Series: The Responsibility of the People, Part 8: A Request to the American People

 

When a country goes to war, I’d like to consider the question, “Do the people bear any responsibility?” in the context of Japan and the United States.

I have a request for the American people.

And, I will outline some points of caution for the American people.

 

 

 

A Plea to the American People

 

As far as I can see, the world is plunging into a crisis.

And far from stopping this, the Trump administration is actually exacerbating it.

In recent years, Putin’s war in Ukraine, the AI revolution, global warming, and the U.S.-China conflict have all been accelerating.

Under Trump’s leadership over the past year and a half, the situation has only worsened.

It is clear that Trump lacks both the will and the ability to steer the world and the United States in a positive direction.

The biggest problem is his authoritarian tendencies; given his willingness to lie and commit wrongdoing, there is a high probability he will join forces with dictators in other countries.

As long as the Trump administration remains in power, the world will only get worse.

 

I sincerely hope that sensible American citizens will help the Democratic Party gain a significant number of seats in these midterm elections.

I hope this will lead to Trump’s impeachment, with the support of sensible Republican moderates.

If this does not happen, Trump’s dictatorship will be cemented, and peace and democracy will vanish from the world.

If that happens, the United States may leave a stain on world history.

 

Since entering World War II, the United States has saved the world and worked tirelessly for Japan’s recovery.

The United States has achieved remarkable progress, and the American Dream has been the object of our admiration.

But things have changed now.

 

 

 

Points to Keep in Mind

 

The current political situation in the United States is clearly abnormal.

This is because the problems that have been eroding the country for half a century have been left unaddressed.

While the causes are intricately intertwined, in a nutshell, it can be described as “the rise and fall brought about by arrogance.”

The division within American society has reached a critical stage.

This is partly due to the unaddressed income disparity, but it is also the result of people being manipulated into discriminating against and hating one another.

Over the past two years, I have traveled through eight states across the United States—north, south, east, and west—spending more than a month on each trip.

The towns and people were peaceful, and I witnessed countless instances of kindness, even toward the homeless.

To me, it seemed as though a segment of the American public was being incited, driven into a state of hysteria, and exploited for political gain.

 

 

And precisely because this division is so severe, until a few months ago, I predicted that the United States would never recover.

Incidentally, Emmanuel Todd believes that a U.S. recovery is impossible.

However, starting around mid-September, my despair began to give way to hope.

But even if independent voters swing toward the anti-Trump camp this time, we can’t expect much of a drop in support for the Republican Party and Trump supporters, so at best, we might only see a flip of the Senate and House of Representatives.

 

 

If that happens, it seems the next set of challenges will be waiting after the midterm elections.

For the United States to bounce back, mere partial improvements to its political, social, and economic systems will not suffice.

Fundamental reform—a break from neoliberalism (a shift away from money-driven politics, excessive emphasis on finance, and regressive taxation, and a return to public protection and regulation of labor rights, welfare, and other areas)—is necessary.

Implementing this will require a long and arduous congressional battle with the Republican Party, and it may take 10 to 20 years before tangible results become apparent.

Given that it took the same amount of time for economic inequality to worsen, this may be to be expected.

Will the American people understand this and be able to endure it?

After all, for half a century, they have been led to believe that neoliberalism is the right path.

 

I sincerely hope that the American people will be able to bounce back.

 

 

 

 

There’s one more issue.

 

It concerns the MAGA movement and the evangelicals.

To put it bluntly, good-natured and deeply devout people have, over the course of half a century, created a massive wave of change.

Unfortunately, the direction of that movement ran counter to the scientific age.

Despite sharing the same origins as Europeans, white Christians in the United States have lagged behind Europe in terms of secularization.

Contrary to their intentions, this has brought immense benefits to the wealthy (those with vested interests) and to Jews (who support Israel).

While there were likely various reasons for this delayed secularization, looking solely at the outcome, it appears that kind-hearted, innocent people are being manipulated and exploited.

