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Interview with the Argentinian Hikikomori, Marco Antonio : Round 3, "What Hikikomori Can Expect from the Government"

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Photo by Municipality of Paraná

 

Written by Vosot Ikeida & Marco Antonio Clivio Benitez

 

 

Continued from Round 2

Support From the Administration

Vosot   Earlier on, you said "Most of governments don't care of hikikomoris in their own countries." That is true. I imagine the Argentina government would even not know they would have a lot of hikikomoris in their own country.

If your government cares of hikikomori, what kind of care or support do you expect to your government to do?

Marco Antonio  I'm not sure. What can a government do to help a hikikomori with his problems? A government can't help you go outside and talk to other people... A government could create a welfare program to give some money to any hikikomori who can't get a job, but if the government gives them free money and the hikikomori people don't do anything in exchange for it, then the government is just wasting money. A government SHOULD do something so that hikikomori people can get a job, pay taxes, and become a functional part of this society, but I'm not sure there is anything they can do. I just can't think of anything they could do. Getting free money from a welfare program would make me a parasite who lives from the taxes paid by other people, so that doesn't sound good. On the other hand, I don't think the government could make me go outside, get a job and talk to people. Has your government found a way to do anything at all? I think if we can't fix the problems ourselves, a government won't be able to do much for us.

Vosot In Japan, it has been a big controversy about the matter too. The support and care for hikikomori are expected to every local government or municipality. They are officially running services like consultation and job training for hikikomoris. However, most of us, hikikomoris in Japan, do not think they are functioning well.  The conscious people at the side of government are also seeking for better ways to support and care hikikomoris.

You say, "A government SHOULD do something so that hikikomori people can get a job, pay taxes, and become a functional part of this society but I'm not sure there is anything they can do."

I agree with you. If we think of something common that the government should do for all the hikikomoris in Argentina, it will be difficult to think what it should be, because the living situation will be different in the case of every hikikomori.

However, what would happen if your government asked you personally, "What would you like us to do, Marco Antonio Clivio Benitez? We are ready to do anything for you to get out of the hard situation that you are having right now", what do you answer?  What do you personally want to have your government done? Now, let's any imagination be accepted.

Marco Antonio  My biggest problems are the fact that I can't go outside and I don't talk to other people. If the government asked me how they could help, I wouldn't be able to answer them. It's not the kind of problems that can be solved with new laws or with numbers, they can't really offer me anything. That's why I think that for most hikikomori, they have to fix the problems on their own, and if they can't fix it, then nothing will change, they will stay like that forever. In my case, I don't think I'll ever stop being a hikikomori, it's very unlikely that anything could be done in my case.

 

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Cúpula Catedral Nuestra Señora del Rosario
Photo by Municipality of Paraná

Anxiety for the Future?

Vosot  I understand quite well what you are saying. Many hikikomoris are vaguely thinking like you are, but usually it is so difficult to put them in words. You are doing it so well. That is the point I admire you.

I suppose you depend financially on your parents right now, don't you? Do you have any anxiety about your future financial life?  Do you have any plan for surviving in the future, for example, getting some money from the social welfare?

Marco Antonio  I don't want to get money from social welfare, right now in Argentina, there are millions of people who are paying taxes to sustain social welfare programs and I refuse to force other citizens to waste their money on me. In the worst case scenario, I could become an independent game developer. I already have the skills of computer programming for it, and I even have a lot of unfinished projects. Some at 10%, others at around 30%. The problem is that developing games is extremely boring, that’s why I leave most of my projects unfinished. If I ever needed money, I could actually finish some of these projects and even start new ones, but I don't want to do it unless it is absolutely necessary since it's really boring.

Vosot  You must be very good at those things. I am too old to learn a lot of Internet Technologies.   Can you learn those programmings by yourself through the internet, without stepping out of your hikikomori room?

Marco Antonio These days you can learn anything, including programming, 3D modelling, animations, etc, on the internet. And now it's a lot easier than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Now, there is a lot of information out there, and many softwares used for game development are now free so you don't need to spend any money to start developing games. All you need is a computer with an internet connection and you won't have to go outside to learn anything.

Vosot It is good to hear.  So, in your case, it sounds like you quite well know what you should do and should not do by yourself. People will imagine that if you know so well, you won't have any more fear or anxiety for your future to have a hikikomori life.  Do you still have any fear or anxiety for your future as a hikikomori?

Marco Antonio There is no fear. I will just stay here inside my house, doing whatever I can. It's very clear I will be a hikikomori until the end. Being afraid of your future won't change anything.




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