Interesting Japanese Observation

[Wannabefree]

I just prefer to see the good in all people. It isn't necessarily one people group or another. a lot has to do with circumstance as well. Japan HAS indeed been to hell and back the last few generations, so of course they will be "closer knit" as a group. I like that they seem to be a people of integrity and honor, but it is not exclusive to them, nor is it exclusive to anyone else. Righteousness knows no racial boundaries, and comparison of them and their circumstance and their reactions to Americans...well it's just not a good comparison.

Let me simplify it to explain exactly what I mean. Take a kid who grew up in a loving household, who was thoroughly given opportunity and needs were provided etc. etc. and another who had to work for every single need that got met and had little to no opportunity unless (s)he created that opportunity for himself. BOTH people are righteous and honorable people, both are compassionate, look after the elderly, give to those in need, etc. now that they are grown. Who would be the better person? The answer is neither. They are both good people, from very different backgrounds, and with very differing experiences. Just because the one was provided for, and the other provided for himself, that doesn't negate the end product.

Furthermore in every people group or culture there are those who are unrighteous, who would rob you blind while you're looking right at them, or would just as soon to kill you as see you again. It's called humankind and I just don't believe it is exclusive to any one area or ethnic group.

YES Japanese are handling this really well as far as anyone can tell from what the media is putting out. YES they are good people, and YES they are loyal to their elderly. Americans are good to their elderly in a different way, by setting up a government retirement fund to see them through their golden years. Nevermind that it obviously is going to crap at the moment, the intent was well drawn out. I guarantee though, in the coming years when SS is tapped out, you will see more and more American families hosting their elderly parents in their homes, as opposed to putting them out on the street. We WON'T just discard them. It won't happen. We will keep them up, feed them, and love them just like any other good family would do for their loved ones. It has to do with creating the circumstance to make it necessary. In Japan, they have no such fund for their elderly, so it could be said just as well that they don't care...IF you're not looking at the big picture.

It's all in the eyes of the beholder. when I look at America AS A WHOLE I see a great people, and when I look at Japan, I see another great people that is different from my own, and that is all.

 

[okiegirl1]

http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/?gt1=38001

I guess I'm not alone in my opinion.

 

[Buster]

http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/?gt1=38001

I guess I'm not alone in my opinion.

Loved this paragraph...

"Organized crime. Police aren't the only ones on patrol since the earthquake hit. Members of the Yakuza, Japan's organized crime syndicate, have also been enforcing order. All three major crime groupsthe Yamaguchi-gumi, the Sumiyoshi-kai, and the Inagawa-kaihave "compiled squads to patrol the streets of their turf and keep an eye out to make sure looting and robbery doesn't occur," writes Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, in an e-mail message. "The Sumiyoshi-kai claims to have shipped over 40 tons of [humanitarian aid] supplies nationwide and I believe that's a conservative estimate." One group has even opened its Tokyo offices to displaced Japanese and foreigners who were stranded after the first tremors disabled public transportation. "As one Sumiyoshi-kai boss put it to me over the phone," says Adelstein, " 'In times of crisis, there are not Yakuza and civilians or foreigners. There are only human beings and we should help each other.' " Even during times of peace, the Yakuza enforce order, says Adelstein. They make their money off extortion, prostitution, and drug trafficking. But they consider theft grounds for expulsion."

 

[savingdogs]

Our cultures are different, and each have its pros and cons.

I lived in L.A. during the time of the Rodney King Riots. No diasaster at all had to strike for lawlessness to break out. I watched familiar streets and stores on television as people ran in willy-nilly to take stuff. Those were the same people I had been driving past and shopping with, etc., for years and I was dumbfounded.

I have never again trusted to be in large groups of people during a disaster. I'd rather be in the country where there are few folks. I think you would be more likely to encounter the folks who want to band together and help one another as opposed to in the city. We did have times after earthquakes when our neighbors were pretty awesome people, but the experience with the riots left a real bad taste in my mouth for Los Angeles.

 

[MsPony]

Morals? Uhm, have you ever heard of human trafficking? Have you ever driven past a massage parlor?

I applaud their community effort, that should be in every country/state/city/town/neighborhood. But I can't imagine how many women and children have been taken advantage of or shipped off because of this tragedy. My stomach is turning, just like everynight when I drive past the two massage parlors on my way home which is less then a mile.

