Portugal and the foundations of the new Japanese capitalism
During the annual Davos meeting, which takes place once again in digital format, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida briefly presented the programmatic basis of the G7 president, which his country nominated in 2023, highlighting the environmental, technological and , Japanese social and sanitary facilities face, in particular, environmental changes, the social systems of the interior, the distribution of demographic wealth and the social systems of the interior of the country. Prime Minister Kishida was talking about his country, but he could be talking about Portugal.
To respond, Kishida defended a liberal capitalist reinvention, promoting the open model of society, the private sector and civil society organizations that allow managing the negative impacts of the system. In particular, the prime minister did not consider the key to the system’s new economic model, which he views as a more valuable economic cost. To this end, Kishida believes that the digital revolution could create the basis for a change in the economic and social role of citizens.
If there is any doubt that the digital revolution will profoundly alter the way our lives and societies are, there is no certainty about how these changes will be created, namely we will not know that they will be created, that they will have the competence to be employable or even if there will be jobs for them. all people. But know that the digital revolution has already begun and that it will arrive in force in the next decade.
If we know that a tsunami of political, economic and social change is coming and we know that we have a small window of time to prepare, isn’t it time to do it? In a digital economy, what kind of skills should we teach in schools, in lifelong learning programmes? Of course not the same ones that artificial intelligence will do better than us. If work needs change radically, how are we going to manage like people who can’t adapt but aren’t old enough to retire? Of course, we cannot allow them to be left to their own devices, with jobs and without retirement. If the work model changes profoundly, how are we going to prepare companies and people? Of course it won’t be the day after everything happens. If industrial will result in an important number of people at once consecrated, how do we recognize their contributions to society? in a society it is not possible to manage the social contract where many have no role or management. We don’t know much, we are already late to prepare for the future.
The new capitalism defended by the Japanese prime minister does not seem to be a radical revolution of a political, economic and social model, although the proposed digital revolution is. But the system proposed by collective, like the model on which the Nordic social contract is based, is based on a relationship of trust and openness to the State, the social partners and civil society and the ability to anticipate changes and prepare ourselves as answers . And in this field, we all have a lot to do.
Associate Researcher at CIEP / Portuguese Catholic University
[email protected]