[borplefark]

>the kid

We're talking about millions of people. When you get to scale that large, you are talking about society and culture, not individual choices. To have millions of people change their behavior is to change the society and culture.

[tgragnato]

I'm not aware if he is referring to the Japanese or the Italian phenomena (they have common roots but are very different).

In Italy, I see many friends entrapped in this kind of behaviour, the major causes are:

- The corruption of the bankers that are stealing an increasing quantity of money from the people (regardless if you're poor or rich or if you work or not).

This factor is not only creating a major problem for the younger, but is a concurring cause of concern for the other generations as well: they're committing suicide more and more and more often than ever before.

- The rejection of both the cultural roots of christianity and consumerism, combined with a strict thinking about what is considered an accepted social behaviour and a strict regulation of the market to prevent if from a total collapse.

- An unrestricted and unregulated immigration crisis that provides an ever cheaper quantity of individuals willing to work for a miserable wage.

- Least but not least the total incompetence of the government and the EU, both blocked by a strict thought of political correctness that keeps them from applying needed actions that would properly respond to changes in the local and global, economical and geopolitical landscape.

It is indeed a problem of the culture of the society, and the hikikomori phenomena is only one of the consequences of a society that is forced to change, but is not able to do it properly.

[mixedCase]

> When you get to scale that large, you are talking about society and culture, not individual choices.

A society and culture that pampers their children instead of making them learn their place in the world? I wasn't speaking about him in particular, but rather the parenting culture that created this reclusive and apathetic behavior.

[TheOtherHobbes]

Still less dangerous than a society and culture that pampers bankers and the rich at the expense of everyone else.

The "Why don't you take responsibility for your failure?" question is self-serving and abusive. The reality is that competitive neoliberal capitalism has created a culture in which success is - quite literally - not an option for the majority of the population.

This happens to be a very self-destructive way to run a culture. It's brittle, it has multiple failure modes, it's maladaptive and unable to deal realistically with challenges, and over the medium term onwards it's inherently unstable.

So people will opt out from it. They'll either opt out inwards, as these hermits do, or they'll opt out outwards, which is a guaranteed way to create some suicidally destructive political messes.