 

This is an extremely alarming situation, and it must never be dismissed as merely a religious issue.

Something similar to the witch hunts of medieval Europe occurred in the United States after World War II.

Even after the fervor of the “Red Scare” subsided, that hostility toward the “devil” drove the nation toward the Vietnam War.

After all, both Japan and Germany were once swept up in the fervor of fascism, engulfing their entire populations and propelling them toward catastrophe.

 

I cannot think of a way to channel the convictions and passion held by the MAGA movement and evangelicals in a positive direction.

However, maintaining a sense of crisis regarding these issues is essential for improving society.

 

I have written some harsh words to the American people, but Japan, too, has made mistakes in the past.

I wrote this partly as an act of reflection on those mistakes.

Please do your best.

 

 

--Table of Contents---

 

Part 1: Who Is to Blame for the Deterioration?       Japanese and English

Part 2: The Path Chosen by the Imperial Army           Japanese only

Part 3: People Fascinated by Dictatorship               Japanese only

Part 4: What Is the Military Spirit of the Imperial Army?   Japanese only

Part 5: Looking Back on Japan’s Wars                  Japanese only

Part 6: Military Build-up and the Enemy                Japanese only

Part 7: Confronting War                             Japanese only

Part 8: A Request to the American People           Japanese and English

 

 

This concludes this series.

Thank you for reading.

 

 

Series: The Responsibility of the People, Part 1: Who Is to Blame for the Deterioration?

 When a country goes to war, I’d like to consider the question, “Do the people bear any responsibility?” in the context of Japan and the United States.

What Is the Responsibility of the People?

Observing the current situation in the United States, I’ve come to keenly feel the weight of “the people’s responsibility.”

If Trump were to complete his rise to dictatorship and plunge not only the United States but the entire world into a dire situation, whose responsibility would that be?

Trump’s current path is still incomplete, but if left unchecked, he will undoubtedly become a dictator.

While it is certainly true that the responsibility lies with those who propelled him to power, I believe that “the people who elected him also bear some responsibility.”

 

Why is that?

If Trump’s war eventually escalates into a large-scale conflict, causing massive damage and casualties both at home and abroad, who will bear the responsibility?

The United States has waged numerous wars since World War II, and the likelihood of it launching an even larger and more reckless war increases with the rise of a dictator.

If we liken Trump to a demagogue or a con artist, one might think that the American people who were deceived are merely victims and bear no responsibility.

Even in this case, however, the American people would likely bear “responsibility for causing harm to others through negligence.”

While those who voted for Trump should bear the greater share of responsibility, those who allowed this to happen also bear some degree of responsibility.

 

A Delicate Issue

Were the German people, who brought the Nazis and Hitler to power, or the Japanese people, who started the Sino-Japanese War, to blame?

Germany at the time was a democratic nation, and although the Nazis were elected, the establishment of a dictatorship would have been impossible without Hitler’s conspiracy (the Reichstag fire and the exclusion of the Communist Party through the declaration of a state of emergency).

At the very least, it seems that the approximately 30 percent of the population who voted for the Nazis at the time were at fault.

 

At the time the Manchurian Incident began, Japan’s Diet was run by the two major political parties elected through the ballot box.

However, politics was dominated by the military, which sought war, and the will of the people was not reflected in the political process.

It was extremely difficult for the people to rein in the military’s reckless actions (Public Order Maintenance Act, National General Mobilization Act).

Given this, it may be unreasonable to hold the people of that time responsible for any negligence.

 

Nevertheless, subsequently, the people of both nations harbored expectations for and even became enthusiastic about foreign invasions.

 

What about the United States today?

As life has become increasingly difficult for Americans, they were told, “I’ll easily get rid of the people who are making things worse,” and entrusted the solution to that demagogue (Trump).

