Woo-hoo! Mouthing off about America in Japan

"I plan to recommend scientists and engineers go to the U.S. where their abilities are reflected in their income."'

--Shuji Nakamura, inventor of the blue light-emitting diode (LED), who reluctantly agreed to a 840 million yen settlement in a patent dispute with Nichia Corp. He says Japanese corporations don't respect their employees' contributions. (Asahi Shimbun)

This quote, pulled from a news story in Japan Today, drew some sensational comments from readers. Samples:

If Nakamura has the urge to travel, he should take his invention directly to the people who will put it to work - next door in China. Why waste fuel going clear around the world. There is nothing worthwhile made in the USA anymore. All imported from China. The only things the USA produces and exports these days is war and more war courtesy of its pentagon and worthless dollars from the federal reserve.

While I don't necessarily agree with you comment about Japanese companies respecting their employees, I think you are pretty spot on about how US companies screw over their staff when they appropriate the technology and then offshore it. And what's worse, yep, they practically give it to that rotten Commie behemoth China, which has no respect for intellectual property at all.

So in Japan Nakamura gets an insulting 20,000 bonus, but in the US his technology might have been shipped out under his nose. I think this time he was damn lucky.

[a previous commenter] has the same opinion as anyone with mediocre talent. Japan is gold for those people. The incompetent can work in Japan until they're 65, rising up the ladder the whole time. In the US those people would be sweeping the floor and suffering a pay freeze. My boss forgets what happened five minutes earlier and he can barely speak. He does have some positive attributes, though. He can make copies and he's pretty good at applying his hanko. He also has a knack for smoking.

For every America-bashing American living in Marin County California and elsewhere in America...

... there are probably hundreds of non-Americans, like the good Dr. Nakamura, who appreciate the fact that America, while not perfect, is a great country.

I say let's make a trade. Let's take in all the America-loving Chinese, Cubans and Vietnamese and so on, and send the America-hating Americans to their countries.

I'm sure the lefty America-hating Americans will be much happier living in one of those dictatorial communist "paradises" anyway.

Owch! I resemble that remark, as my beloved old bud Doug Whitney used to say.

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