# Self Esteem and the Information Age

- Author: Joichi Ito
- Date: 1999-02-28T00:00:00Z
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.31859/19990228.0000

For the Keizai Doyukai Newsletter

Self Esteem and the Information Age
For the Keizai Doyukai Newsletter
Translated From Japan (v1.0) 2/28/99
by Joichi Ito

In "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity", Francis 
  Fukuyama explains that Japan, Germany and the US each had method of forming 
  large organizations based on trust. Germany had its guilds, the US had secular, 
  non-state controlled religion and Japan had non-blood based family structure 
  or "iemoto". Each of these systems allowed people to group into communities 
  and organizations basing their trust beyond the family, but not relying on the 
  state.
These systems of trust allowed large firms to develop and become the core of 
  capitalism, market economics and the manufacturing and distribution based global 
  economy. Today, the economy is shifting quickly from a manufacturing economy 
  to an information economy. In this change, the US is taking global leadership. 
  It appears that organizations must be resilient to change and very fast. An 
  important element in causing change and being fast is for people to question 
  authority, think for themselves and act. In the information age, only new or 
  different information adds value and what is required is creativity, not obedience.
For people to behave this way, they need to trust not the organizations, but 
  themselves. This trust comes from self esteem. California State Senator, John 
  Vaconscellos, calls for a government that governs through educating and causing 
  people to act responsibly because of self esteem rather than a government that 
  governs by causing obedience through shame and guilt. The self esteem idea is 
  has developed as a movement and is spreading. Unfortunately, such a movement 
  has not begun in Japan. Obviously education is an important part of self esteem, 
  but social capital and culture are also important in supporting self esteem.
In order for Japan to enter the Information Age new structures and a new way 
  of thinking is necessary. Japanese must change their mind set and the cultural 
  capital must be manage and developed. Simply mimicking the superficial aspects 
  of the US systems in not enough. After the war, the Keizai Doyukai helped build 
  a powerful country by supporting the development of communities and organizations 
  in business, politics and bureaucracy. For the Information Age, what is required 
  is not market oriented organizations, but communities based on people with self 
  esteem supported by culture, art and nonprofit organizations.





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