[@Mulambdaline1]

What a beautiful story of survival you started this video with. I was praying he would make it!

[@confusedbud]

Another very, very good video! The production quality is amazing, you deserve way more viewers and subscribers.

[@corwintipper7317]

What are the US's failiures to address Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy from?

[@PropagandaInc.-te7yv]

I guess when Western countries do it, it's just collateral damage.

[@bunderlemu7802]

It is the Japanese we are talking about. With their standards of building and manufacturing things, I'd be surprised if they *don't* fare well against mother nature.

[@thischannel4326]

Actually at least 667 died from the earthquake not 200.

[@TheFilmFatale]

This is a good thesis. I know there’s a limited amount one can perform with a small team but this could be double the length which is definitely a compliment …but still a little frustrating

[@eruno_]

Importance of Japanese social media during these events should also be highlighted.

[@BigBoiiLeem]

Very interesting video and thesis. Worth mentioning that earthquakes cannot solely be compared by magnitude. While it is certainly very helpful for visualising the difference between earthquakes; depth, distance, duration, and the type of earthquake are also extremely important for really understanding what an earthquake can do. Take the comparison made in the video, the Tohoku quake had an epicentre way out to sea, far from civilisation, and while it is considered "shallow" on a plate tectonics scale, it had a focal point of 32km below the sea floor. On the other hand, the Sichuan earthquake had a focal point of around 10-12km below the surface, and was only 80km from the provincial capital. Another example would be the Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand, the first of the two major quakes was quite a bit stronger, and yet, it is the second earthquake that is remembered for destruction and fatalities, because it happened much closer to the surface and much closer to inhabited areas. While the moment magnitude scale is helpful, it literally only describes the intensity of an earthquake at its very peak (i.e., the *moment* of greatest intensity).

[@Umu_Eri]

If your gonna take a look at the japanese democracy could you make it a series detailing different democracies? I really want to learn about the swiss form of democracy

[@catherineashley8361]

Another top-notch video! Keep it up!!

[@dairebulson7122]

I mean, Morocco is essentially a "democracy" by most standards. The country is a constitutional monarchy with a diverse multiparty electoral system. A deeply-flawed democracy, yes, and I don't even want to begin with Morocco's oppressive and unjust occupation of Western Sahara (or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic SADR). But Morocco is very close to Ukraine on the Democracy Index, for example, and most people seem to feel that Ukraine is a democracy- by that standard at least, Morocco should be considered one too.

[@onlyahuman493]

Morocco didn't occupy the Sahara , it's a Moroccan territory

[@ai_art_director]

@@onlyahuman493 cope

[@onlyahuman493]

@@ai_art_director that's the truth . It was and it is and always it will be

[@student_initiative4926]

We have to remember that the japanese government had a different party, the Democratic Party of Japan, leading the recovery. Their response, arguably, saved Japan from the worst of the disaster. Fukushima for example was predicted to make tokyo metro area unliveable, but people still live normally.

[@JHayler7]

So did 18000 people die mainly from the tsunami or 200 ?

[@spectacles-dm]

200 died in the 9.1M earthquake. ~18k people died in the resulting tsunami. China didn't experience a knock-on event like the tsunami, so to include that in the comparison would be apples to oranges

[@Muenni]

@@spectacles-dm Would more than 200 have died from the consequences of the earthquake though if there hadn't been a subsequent tsunami? I assume anyone that would have died trapped in a collapsed building even without the flood, but wasn't dead by the time the tsunami hit, was counted towards the latter. Of course, it's probably impossible to get a reliable number for the deaths linked to the earthquake with that in mind - but that just means it may be questionable to compare earthquakes with and without follow-up tsunamis, doesn't it?

[@Muenni]

@@spectacles-dm Another thing I'd imagine making this comparison difficult is that even if Western China wasn't so much poorer and underdeveloped, even if everyone was completely equal in China, they'd still be significantly poorer than most people in Japan's affected regions. A quick look at the average GDP per capita (in PPP) still shows China with less than half that of Japan today, let alone 2008 China vs 2011 Japan. Logically, one would expect worse infrastructure, preparedness and emergency services per person, even if China were a liberal democracy with accountable leaders. Could the wealth difference account for the remaining 20x difference in fatalities? Of course in reality, Sichuan is even poorer than the average - but that could be considered partially due to the mentioned unequal representation. Not that I'd personally doubt the hypothesis of this video, but it appears difficult to me to compare the two as is and consider it proven.

[@FatFrankie42]

The weirdness of Japan's democracy **definitely** sounds interesting (says new subscriber binge-watching your content).

