If the progress of telework makes it possible to live in the countryside while working for a big company, a movement to relocate to the countryside will occur – Basic income can be the foundation of “true democracy”

I predict that if the progress of telework makes it possible to live in the countryside while working for a big company, a movement to relocate to the countryside will occur. I think that it is a desirable trend.

We Shanti-phula predicted it would happen. So we have been preparing for it for a long period time. All our staff members have got our own houses at a reasonable price without borrowing money from the bank. The log house I live in costs only 2.5 million yen but it is very comfortable to live in. However, we put on solar panels on the roof and built a barn afterwards.

Basic income will be adopted in the future. So I think that the lifestyle of “country life” will increase. If a person like Heizo Takenaka implements basic income, he will insist that we should provide our individual information in exchange of preparation of safety net by the government. However, if people awaken, basic income can become the foundation of “true democracy” that has not been achieved yet on the earth.

Of course, it can guarantee us only food, clothing and shelter. So, we just stand at the starting line mentally and spiritually. The society where nobody ever starves to death should have been achieved at any time regardless of the development of science and technology. However, as long as evil people sit in the seat of power, it is impossible to achieve such society no matter how often a revolution occurs. So far, we have seen only changes in control system – from control by evil people to control by other evil people who robbed of their power.

However, future world will be different. Evil people have already had their souls destroyed and will never reincarnate. As time passes by, the earth will naturally transform into a paradise. We are the problem. Unless we raise our consciousness as the earth changes, we will choose the “path to destruction.”

Please think carefully. Some people can’t leave a city. I’m not saying it is not good. There is a “true hero” like Mr. Taro Yamamoto who dares to stay in a city like jangle with a desire to save as many people as he can. On the other hand, there are others who cannot leave “night towns.” They can’t think of “rural life” with no bars, karaoke clubs or pachinko parlors. And there are others who “think of nothing.” When the media take up “rural life” as the cutting edge of fashion in the future, they might be interested in “rural life” for the first time.

By the way, I wonder who will survive on the earth in future. What we feel “beautiful” is in harmony with nature. Therefore, we feel even man-made object “beautiful” as long as it is in harmony with nature. Don’t you think that the Shinto worldview is that life itself is beautiful?

We should aim for such a world. It is only pure-hearted people that survive in such a world.

Masatoshi Takeshita

July 9, 2020

English translation of an excerpt from a Japanese article: Yahoo!JAPAN News – June 28, 2020 Moneypost WEB

<snip>

Well-known corporations such as Hitachi and NEC Global have announced that they will recommend telework even after the coronavirus pandemic is over . If it is possible for salaried workers of major companies to live in rural areas while working in urban cities, a movement to relocate to rural areas will occur among high-income people who want to raise children in the place with rich natural environment.

<snip>

Speaking of charms of rural areas, we can list up many merits which are difficult to get in Tokyo: “you have less anxiety of confection because of few “*Three Cs”, “if you have parents or relatives you can rely on, it is easy to raise children and easy to work”, “there are jobs by primary industry less affected by social changes” and “municipalities provide substantial support for child rearing” and so on.

<snip>

Things or experiences which are available only in Tokyo are quite few. We should aim for a “distributed society” where we can enjoy merits of Tokyo and local city regardless of place we live in .

<snip>

Can we change a difficult situation into an opportunity and use it a turning point to sustain our society?

<The rest is omitted>

*Note:

Three Cs: 1. Crowded spaces, 2. Crowded places, 3. Close-contact settings

English translation of an excerpt from a Japanese article: Toyo Keizai Online – January 12, 2020 by Kazuhide Ikedaki, journalist and Middle East Cuisine Researcher

<snip>

A man worked for a newspaper delivery company in Tokyo for 20 years and got a job in sales and labor management. He was never highly paid and spent 150,000 to 200,000 yen monthly to eat out, buy convenience store bento lunch box and have a drink with his friends and acquaintances.

<snip>

The man lives in a community surrounded by mountains, an hour’s drive from Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. <snip> He spent a few months to find a one million-yen one-story old house which was built 100 years ago . The house was large enough for a single man without children. It is sunny in the field because the house is on a hill. Radishes, potatoes, carrots, leafy vegetables such as lettuce and Chinese parsley grow well. Miso and seasoning is homemade. He buys foodstuff other than rice once a month.

<snip>

The fixed asset tax is several thousand yen per year because the assessed value of the house is low. The water bill is several hundred yen. The electric bills exceeded 2,000 yen in summer when the refrigerator was used, but it costs several hundred yen for November because it is unplugged now.

<snip>

He feels that he can manage to survive by eking out a living out of savings he has until he reaches an age when he can receive pension . <snip> If the time when he has to work comes, he would work about one or two days a week, he thinks.

<The rest is omitted>