What made this possible was the long-standing concealment of the truth—including “post-truth” narratives and “alternative facts”—by the entrenched interests.

The true causes of this deterioration lie in half a century of political practices, as I explained in Chapter 4 of the series “An Imminent and Severe Crisis.”

Over the past decade or so, online incitement and fake news have entered the picture.

To make matters worse, religious beliefs have been exploited, leading about one-quarter of Americans to stubbornly believe the agitators.

Even so, nearly half of the population is aware of the agitators’ lies and the danger they pose.

 

Looking at this situation, it seems that about half of the public—including religious people—bears some responsibility for being deceived and incited, but questions remain.

 

Are people who were deceived, incited, and led to make the wrong choice really to blame?

Aren’t they in the same boat as those who were deceived by con artists?

If we’re going to say that, then the German people who were swayed by Hitler’s demagoguery and voted for the Nazis are no different from the Japanese people who, under censorship, were unable to resist military dictatorship.

 

So what about the responsibility of those who tolerate dictatorship in exchange for the realization of religious beliefs—such as “a ban on abortion, opposition to same-sex marriage, and attacks on Palestine linked to the resurrection of Jesus”?

These people praise the authoritarian methods that made such beliefs a reality, yet they do not understand the true horror of dictatorship.

Ahead of the Fuehrer election, Hitler also secured the support of the German Center Party (a Catholic-affiliated party) by promising to protect the Church in exchange for their votes.

Shouldn’t politicians who exploit religious organizations for political gain in this manner be the ones held accountable?

 

When a country heads in the wrong direction, its citizens—though their individual power may be limited—are constantly faced with important choices.

Let’s take a closer look at this issue.

 

 

---Table of Contents---

 

Part 1: Who Is to Blame for the Deterioration?       Japanese and English

Part 2: The Path Chosen by the Imperial Army           Japanese only

Part 3: People Fascinated by Dictatorship               Japanese only

Part 4: What Is the Military Spirit of the Imperial Army?   Japanese only

Part 5: Looking Back on Japan’s Wars                  Japanese only

Part 6: Military Build-up and the Enemy                Japanese only

Part 7: Confronting War                             Japanese only

Part 8: A Request to the American People           Japanese and English

 

 

To be continued in the next episode.

 

 

連載 国民の責任 7； 戦争に向き合う

  

国が戦争を始めた時、「国民に責任があるのか」、日本と米国について考えます。

 

三つの隣り合う独裁国について

 

日本と戦争の可能性が最も高いロシア、北朝鮮、中国について考えます。

ロシアは最大の脅威です。

プーチンは狂気の独裁者で、隣国侵攻を繰り返している。

ウクライナ戦争の結果次第で、日本との戦争が起こるかもしれません。

ウクライナを支援し、ロシアへの用心を怠らないことです。

ロシアと中国がこれ以上他国へ侵攻しなければ、北朝鮮の危険性は低いでしょう。

日本にとって、一番重要なのは中国です。

私は、長年中国を旅行し見て来ましたが、ロシアに比べ暴発の可能性は低いと考えます。

国民は数十年にかけて非常に豊かになり、発展が全土に行きわたっています。

同じ独裁国家でも、ロシアに比べれば民度が向上し、それが経済や技術の発展に表れています。

 

つまり、日本は中国との外交交渉に力を入れるべきで、断絶は絶対に避けるべきです。

中国がロシアから離れ、欧米と敵対しないようになれば、安全保障上ベストでしょう。

ロシアも北朝鮮もさらなる暴挙に出にくくなる。

もしトランプと一緒になり、中国と対立を深めるなら、中国・ロシア・北朝鮮の同盟は強固になり、最悪となります。

米国は、共産主義を敵視し過ぎであり、特にトランプ政権下では身勝手で、独裁者に友好的なので注意が必要です。

トランプが大統領職を退けば、米国は良識を取り戻し、ウクライナと東アジアにとって良くなるはずです。

 

