Graduation address for the September 2024 academic year

To all the graduates of the September term, congratulations on your graduation! We can only imagine the joy of your parents and guardians who have eagerly awaited this day. On behalf of Tohoku Gakuin University, I offer my heartfelt congratulations.

This summer was hot, though not as hot as last year. Even into September, temperatures continued to exceed 30 degrees Celsius, and the high sea temperatures resulted in persistently humid weather. While humanity gained a convenient and prosperous life through the Industrial Revolution, we neglected to address the waste heat and waste generated by this lifestyle. As a result, as seen in the severe damage in Noto, global warming is progressing rapidly, leading to rising sea levels and water-related disasters such as floods and landslides caused by large typhoons and linear rainbands. As I graduate, I would like to talk about Adam Smith, known as the "father of economics." This is because our economic system, capitalism, began in mid-18th century England, almost simultaneously with the Industrial Revolution, which relied on the use of fossil fuels. Adam Smith examined the beginnings of capitalism and predicted its future.

Smith was born 300 years ago in 1723 in Scotland, a kingdom in the northern part of Great Britain. At that time, Scotland was merged with England, a kingdom in the southern part of Great Britain, but it had its own unique culture and traditions and is often compared to the Tohoku region of Japan. Masayoshi Oshikawa, one of the three founders of our university, sought an ideal country in Scotland, which had achieved the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution, and left behind the words, "Let's turn Tohoku into Japan's Scotland." After graduating from the University of Glasgow, Smith studied at the prestigious Oxford University, but lamenting the lack of diligence of the professors at English universities, he returned to Glasgow and became a professor of ethics at the University of Glasgow at the age of 28. At the University of Glasgow, he also befriended James Watt, who had been expelled from the tinsmiths' guild in town for refusing to pass on old techniques and was escaping persecution by working as a science lab assistant. As you may know, Watt was a figure who dramatically expanded productivity by improving the steam engine using coal, a fossil fuel, and spearheaded the Industrial Revolution.

Watt's invention was groundbreaking, but at the time, most industries were "new industries," so it was also the era of venture businesses. Even today, with the invention of GhatGPT, there are high expectations for new businesses incorporating this invention, i.e., venture businesses. The word "venture" includes the meaning of "new industry," but it also carries the meaning of "adventure," and the fact that success is not necessarily guaranteed remains true both then and now. If many venture businesses succeed, capitalism will develop, but if only outdated products can be supplied to the market, capitalism will decline.

Today, I would like to share two important points with you, who are about to enter society, from Smith's view of humanity in capitalism. First, it is important to have the perspective of an "impartial spectator" within yourself. After graduation, you will live as "economic men" (homo economicus), engaged in the production, exchange, and consumption of commodities. You will become agents and stakeholders in your home and workplace, increasing your wealth through labor to make a living. However, your home and work cannot function by yourself alone. You will be concerned about what your parents and children, your spouse, and your colleagues, superiors, and subordinates think of you. Smith points out that, in addition to being an "observer" of your own actions and interests as an agent, you need to have another perspective within yourself—that of an "impartial spectator" free from vested interests—to calmly observe your own and others' positions, and to relativize and objectify your own actions and emotions. In other words, instead of simply pushing your own position and interests, greater progress can be achieved by observing your own and others' positions through the eyes of the "unbiased observer" within yourself, and then restraining yourself to gain acceptance for your own position. From now on, whether or not you can cultivate the eyes of a calm and unbiased "observant" within your heart will greatly change the lives of those of you who will become "business people."

The second point is to place your trust in the "sympathy" that exists between people. Smith's view of the market economy is a theory of pre-established harmony guided by his famous "invisible hand." In a market economy, if each individual pursues their own interests, the "invisible hand" will guide society to allocate resources appropriately, which is ultimately desirable and brings about social prosperity and harmony. In fact, the "economic man" that Smith envisioned was more of a self-interested individual with ambition for self-interest than an altruistic individual who preached love and gave charity. Specifically, he was not an upper class such as kings, nobles, churches, or landowners, but rather a middle-to-lower class such as yeomanlies, independent farmers and artisans who ventured into business in pursuit of their own profits. Currently, with the problem of global warming, Smith's "invisible hand" seems to have failed, and we live in an era where problems cannot be solved by leaving things to self-interest alone. However, Smith points out that there is "sympathy" between people. In other words, humans have a mental capacity to feel emotions when they observe and care about the circumstances of others, even if it doesn't directly affect their own interests. They have the capacity to judge whether the emotions and actions of others are appropriate. Of course, government policy-making will be necessary to solve problems, and international agreements will be necessary, especially to solve the problem of global warming. However, in a market economy, even if one pursues self-interest out of selfishness, they will not gain market support unless they develop products that are supported by others out of "empathy." This is why hybrid and electric cars, which are more environmentally friendly than gasoline cars, sell well. In the age of SDGs, I can't help but feel that this "empathy" between people is like the "invisible hand of God."

Smith's view of humanity was undoubtedly influenced not only by the changing times but also by the rich intellectual background of Christianity. Tohoku Gakuin University is a university founded on Christian character education and has LIFE, LIGHT, LOVE as its school motto. LIFE refers to the importance of life given by God and the importance of individual dignity. LIGHT refers to illuminating the world with the knowledge and skills learned at the university. And LOVE refers to creating relationships of mutual love and service. I pray that your long lives ahead will be blessed by God and contribute to the survival of humankind, and with that, I offer my congratulations. Congratulations on your graduation.

September 30, 2024

Haruki Onishi, President of Tohoku Gakuin University