This is the happiest time in the history of the world, and Japan is among the happiest of countries.
That should be true. It's not, obviously. Why?
Globally, prosperity is wider spread and poverty less abysmal than ever before. Technology enables not only the mighty few but the run-of-the-mill masses — you, me, anyone — to perform miracles and wonders beside which biblical miracles and "Arabian Nights" fantasies pale. Everything we want is the merest click away. Socially, we're freer than ever before — to live as we please, marry or not as we please, engage in whatever sexual practices turn us on, online or off, physical or virtual, without society batting an eye in disapproval or even surprise.
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