 

[Dunkopf]

Mankind is human. There will always be trafficking in children and forced prostitution. Doesn't matter what the culture is. One of the highest level organizations in the world that represent Christians is infested with child abusers. Most of the goods we purchase in this country are produced in countries with no child labor laws with 10 and 12 year old children working 12 hour days with very little pay. Granted their parents work in the same conditions but it's still not right. Those same countries provide a large chunk of the human trafficking.

As a society, the Japanese do seem to be more civilized than a lot of other civilized societies. They still have plenty of issues though.

 

[okiegirl1]

Morals? Uhm, have you ever heard of human trafficking? Have you ever driven past a massage parlor?

I applaud their community effort, that should be in every country/state/city/town/neighborhood. But I can't imagine how many women and children have been taken advantage of or shipped off because of this tragedy. My stomach is turning, just like everynight when I drive past the two massage parlors on my way home which is less then a mile.

But Pony, that is here. We have a huge problem with human trafficking. How do you know those massage parlors by your house are full of trafficked women? Someone has to keep them here. There are tons of forced prostutition rings here. Child abusers are protected here by this justice system. Even if they do go to jail, they are in protected custody. The worst of the worst that you can say about Japan is here too.

Now, I'm not saying Japan is the mecca end all be all country. I love being here. I'm just saying they are an example how to act in a crisis. As I said before, the people of Katrina were an embarrassment to us, as a nation.

 

[MsPony]

Someone said they had morals, despite high culture standards...I don't think there's a place on this earth with morals. They def do have high culture standards, but america is also a melting pot. My friends family is jewish, they take care of their elders at some point until they pass. They also preach community in this jewish faith. But that's just the jews, america itself isn't jewish.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I don't think it says much about our "culture" at all. I think it says much much more about our justice system, and our media, but not our culture. I'm not sure that I know a lot of folks who would steal during a crisis situation. I don't hang out with those people. I know a lot of folks who would go door to door checking on elderly neighbors, a lot who would voluntarily be digging through rubble to help rescue those who were missing, and a great deal more who would open up shelters for displaced people and feed them. Yes, a small percentage of the population would turn to theivery and mischeif, but they do NOT represent MY culture at all. Just sayin I love America!

I think of MY culture as those who sacrifice to give to others(our soldiers, teachers, pastors, policemen, etc. etc.), those who make charitable donations all over the world and home as well out of their own pockets. America is good. Media would have a different picture painted of us :/ Generally speaking, the good stories aren't blood and guts enough to get much attention these days

So, in short, I think things would be rough, but not inpossible for us to rise to the occassion, God forbid such occassion ever be faced again. I say AGAIN, because...9-11 was almost as large of a loss in human life, and look how we reacted to that. Katrina, again, MOST people were actually helpful but less of them got media coverage than the gun toting idiot thugs that were left behind to loot and wreak havoc.

Personally I think this says a lot about the Japanese media

I agree with WBF(gotta love that name). I love America, too and spent 40 years of my life in her uniform to defend the Constitution of the United States. Therefore it is also clear that any and all who want to be free have to also realize and accept that freedom isn't FREE. It costs the blood of our soldiers and people to defend it and be vigilant at all times so that we don't lose it. There is NO SHORTAGE of people in this world who would take it from us in a heartbeat.

BUT,this is not about differences in "culture". It is a reflection of a number of complex issues. The color of this entire string appears to in many cases) villify our "American" culture. Nothing could be farther from the truth. NOT everyone who happens to live in America is part of the "AMERICAN" (i.e. citizen of the United States of America) culture. We are still reeling in the "melting pot" mentality because so many come here and feel they should FORCE us to conform to the "culture" they LEFT rather than adapt to ours. Those who violate our rules are NOT examples of our "American" culture.

Certainly we have seen this with the recent and ongoing religious tolerance issues with folks who profess the Islamic religion. They feel we are all infidels if we do not conform to THEIR religion. That is THEIR culture...not ours. In our "AMERICAN" culture, you are free to do as you wish with respect to religion, but are NOT free to kill those who do not conform to your cultural standards. The state of Arizona is actively fighting a war to preserve their peace and tranquility that is being destroyed by a "culture" who feels it is OK to come here illegally and "re-conquista!" I wonder how many of us are interested in preventing that from getting worse?

Then there is the interesting consideration we see here where folks are ready to canonize the Japanese culture because no one is reporting looting or disaster associated crime. While I admit there may be less reporting of it, the age old question arises "is there more disease or more reporting of the same incidence of disease?"
So it seems that the real question/issue is REPORTING rather than prevalence or incidence.