 

 

 

戦争を起こさない為に

　

最後に日本国民について考えます。

 

第５話で「戦争の再発防止策」を提示しました。

これらを達成するには、大きな障害を乗り越えなければなりません。

それは「タテ社会」「村意識」「高い帰属意識」「家父長制」で言い表される日本の基底文化と関りがあります。

これは日本の長所でもあり欠点でもあります。

 

 

 

第４話で「神風特別攻撃隊」について見たように、日本国民は周囲の状況に合わせ、自分を押し殺し、黙々と従う傾向が強い。

この傾向は、今も変わりません。

これは団結力を生むので長所となるのですが、組織全員がトップの方針に従い猪突猛進してしまうことになります。

天皇や社長の命令であれば、善悪は横に置いて、目標達成に一丸となって行動します。

この時、間違いを正すような行為は裏切りとみなされ、内部告発は粛清されます。

したがって他の組織とは、往々にして意見が合いません。

例えは陸軍と海軍、財務省と通産省、それぞれが自分の領分を守るだけで、全体を見ることが出来ない。

このような組織文化にあっては、組織に馴染む人間が、他から見て道を外した行為をしても、組織は彼らを守るようになります（ダブルスタンダード）。

軍の中堅が満州事変、五・一五事件、盧溝橋事件で無法な事をしても軽く済んだ理由が、これです。

 

 

 

当時も今も、日本では組織から国まで、間違ったまま突っ走り易い。

治安維持法や国家総動員令など、国民を統制する法律が安易に制定され、運用がどんどん厳しくなるのも、日本の精神文化のなせる業です。

日本には、民主主義が育ち難い土壌があるのです。

 

私達は、最低でも、この精神文化を理解し反省しながら、社会や国の運営に携わり、チェックする必要があるのです。

実は、この精神文化は、千年に及ぶ東アジアの農耕文化に起因しており、島国の日本が特に古い形で強く受け継がれて来たのです。

このことが、ロシアや中国が共産主義の独裁に、日本がファシズムに馴染んだ理由なのです。

 

 

 

 

 

天皇と日本の独裁

 

 

 

微妙な問題です。

卑近な例ですが、薬中の人が、禁断症状が出た時に、薬物に手を出すのと似ています。

平安末期から明治維新まで、天皇は政権交代時に、次の支配者に祀り上げられ、正当性表明に利用され続けた。

この手は海外でもよく使われるのですが、日本は海外（異民族）からの政府転覆が無かった為に、万世一系を唱え易く、非常に有効だったのです。

この事と、上述の日本の精神文化がうまく適合して、明治以降の政体が太平洋戦争まで続いたのです。

統帥権の問題は一例ですが、政府と軍は天皇を祀り上げ利用し、縋り続けた。

 

翻ってみると、日本の軍国主義には明確な独裁者はいなかった。

天皇から陸軍の東条まで、一人に権力が集中し権限を振るって戦争を始めたのではない。

どちらかと言うと、軍（歴代首脳と多数の中堅幹部）、内閣（歴代首相と多数の大臣）、そして数人の天皇が、逐次、戦争開始と継続に加担しており、一人の責任に特定できない。

逆に言えば、無責任体制こそが元凶と言える。

 

 

最後に

　

日本は素晴らしい国であり、自然や文化は誇れると私は思う。

しかし、国が大きく進むとか徐々に衰退する時、その方向づけや、コントールに国民も政治もうまく対応できない欠点を持っているように思う。

これらの欠点に気が付いて日本を良い方向に牽引してくれる指導者が出ることを心より願います。

 

--目次---

 

１話；悪化の責任は誰に

２話；皇軍が選んだ道

３話；独裁に魅了された人々

４話；皇軍の軍人魂とは

５話；日本の戦争を振り返る

６話；軍備と敵について

７話；戦争に向き合う

８話；米国民へのお願い

 

 

次回に続きます。