I wonder if he makes controversial statements (that are like stinkbombs in a packed train during rush hours,
they're that nasty at times) to make people around sit up and take notice, and most importantly, start thinking?
:nerd:
Just to touch a bit on the war criminals' memorial issue... it seems that for the most part, the human society is
behaving as instinctively as they were centuries ago, civilised or no. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great... they're
mostly revered nowadays in our historical texts for their military genius, their deeds on the human society buffered by
time into acts of near-mythical greatness. Yet for those who were directly affected by their invasive conquests back
then, their names probably figured only in the vilest curses, the scourge of all they hold dear.
Well, they're mostly revered nowadays. Due to the buffering effects of time, the passing memories of humankind with
each generation, and most probably because there weren't that many left alive from back then to complain loudly
now. A difference in the historical stories between then and our last 2 World Wars were whether the antagonistic side
won or lost. In all likelihood, had the Allied Forces failed in the last one, the resulting human society would have
hailed Hitler as the founding father of the united human world or something along those lines ("All hail
Lelouch!" :sweat:), war atrocities or no. A few centuries further would blur it into a historical fact. That's
how laughable the instincts of humankind can steer their behaviour, for all the so-called knowledge and wisdom.
China has historically been a war-plagued country (just count the number of ruling dynasties for a start :o ), Europe an
established stage for military conflicts, and perhaps, just perhaps, a mention of the native American Indians might be
made in a hushed whisper. All across the globe, we've fought each other, except maybe for places like the Antartic,
where fighting for survival is paramount compared to fighting each other (probably they've got conflicts there too,
just less well-known to the rest of the world). The active memory just has enough space to remember the last few big
ones with a passion, and even with those, time does its work.
To date, the Chinese population still remembers the deeds from the Japanese incursion during WWII like a raw wound
:angry:, those from the fall of the Qing dynasty by the western forces as a smarting bruise :angry:, but ask about the
shame when the previous Ming dynasty fell to the invading Manchu forces due in large to the act of a turncoat...
there'll be blank looks from most, shrugs from some, while the historians will be relating events like a fictional
tale :x. With countries having active border conflicts, though, mention of their erstwhile neighbours will usually set
their blood boiling. :angry:
In military conflicts, there are almost always those whose character and honour will elevate them from falling to the
levels of scum; those who take the opportunity to behave like scum; those who are scum by default; those who are plain
miserable and confused by it all and going with the flow; those who go "oh well" and behave like scum since
everyone else is doing so; those who behave like scum because of anger at losing comrades and friends; the general
behaviour says a lot about the character of the most influential military leaders in any army.
I have nothing against praying at a war memorial shrine if the aim is simply to pray for the fallen to be at rest
(I'm a Singaporean, check out wiki on the Japanese Occupation if you like :nerd:) ; there are bound to be
individuals who deserve at least that, despite the scum within who do not. But it does seem a bit fishy, how often
Japanese politicians keep going there and end up hitting news columns. Old ladies visiting for the same reason never
seem to show up in the news. This trend among politicians hasn't been prominently observed yet among any other
country (well, there ain't any reports yet), and oddly, there are rather persistant accusive RUMORS of japanese
historical texts being slyly modified to glorify judged war criminals into martyrs and heroes. The fact that something
like this is being brought up is an indicator that there probably is something going on. If true, pity the fallen whose
descendents shame them by with dishonourable deeds. Of course, as yet, plain RUMORS.
Oops, I seem to have gone way off topic. Have another controversial cookie then:
Spoiler (show)
"Will the next USA President be establishing a war memorial to honour those fallen pioneers in the conflicts
that nearly eradicated the native American Indians on the continent? :sweat: And pay regular visits to it with full
fanfare?" x_x
Like, after all, if they hadn't been so bloody-handed as a whole, there wouldn't be the present-day USA,
right? * :pacman:waits for hypothetical civil war to break out :pacman:* Thankfully, their descendents seem to have
learned something in establishing Freedom, Justice, and Equality into their country's Code. Thankfully.
-_-
Back to the sidedish (uh, topic), otaku aside, it seems the world can expect some rather odd decisions from Aso.
Hopefully, as wild as his attitude seems, they'll be the right starters to push the human society out from
it's present stagnancy towards a benign ("Where's the world rushing off to? Its destruction?" :\)
progress and improvement, especially for issues on green energy, the economy, and environmental revivification.
Hope he's not secretly practicing the Haruhi dance! :D
