The one reason why I admire the grass eating men and the hikikomori

For anyone who doesn't know, the demographics of Japan is in crisis. The population is aging and there aren't enough babies being born to replace them. There has been an increasing trend of teenagers not pursuing romantic relationships and creating babies.

These men are called the grass eating men. Instead of finding a relationship, these men would rather eat pudding, read manga, and watch anime. To take things one step further, the hikikomori are men who never leave their rooms and have completely withdrawn from society.

While most of the world views these sorts of men as losers that gave up on life, there is one thing that I absolutely admire about them. They are putting pressure on the Japanese government. As of 2012, the birth rate in Japan is 1.41 children per woman. This is far lower than the replacement rate of 2. Within the next few decades, the population of Japan will experience a great decrease and the economy will continue to decline.

The grass eating men and the hikikomori aren't helping the situation. They are just making it worse. It has gotten to the point where the Japanese government is scrambling for ideas on how to fix this crisis. Some crazy ideas include the implementation of a handsome tax.

By completely giving up on life, these men have stricken back at a government that messed up things in the first place. Mismanage the country by creating a welfare state and a housing bubble and then expect future generations to pay for it. Forget that. Japanese men aren't going to create kids in such a harsh economic environment. An environment that forces a man to work 80 hours a week. They will not create the future tax base. They will not create young slaves to a burdensome system.

By pulling out of the system, these men put a strain on the government and the people who voted the officials into office. As there is a growing trend of men dropping out of society, there is also a trend of the elderly having to go back to work because of poor economic conditions.

As crazy as it sounds, sometimes you do have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And this is the reason why I admire the grass eating men and hikikomori of Japan.