Ian Buruma's recent Yomiuri op-ed, Japan's Unfinished Reformation, about how the Obama administration "has barely concealed its contempt for the DPJ" is now on line.
Revolutions, it is often claimed, do not happen when people are desperate. They occur in times of rising expectations. Perhaps this is why they so often end in disappointment. Expectations, usually set too high to begin with, fail to be met, resulting in anger, disillusion, and often in acts of terrifying violence.
And, as he notes, disillusionment has already set in.
The Nobel Prize in Peace 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". nobelprize.org
*It was certainly "barely" concealed for PM Hatoyama.
3:30PM: Edited to correct the incorrect spelling of Buruma as pointed out politely in the comments. I cannot spell, but neither can Google spell check.
Friday, August 20, 2010
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Thanks for the link, I always enjoy thinking over what Mr. Buruma comes up with (check your spelling of Buruma....).
ReplyDeleteThanks, I corrected it.
ReplyDeleteThere are mixed feeling about the Okinawa issue here in the US. Many people think that we are over extended with our US bases, and that people ought to let security be handled internationally. Others are war hawks who depend on military funding.
ReplyDeleteGuess who is the loudest.
Oh, I don't know. That's a hard one. The latter?
ReplyDelete