Writing Topic
Imagine
a university is planning to build a new research center in your country, but it
has not been decided whether to create a center for business research or
agricultural (farming) research. Which of the two sorts of research centers
would you prefer to be built in your country?
☆Let’s Think
1. How would a business
research center benefit the country? What about an agricultural research
center?
2. In which area does
Japan need to research more? Why?
☆Ideas and Expressions
Business
1. Japan needs to invest in innovation. It has been one of the biggest
economies in the world for a long time. Especially, our electric appliances as well
as cars have been popular around the world, but many manufacturers of other
countries outshine ours these days.
2. We are not good at marketing very much. Market research on specific
demands of each country, for instance, will help diversify our exports and
stabilize export earnings.
3. With enough wealth and technology to help reduce the damage of
global warming and environmental destruction, developed countries are expected
to shift to a sustainable economy, or environmentally friendly economy. We need
to do more research on related areas such as eco-friendly technology
businesses.
4. The low food self-sufficiency (40%) is not necessarily dangerous because
the staple (rice) is nearly 100% supplied domestically. Also, the level of our
agricultural research is very high. People come from all over the world to
learn from our agriculture and we send experts to countries suffering from food
shortage to help develop their farming.
Agriculture
1. Japanese agriculture
is at crises in general. The age-old problems of Japanese agriculture are very
little farmland (90% of the land is mountains and forests), decreasing numbers
of farmers and farmhouses, aging, and weakening functions of farming societies
caused by industrialization especially after WWII. In addition, traditional
sustainable agriculture has been destroyed by the introduction of factory style
farming, or single crop farming. This trend will accelerate
because restrictions on agribusiness have been lifted and Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP) will slash or abolish tariffs on agricultural imports. It is necessary to
transform our agriculture into one which prioritizes production of export crops,
crops that have enough demands in the global market. Research and development
on potential markets for Japanese crops should be put forth.
2. Research on our low
self-sufficiency (40 %) is necessary. The self-sufficiency of our staple food,
rice, is technically100% while most of the feed grains for meat production such
as wheat and corn are imported. Since these crops will be in great demand for
bio-fuel and livestock farming one of the main producers of greenhouse gases,
research on more self-sufficient protein production is necessary. In addition, the decreasing number of farmhouses is causing concern about food
shortage in emergency. It is true that the problem of low self-sufficiency is
the problem of economy and politics because deflation is making people give up
farming and the government has been prioritizing business and globalization over
agriculture. However, approaches to improve the situation by those who are directly
involved in farming would be effective and innovative.
3. We have not eliminated
deaths from starvation in poor countries. Also, population increase, global
warming, and pollution can cause food crises in the near future. Developed
countries are required to make more contribution to research on food security
such as irrigation, plants that are more resistant to climate change, or GMOs. Japan
can live up to this expectation by continuing to offer our agricultural
techniques and technologies. For example, plant factory, which
was invented and developed in Japan, can produce edible plants without soil all
through the year. We can not only sell their produce but also export the technology.
☆Essay for ideas and expressions
Just
a few years ago, the terms green or fair trade meant nothing more than opportunities
for corporate image improvement to most huge corporations and never meant calls
for total restructuring of the economic system, or more precisely so they
pretended to interpret them. They had succeeded in propaganda to make people
believe that things were going all right. However, climate change has started
biting and corruption in business has become blatant, even the people in developed
countries are now having difficulty in making ends meet, and the mass protests
across the globe do not go unnoticed anymore. Studies for new economic systems
are essential to tackle fundamental problems of our times. Therefore, I would
prefer a business research center to be built if a university is planning to
build a new research center in my country, Japan.
Research
on alternative business models is crucial. It is now clear that capitalism or
free market system is harmful to everyone including those who have enjoyed its
benefits. It has exploited the resources and people in developing countries. It
has widened the gap between the rich and the poor. It has also destroyed the environment,
whose deterioration now threatens life on earth. Ideas for more natural and
humane economic activities, which ordinary people as well as conscientious
intellectuals have conceived probably since the onset of industrialization, should
be crystallized. One of the examples of such effort is a system called employee
ownership or democratization of corporations. Democratized companies will
reflect public consensus and make more sensible decisions. They will encourage
governments to promote real fair trade: fair transactions not just between
companies but between countries. They will certainly stop exporting too many
factories. Also, they will support sustainable economy, since public awareness
on the environmental issues is high. For instance, 70% of US citizens support
green energy.
In
globalization, Japan is at the crossroads. Joining Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
will lead it to totally American style economy, which has just proved to be a
failure in terms of the welfare of all people. Obviously, the disadvantaged,
who are already suffering, will suffer more. Also, even if Japan survives, taking
advantage of its position as a developed country, the problem of morality will
remain, for free trade works for the stronger at the expense of the weaker. It
is inevitable that those in developed countries will put more pressure on those
in developing countries. Moreover, it has become clear that the corruption of
the domestic economic system has already passed the point of meltdown. The
misconduct in relation to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant symbolizes
that Japan has not been so much a protective economy as it has been believed. Japanese
people were made to accept nuclear power plants through sophisticated
advertisements of Japanese mass media backed up by the US energy industry and the
US and Japanese governments. The industry neglected upgrades of the reactor design
despite repeated warnings. After the disaster, the electric company and the
government did not disclose crucial information, and the government did not
take enough measures to protect the residents in the area, as well as everyone in
the eastern part of Japan. The irresponsible economic leaders teaming up with
political leaders could make the last 50 years of Japanese prosperity, where most
people, rich or poor, enjoyed fundamental human rights and basic happiness of
life, just a transient good moment of its history.
It
might be true that competition promotes evolution of technology and systems,
but the current system does not have a safety net strong enough to protect
those who are disadvantaged and those who have lost in competition. Governments
are manipulated by lobbyists from large corporations, so that channeling money
to rescue the weak is almost impossible. Also, the stock market, a world-scale casino
for the rich, does not have a structure to give it decency to clean up its own
mess. When crises occur, public money is used to make up for the loss and the
return is not sufficient when those rescued start gaining profits again. Unemployment
rates did not go down much for a long time despite record profits of the companies
bailed out in the last financial meltdown. This system keeps siphoning a large
amount of money from the poor to the rich. Businesses, as well as the economic
system, need to change.
Universities should suggest plans for rapid
and less painful shift to the new economic and business systems to build a society
that protects life and the environment. For the purpose, I would like a new
business research center to be built by a university.
