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Whenever progressive taxation of the wealthy is debated, a familiar argument emerges: "The rich will simply leave." Indeed, we do see some affluent individuals relocating to lower-tax jurisdictions. However, this narrative overlooks a fundamental reality—the capital base of these individuals is deeply rooted in their home countries. Capital's Roots Run Deep Wealth does not emerge in a vacuum. Trace any capitalist's fortune back to its source, and you will invariably find it anchored in their nation's economic and social systems. The foundations of capital formation: - A well-educated, high-quality workforce - Established legal frameworks and their enforcement - Infrastructure: roads, ports, telecommunications - Stable security and social order - Consumer markets with purchasing power - Business networks and relationships of trust All of these have been built through decades of public investment and social accumulation. Capitalists flourish on this fertile soil. Si...

What Does “Local Optimization for the Sake of the Whole” Mean? “Global optimization” and “local optimization” are often treated as opposing ideas. From a structuralist perspective, however, this is a misconception. A system’s overall harmony can only emerge through the self-regulating mechanisms of its parts. In other words, global optimization exists only through a chain of local optimizations. Local optimization for the sake of the whole = the autonomy of each nation as the foundation of global order. This is not an abstract ideal but a systemic law of world order. The problem is that today’s international society does not operate according to this law. The Apparent Conflict Is a Product of Perception The notion that the whole and the parts are in conflict arises from our linear, analytical way of thinking. Our cognition tends to divide and rank phenomena—seeing the “whole” as superior and the “part” as subordinate. This creates the illusion that “the whole sacrifices the...

中国経済の成長や高い企業利益を見ると、「成功している資本主義国家」と錯覚しがちです。しかし、財政・制度・国内資本循環の本質に目を向けると、そこには深刻な歪みが存在します。本稿では、中国経済の特徴を整理し、その内部構造を明らかにします。 1. 国内経済構造の歪み 中国経済には、資本や利益が一部に集中し、社会全体で循環しにくい傾向があります。 勝者全取りの傾向 富裕層、大企業、特定地域への利益集中が顕著で、再分配や国内循環が弱い構造です。 地方と国家の財政分断 地方政府は土地収入や中央交付金に依存し、地方経済の成長が必ずしも国家財政に反映されません。 資本循環の停滞 富裕層や企業の海外資本移動、消費や投資の偏在により、国内経済の循環力が制約されています。 公肥大 税率自体は比較的低いものの、地方政府財政、国有企業、政策投資の膨張によって国家規模の財政影響力は大きく、民間資本の自由な循環が制限されます。 こうした構造により、中国経済は表面的には成長しているように見えても、内部循環の未成熟さが浮き彫りになります。 2. 社会的・心理的病理 経済構造の歪みに加え、制度や文化、心理面にも独自の課題があります。 官僚主義 上意下達型の統治が優先されるため、創意や現場判断が阻害され、政策実効性が低下します。経済の血流である資本と情報の循環が滞る構造です。 中抜き利権 中央から地方、官から民への資金が中間層に吸い上げられ、労働者や中小企業に富が届きにくく、内需が伸びにくくなります。 教育・言語・情報格差 地域差や検閲、標準語未浸透が技術革新や国際交渉力を制限し、経済的効率を下げています。 衛生・インフラ格差 労働力の健康や社会安定に影響し、経済活動の基盤を不安定化させます。 通貨信認の不安 人民元の国際信用は政治介入に左右されやすく、グローバル化を阻む心理的壁となっています。 3. 認知・文化的制約 中国語の文脈依存性や漢字体系による認知負荷は、抽象的・複雑な議論を社会全体で共有することを難しくしています。 内面的な認知や思考資源の成熟が不十分で、外部統制や制度に依存しやすい。 日本語との比較では、言語構造が情報循環や思考の階層化に影響を与えることが明確です。 言語・文化的な制約は、単なる教育問題に留まらず、制度や経済循環の効率にも直結しています。 識字率は高いものの、筆者が注目する...

Living in an Age That Has Lost Its Faith We live in an age overflowing with knowledge and technology. And yet, paradoxically, we have lost something essential — the reason to believe. Where religion once offered meaning, comfort, and guidance, today we find data, algorithms, and endless opinions. AI can give us answers, but it cannot give us purpose. This spiritual vacuum calls for something new — and that “something” may be philosophy reborn as a modern form of faith . The Origin of Religion Was Always Intelligence If we trace the origin of religion, we find not superstition, but curiosity and intellect . Ancient humans wondered about the stars, death, fate, love, and justice — seeking to understand the invisible forces shaping their world. Religion began as a quest to connect cause and meaning , not as blind obedience to mystery. That same quest — “Why do we exist?” — gave birth to philosophy as well. Religion and philosophy were twins at birth — born from the same q...

■ Introduction: Where Has the Spirit of Democracy Gone? “Diversity.” “Freedom.” “Empathy.” These words are celebrated as modern virtues. Yet we must ask — do we still understand what they truly mean? In our time, emotion often overpowers reason , and social pressure replaces critical thought . The very core of democracy — the dignity of intelligence — is being quietly eroded. The foundation of democracy is not naïve optimism or empty tolerance. It is anger — a rational, moral anger against the suppression of thought itself. Democracy begins not in comfort, but in intellectual defiance. ■ The Birth of Democracy: Anger as an Act of Reason Historically, democracy has always emerged from a struggle against intellectual oppression. In ancient Athens, citizens challenged authority and debated in the open square. During the Enlightenment, thinkers defied monarchs and dogma, proclaiming that reason — not power — must govern human life. Behind every democratic movement lies the sa...

In our time, the word intelligence has been stripped of its depth. Society often equates intelligence with the amount of knowledge one possesses or the speed of mental processing . Worse still, intelligence has become a tool — used for self-interest, for manipulation, or as a banner for self-proclaimed “freedom” detached from responsibility. This is not intelligence. It is a childish imitation of intellect , an arrested stage of human maturity that has become normalized. True intelligence is far deeper than cleverness. It could rightly be called a philosophy of circulation and sustainability . 1. The Infantilization of Modern Intelligence Modern “intelligence” is often nothing more than cunning — the ability to exploit systems, people, or narratives for personal gain. Society applauds this as shrewdness, mistaking calculation for wisdom. We reward the tactician, not the thinker. Similarly, the notion of idealism as freedom has been corrupted. Freedom has been reduced t...

A society that abandons intelligence loses its sustainability, rationality, and harmony. This essay unpacks how intellectual stagnation—what I call “Stagnant Intelligence” —inevitably leads to regression and cultural decay. Prologue｜The Slow Collapse of an Unthinking Society The decay of a civilization does not begin with war or disaster. It begins the moment a society abandons intelligence . When people stop thinking and start conforming, when emotion replaces logic, and when stability is valued over truth, the collapse has already begun—quietly, imperceptibly. Intelligence is not the same as knowledge or education. It is the invisible architecture of sustainability, rationality, harmony, circulation, and dynamic balance that sustains any functioning society. A society detached from intelligence becomes a dying village —a community that still stands, yet no longer grows. I. The Loss of Sustainability — When the Future Disappears An intelligent society sees both the prese...