[@zuberwally8170]

wtf are you even talking about , have you seen how morocco even handled the earthquake or are you just talking cuz the way i see it from here in morocco is that we pretty much resolved everything concerning this tragic catastrophe in less than a week and that is way faster than the turks who had a same magnitude earthquake , we overcame this because of solidarity and because moroccans were there for their fellow compatriots not because of democracy

[@gattagg40ky80]

I definitely want a video on why Japan is the world’s weirdest Democracy

[@TH-lu9du]

8:25 I don't understand the statistics here. Wikipedia cites 19,759 deaths, not 200 deaths like in the video.

[@kenmccormick8059]

The 200 may be the death toll from the actual earthquake. At 3:02 he states that over 18,000 died from the tsunami.

[@SRDPS2]

sound like pure experience, The system makes thing easy when planners know what they doing, people have a clue what happened and leaders will such as Thai in first time, people basically have no clue what is tsunami, and RIP

[@Shortary]

Great video. Keep it up!!

[@EmperorofChinaItwillgrowlarger]

Democracy is cringe, read some Aristotle

[@johnnysvariousvideos6000]

Somewhat true! Let us see what happen in Hawaii when democracy have been established yet not enough help being given, isn't USA a ultra-democratic nation?

[@andrijavasiljevic]

The video on Japanese democracy does sound interesting!

[@tahaloutfi8844]

As a Moroccan, when I saw the thumbnail, I knew it would be a 100% accurate video

[@AFreakingAxeCH]

Who would have thought that having the government by the balls actually makes everything better.

[@p.v.h1776]

Great informative video! Keep up the good work! I would love to see a vid about the democracy in Japan.

[@TheHollandHS]

The nordic and Scandinavian sense of democracy has similiarities to japan in a great sense of community and horizontal collaboration. But the Nordic democracy focuses on egalitarian structures and informality, BUT with consensus and local strong community. In the USA and the anglo saxon individualism is everything and therefore formality and consensus are both disregarded. In authoritarian countries which consists of typical old civilizations china india north korea , there is neither a sense of community, just an authority of individuals we all follow. Japan is a country that puts authority under a very high formal role and symbol , but these authorities everything still is about community in the reality so they leave them alone . Japan is formerly millitaristic , rigid and everyone takes social responsibility and actual merit very seirously regardless of status. This is basically the extreme version of german culture . And Germany (austria and switzerland) is similar in its democracy an kinda outlier from other west or west European nations . People value grundlichkeit in doing things in german culture. But its not that extreme as japan as individualism is still a important certain thing in Germany.

[@TheHollandHS]

I argue no one in Japan not even leaders or politicians could be out of touch with each other because of earthquakes . There are no different echo chambers or elite isolated cultures without experiencing the goddamn earthquake whether you are in japanese history. So everyone is made aware of each others needs, while many foreigners who enter Japan will learn . Overseas japanese who live too long abroad will also realize how hard it is to reconnect to the japanese in the island.

[@kyledamron]

Mr. Tanaka is one strong man to survive all that

[@hayz9338]

Funny thing is, the ruling party during the earthquake was the Democratic Party, which isn’t the party that has been dominant for over 60 years. And I’ve never connected democracy to disaster response, so this was a very interesting video.

[@WesNishi]

But the Democratic Party is really just an offshoot of LDP members that wanted power, rather than represent any difference in policy and mandate.

[@catherineashley8361]

Commenting again because I watched the video a second time - please make a video about Japanese democracy!! Would be so interesting, and I’m sure extremely well researched (as are all of your videos)

[@lutherwilcox2249]

Democracy without fail destroys social ties and community. It is luck that Japan managed to maintain its culture of a strong society despite their government structure

[@TheHollandHS]

According to Erin Meyer who studied cultures there are 4 types of business structures worlds based on 2 axes: Top-down egalitarian 🇺🇲🇬🇧🇮🇪 Anglo Saxons Top-down hierarchical 🇷🇺🇨🇳🇮🇳🇮🇩🇫🇷🇹🇷🇧🇷 Virtually the rest of the world Consensual egalitarian 🇩🇰🇫🇮🇸🇪🇳🇴🇳🇱 Nordic + dutch Consensual hierarchical 🇯🇵🇩🇪 Germany and japan Most of the countries are top-down hierarchical and consists of countries ranked as the most corrupt unequal and authoritarian regimes While the USA. and the anglosphere is egalitarian top down . It may be basically very individualistic free and democratic but very incoherent corrupt and somtimes even flawed in democratic functions. Japan is Consensual hierarchical while Germany is a milder version of it . Such democracy has strong functioning and solidarity but there is also strong formality towards the leaders like in most authoritarian countries. But that formality is merely a social rule everyone follows and the government doesnt tell them to do so. Finally there are the Nordic countries that score the best in democracy index with the Netherlands included. They have both more informal freedom and solidarity achieved, with very informal democratic lifestyle

[@poyraztahan]

I like to see the video about Japanese democracy!