Along with this should come at least some memory of history. I was born in late 1949. Yes, that is pretty old to some of you.
But I can assure you that my parents and yours as well do NOT canonize the "Japanese Culture" as evidenced by the years of severe cruelty and horror cast upon the people of the world by the Japanese. I'll bet a few of you lost fathers or grandfathers to that war.

While I did NOT have to fight in that war, and I do NOT hold a grudge against anyone, regardless of race, creed or national origin, it is important to remember history. Those who ignore history are destined to suffer from a repeat of it in the future.

Yes, the Japanese people now are NOT the folks who instigated nor participated in WW II, but we are talking about "culture" here. Hopefully, the Japanese "culture" learned from that series of events and "changed their ways".

Now we return to the discussion of "American"culture. We in the "American" culture are accustomed to helping our neighbor in times of peace as well as times of tragedy. We have been taught to NOT STEAL from our neighbor regardless of times of peace or time of tragedy. The "American" culture was founded on about 10 Laws that have been banned from display in public places because of the desires of a few who would like to destroy our "American" culture. Frankly, I have no problem with the 10 Commandments in public or any place. They are the rules by which (if followed) people can co-exist in the world in peace and harmony.

We do NOT subscribe to the concept of slavery or personal servitude or indenture. We were the country in the world that abolished debtors prisons and indentured servitude. People flocked to this country by the thousands to seek this freedom.

If those things exist here now, they were brought here by folks from other "cultures" who are basically criminals. What we are seeing is that they are trying to turn OUR country into a "Nation of Outlaws" and we the "American" Culture folks are taking the beating for their bad behavior. I say no thanks. The great tragedy is that they are being progressively more successful. When will WE stop THAT?

The problem is not with our system of law, but it is an inherent weakness in our character which we call "compassion" which was built into our system of law. We believe (in the AMERICAN culture") in the concept of compassion (another of those philosophical pursuits generally attributed to a carpenter from Nazareth) and that anyone accused of a crime is entitled to be treated as innocent until proven guilty by a fair and speedy trial.

As a result, the folks who come here and truly wish to destroy our "American" culture have learned that they can commit crime and do everything they can to destroy OUR culture because OUR laws PROTECT them from US! This is absurd. They have learned to adapt and avoid the law by hiding behind its protections. What is going on here? They have so overloaded our judicial system that it can not even meet the bare minimums of its own mandates because of the number of offenses committed.

To complicate this is the fact that congress has enacted so many laws and rules that there is NO ONE who isn't guilty of some infraction of those laws, frequently without the possibility of knowing they even exist as law. How absurd is that?

A few months ago, the state legislature of SD had a bill before it requiring all citizens to own a firearm and carry one. This of course did NOT pass, but the issue is quite simple. You can't come here, commit crime and expect us to sit passively by while you benefit from your crime having committed that crime against the people of SD. I thought it was a brilliant EFFORT TO MAKE A VERY STRONG STATEMENT, but knew it would never pass the legislature.

The point remains the same. The Japanese people are dealing with their problems and if they are doing so in a peaceful and respectable manner to each other then certainly folks in this country should benefit from that EXAMPLE as long as that is the TRUTH.

The problem though is that the folks who are guilty of that behavior regardless of where they are in the world are the ones who need to learn it, not US. Admittedly, shooting them as they loot would certainly make the point (as well as solve a multitude of problems such as spending money to house them and feed them in prison) but our laws protect them from being shot while they loot so what's to stop them? In some cases in OUR CULTURE (as some call it) the criminal SUCCESSFULLY sues the homeowner for "illegal imprisonment" because he couldn't get out of the garage in which he was locked by his own stupidity without the homeowner even being there!

Certainly there aren't enough law enforcement personnel to contain all that crime. The Japanese have their organized crime "Yakuza" (read mafia) who patrol the streets, maintain order and strengthen their own influence in those areas. Is that what WE as Americans want to happen? No thanks, that does NOT appeal to me.

This is why we here at SSF live in the areas *(by and large) where we are NOT exposed to these breaches in OUR culture. We take care of ourselves, believe as we wish, take care of our neighbors and generally contribute to the welfare of our country and the world as a whole thus attempting "to form a more perfect uinion, ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense."

YMMV
Sorry for the length...

 

[Shiloh Acres]