sabro said:
I used to be appalled by the inhumanity of dropping such a horrendous weapon- especially on the targets that were chosen, and I still am. But I was born twenty years after the event, and the context of WWII has to be taken into consideration.
I am interested that your views had shifted from one to another; well so have mine, although in opposite directions. I wonder what might have been the turning point for you. Well, to speak for myself, getting to know a couple of Japanese persons came first. I would say that was a positive thing for me because they were really nice people. Then watching Japanese film/anime like Akira and Gojira gave me a sense of what might be working in the minds of these Japanese artists. Not that anybody said anything, but I began to see the inhumanity of the bombing. But that's only me.
I think this is important because people tend to forget how nasty an implement this was. I think when people see that 9000 Iraqi civillians were killed in the invasion, they shrug those lives off. When the US continues to spend more money on better nuclear technology even without the Soviet threat, when military spending far outstrips humanitarian aid, when the former Soviet Union can't even account for half of its bombs and material, that this is an important issue.
To "forget" and to "shrug those lives off" is probably not an act of free will. I suspect, well again speaking for myself, firstly "ignorance," and secondly, the inability to process any decision because it is beyond my scope and too overwhelming. You do understand that "ignorance" and "being overwhelmed" are not contradictory, btw. Important yes, but that's a formal decision only, a kind of passive admission that it "should be important," not necessarily that I realize the magnitude of its true significance. It probably will take me time and other things for that to happen. I don't know about others, though....
sabro said:
So someone should chime in and set me straight. American imperialists like me that justify the incineration of a hundred thousand civillians in the name of peace deserve to be taken to task- especially by those who were targeted by this atrocious act.
Why do you wish to be criticized? I'm sure it's not because you enjoy the excitement of heated debates or winning an argument. Curiosity, of course we are all curious beings, but that also counts out as the primary reason. So why?
As a matter of fact, you raised an important point that I tend to agree to.
Why are there no Japanese flags in this thread, or the previous one?
Is it a language thing? Do you think if we posted a Japanese version of the poll somewhere, it will get some reasonable number of responses from Japanese individuals? But I thought we had many Japanese members already. Should we try the Japanese subforum? Or even somewhere else? Or is it too remote, timewise, or taboo for our Japanese members to talk about these things?