

What blows my mind is that you read an article, and brought it up months or years later, and applied zero critical thinking.
What’s more likely? China set up fake police stations in America, where they have no authority, so they can be mocked by people they have absolutely no power over?
Or they’re there to provide legal services to Chinese citizens living abroad?


Its better than private monopolies, but no, lack of centralization has lead to really awful transfers compared to China and Korea.
Under capitalism the ideal rail company runs zero trains, owns no infrastructure, is somehow charging rent to every other business, employs nobody, pays them nothing, and charges infinity dollars. It requires external force to fight against the pressures pushing it towards its ideal form.
Hell the author even glosses over the “runs no trains” part in the article, saying the OG JR built too many unprofitable rural lines, as if having reliable transit isn’t good in and of itself, and then explains how the JR’S land ownership is profitable, as if charging businesses rent is a social good.
This is how you get 12 companies owning mass transit in 1 city that don’t share timetables and have bizarre interchanges between like subway, grade-seperated streetcar, and an elevated bus.
Japan’s sucess is in spite of neoliberalism, not because of it.