Afterthoughts from an Interesting Quote...

From Kamisama no Memo-chou Episode 12 (Alice): "You see, Narumi, NEETs are not people who can't do anything or don't try to do anything. All that separates them are the rules they follow. With different rules, they can't play the game the same way. The other players become bewildered. They knit their brows in confusion. Thus they rush to label and categorize them, to isolate them, and regain their peace of mind. But NEET is not a label. It's a way of life." From Wikipedia: "NEET is a government acronym for people currently 'not in education, employment, or training'. It was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea. People under the designation are called NEETs (or Neets)."

Interestingly, this quote from the anime seems to fit well into points highlighted in Hikikomori (Wikipedia).

"Young adults may feel overwhelmed by modern Japanese society, or be unable to fulfill their expected social roles as they have not yet formulated a sense of personal honne and tatemae – one's 'true self' and one's 'public façade' – necessary to cope with the paradoxes of adulthood."

Perhaps these NEETs, are just people who live or strive to live 'true to themselves'. Wishing to follow upon this rule, they could not fit into our modern society (Not just in Japan but as a whole). Yes, our modern society - a place where one does not or should not show one's true self or ideas to the public, a place where one has to wear a mask in front of others.

Failure to do so, oftentimes result in being alienated, taken advantaged of or worse, being 'backstabbed' in office politics. All because one had chosen to follow his/her own rules and showed one's true self. Perhaps as a result of this or a sum of these, NEETs had chosen to withdraw themselves or even lose their jobs even if they had one and ultimately, being unable to land themselves on a new job.

To add to this, they refuse to let go of their own rules, to assimilate into modern society, probably because doing that might mean that they are defeated by life and that itself would make life meaningless or they would thus lose their sense of direction in life.

They sought for a haven, one where they could live in while being true to themselves. What they have seeked, they found it in 'The Internet'. This place has no barriers, no requirements, no prerequisites. Perhaps because there is no rules, NEETs find that in this place, no one can judge his/her rules to be right or wrong and hence the link between NEETs' so called 'attachment' to the Internet.

On another note, you will probably recognize these traits of NEETs to be found in children. And just so as to speak, these traits are said to be 'cute' or something along that line when referring to children, but when these same traits are found in adults, they become undesirable. Perhaps, it wouldn't be too far from the truth to associate them as 'Children in an Adult Body'? (I'm pretty sure NEETs will often be asked to 'grow up'.)

"A decade of flat economic indicators and a shaky job market in Japan makes the pre-existing system requiring years of competitive schooling for elite jobs appear like a pointless effort to many."

"After graduating from high school or university, Japanese youth also have to face a very difficult job market in Japan, often finding only part-time employment and ending up as freeters with little income, unable to start a family."

There can only be this many 'elite' jobs and jobs that pay well often requires that one 'own' at least a few 'masks'. Without this ability to don on a different mask depending on the persons your socializing with can be a huge disadvantage. Imagine saying the wrong things during an interview or shooting off remarks that offended your employer's important customers. Just that would be sufficient reasons to cause NEETs to lose their jobs or fail to get one.

All that's left would probably be those jobs that require less or no socializing with others (those part-time jobs or low paying ones), which is growingly becoming impossible to find. As most jobs in our society now requires interactions with others and with interactions there will be friction if one does not own masks (conveniently called 'Socializing skill' or 'Networking'?).

"The Japanese education system, like those found in China, Singapore and South Korea, puts great demands upon youth. A multitude of expectations, high emphasis on competition, and the rote memorization of facts and figures for the purpose of passing entrance exams into the next tier of education in what could be termed a rigid pass-or-fail ideology, induce a high level of stress. Echoing the traditional Confucian values of society, the educational system is still viewed as playing an important part in society's overall productivity and success."

How often have you been told by your parents that education is the key to success? But in reality, is that true? How long does it take to get a 'Degree'? 26 years? So after these 26 years of education, how many of these Bachelors could actually find a job? More often than not, what we're being taught in our education is vastly different from what is required in the actual working world.

And with this massive amount of competition due to our ever growing population, the number of 'decent' jobs vs the number of people who need 'decent' jobs is widening. As with all things that follow the law of supply and demand, its not hard to conclude that the requirements of landing on a particular job gets increasingly demanding. Ten years ago, there are only so many people with a degree and these people will get the 'decent' jobs. Now, there are so many types of degrees out there that practically anyone you grab out on the streets has a degree. So the 'decent' jobs have now 'upgraded' to requiring 'Masters' or multiple degrees. Soon perhaps in ten or twenty years time, they will probably start requiring 'PHDs'. And probably then, some other thingamajig will be cooked up that is of a 'higher' quality than PHD.

To make matters worse, education has deviated from its original path and became more and more 'business-like'. They have been churning out tons and tons of different certificates (There's even now a Bachelor, Masters or even PHD for 'Social Work'. Would that have been imaginable ten or twenty years ago?).

Each and every job that is available in our modern world now requires a person to 'own' a particular type of education to be 'qualified' for that kind of job. From a single person's point of view and with so many different types of certs out there, taking the wrong step and choosing a wrong cert to study for would spell doom. From there on, you would probably have to restudy for another cert, which again might or might not be useful in securing your future and is a 'luxury' that not many can afford. To add to that, the mentality that education is no longer trustworthy becomes etched in the person's mind (a pointless effort). This thus leads us to the point stated below.

"In this social frame, students often face significant pressure from parents and the society in general to conform to its dictates and doctrines. These doctrines, while part of modern Japanese society, are increasingly being rejected by Japanese youth in varying ways such as hikikomori, freeter, NEET (Not currently engaged in Employment, Education, or Training), and parasite singles."

Clearly, with that sort of mentality, the most logical path from then on would be to rebel or reject it. To forge on a brand new path, following a new set of rules, their own rules. And hopefully find a new world, a new future. This of course depends on the particular individual and his/her surroundings. Those whom reject education would turn out to be NEETs, while others who surrender themselves and sink into despair might become something else.