[@runefjord8446]

I am currently reading the book: The dictators handbook and it also goes into this subject of democracies being forced to build better schools for example or being better at disaster relief, because if the school collapses somebody will have to pay, and that somebody will be a leader who will get thrown out. in contrast to an autorian state where the people who are able to oust the leader will be a coalition of generals, top officials, etc. who will care more about oppotunities for corruption profits than about children dying in earthquakes

[@revupthosefryers9177]

def make the japanese democracy video man.

[@MuffinManUSN]

The points you make here are beyond simple agreement. They warrant legal implementation. Why I praise the State over the Country and the Nation over the State.

[@ILikeHammers]

You're better off flying than being alone

[@Ruiseal]

Yes,pls explain japanese democracy

[@exosproudmamabear558]

I think this is misleading,democracy means popularity choice if your population are idiots or extremists they will get more affected from right wing(Who do not like change and progression) then it means democracy is actually a bad thing. The thing with Japan, wasnt the democracy itself but carefully crafter social liberalism that separted power,work and audit to different semi free instutions so it increases efficiency and decreases corruption.But social liberalism actually blocks democratic power and make democratically chosen leaders have less authority and power. Therefore, they are less democratic than authoritative regimes but again after awhile dictators also lose their democratic powers by making people unable to vote other candidate through various ways. So although autharative regies are more democratic dictatorships are not. Also disasters can bring democratic awakenings in a dictatorship but only if there is a solid opponent.If all your candidates are corrupt bastards then you stuck with an idiotic system. Look at Turkey for example there was a massive earthquake and there is an ongoing economic crisis still oppositional forces couldnt take the power because they are shitty too. So therefore democracy is an old corruptible system that we only rely on because there are no other better systems out there.

[@betornween]

There are not more proliferations of "extreme weather events" now than there was 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000 years ago. Today there are only extreme reactions based on better coverage and fear mongering for financial and/or political gains. The Bible and many ancient cultures talk of great flooding. The Ice Age. There's "The Year Without A Summer." The Dust Bowl. Those were extreme weather events.

[@hiddenxgecko]

Love your videos, very informative and succinct. Don't like so much the speaking into camera style that has been used more in recent videos and was used for a while here. Your graphics are amazing and there's nothing wrong with your face. Just not my prefered style. Thanks, keep being awesome.

[@bradhemak8128]

Thank you for understanding what the word decimated actually means!

[@andrewwinslow9315]

Democracy is the worst form of government.We need Socialism

[@quasimoto7767]

You seriously brought up morocco on your thumbnail and only talked about it for 41 seconds near the end of the video? That doesnt add anything to the video. All the countries you mentioned are vastly different in politics and with handling earthquakes. Having morocco be put in the last minute makes your idea in this video look weak and unprofessional.

[@vanamonde2]

600 million times the bomb dropped on Hiroshima? Really? Does that really tell anyone anything? No. Completely meaningless comparison. 🙄

[@theconqueringram5295]

Well said and a very interesting video.

[@mercdutch3950]

Japan is a very judgemental country where it is expected that politicians do their absolute best to physicaly help their people in need. Not doing so is political suicide. Japan frequently has earthquakes and tsunami's so the government has had a long time to study and prepare for the next disaster. China has a similar culture however they lack the democratic aspect. It is expected that the leaders in Beijing do their absolute best but there is no way to enforce it. China just recently industrialized and combined with their massive population, it is to be expected that most buildings were rushed in construction. To compare these two as equals when it comes to natural disasters is a bit dishonest. Morocco has its own issues, which mainly stem from being poor, especialy in rural areas. Same with Turkey and Libia. Im not saying the democratic aspect is irrelevant because it does add a layer of accountability, but i dont think it is the decisive factor as to why natural disaster cause unnecessary loss of life and bad recovery.

[@alexusasuncion9783]

How about the Philippines? We are a democracy but we aren’t disaster proof

[@andir7374]

This was basically just a video on why democracy is better than autocracy, as a lot of the points made can be used in other fields, too😅

[@vates4163]

Occidental Sahara is not fully recognized as a part of morocco

[@hurricanemeridian8712]

Pre Planning matters more honestly