The 'Value' of Existing: Even for Hikikomori and NEETs

When we face the difficulties of life, we sometimes question the value of our own existence.

As of the survey results from March 2023, the number of people considered to be in the 'broadly defined hikikomori group' as determined by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is estimated to be approximately 1.46 million. This is more than double the 613,000 recorded in 2018.

Meanwhile, among the non-labor force population aged 15–34 who are young unemployed persons, those who are neither doing housework nor attending school (NEETs) numbered 570,000 on average in 2022. Furthermore, for those aged 35–44, the average was 360,000.

I have also had periods where I was a hikikomori and a NEET. However, I do not think at all that there is no value in the lives of hikikomori or NEETs.

To begin with, what is the value of living? Since we call it value, it must be something defined by others. If we define it as 'being useful to someone,' then every human being has value just by being alive.

This is not just a platitude.

If you are alive, you must be eating. To provide that meal, you must have provided money in some form, and there must have been some activity to earn it. Furthermore, there is the person who made the meal, the operations of retail stores like supermarkets, the logistics that transport the ingredients, the producers, and their families.

Even just looking at a 'meal,' many people are involved, and just by living, you are creating employment opportunities. If you use electricity, you are sharing the pie and creating employment for the power company, the contractors who build and maintain its facilities, and the staff at power plants. If you read books or play games, you are influencing even more people.

Of course, there is also the idea that if you don't work directly, it doesn't count as 'social contribution.' Some might say that such influence is negligible anyway. That it is equal to zero.

But even if you work directly, if you quantify it, the contribution value per person is almost equal to zero. My main job is just sitting in front of a PC and clacking away at a keyboard. If I may say so, from the perspective of being one person in the whole of society, there is not much difference between those who work and those who do not.

Each and every one of us is something equal to zero that constitutes society. Society is what is formed when those things gather together. Whether you are a hikikomori or a NEET, you are living while influencing society. No matter how much you perceive yourself to be isolated from society, it is impossible not to have an influence.

For anyone, being alive is positive for society as a whole. This is because it provides people with various motives for action and opportunities for employment.

I am not a government official, and I have experienced being both a hikikomori and a NEET. I am aware that this argument is a massive position talk.

Even so, I will say this: whether you are a hikikomori or a NEET, it is bad for you to disappear. The disappearance of an existence that has a positive influence is bad for human society. Of course, for the families and those around you who support you, there may be various burdens, but that is something that should be supported by helping each other in each individual case, and the fact that this is not happening is a problem of society. And the very act of 'supporting' can give meaning to someone's life and be a salvation.

Of course, many people might feel that the claim that it is enough just to be alive without working or communicating with others is worthless, and it would be a problem if everyone in the country became unemployed, but that will not happen. This is because humans seek 'meaning' in life, and 'work' is a tool that provides it.

Thinking about it this way, humans are creatures that crave meaning. The meaning of one's own life, reasons not to die, roles, things to do, killing time.... The life of one person inevitably becomes an opportunity to provide those things to others.

A farm that grows vegetables that no one eats has no choice but to close. A company that makes games that no one plays has no choice but to fold. No one wants that. But, 'what if you weren't there?' When a person disappears, it means that someone's meaning for living is lost little by little.

So, if you are a hikikomori or a NEET and are worried about the significance of your existence, I want you to think once more about the positive influence of your being alive. You are definitely better off alive.

Besides, it might not just be for you; from a grand perspective, life might be equally futile for everyone. Even so, everyone creates some kind of reason for living and resonates with each other. The richness of that spectrum is also what makes people interesting.

Work is a convenient tool that gives us meaning, and interacting with others also gives humans a sense of 'having done something' that is significant. Humans are creatures that feel a 'sense of accomplishment' from such things, and feel guilt if they don't. That is all there is to it. It doesn't matter if you are a hikikomori or a NEET.

It is good that you are alive.

When you find yourself prone to blaming yourself, I really want you to remember that.

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