I just talked to a co-worker of mine about the current teacher's union in Japan.After World War II, the country was so traumatized by the poverty and despair that had gripped the nation that the forced propagandizing of students by teachers, one of the main catalysts that brought about violent Japanese nationalism, was banned. The current motto of the teacher's union today translates to, "Never again will we teach our children to go off to war."
Has America not lost enough of its citizens yet to assume this mentality? Granted, we don't promote the same type of nationalism in schools, but why haven't our politicians stepped up and started preaching this message? What is the death/pain threshold that must be crossed before a country changes its course of action in regards to its foreign policy?
If, as history suggests, a country's future survival is partly related to its ability to reflect on its behavior, its ability to change when its current methods of operation fail, America is facing a dismal future.
3 comments:
i clearly remember teaching about WWII in English class and the message not being about who had won, or who had been right or wrong, but about observing the damage caused by war. I wish this was a greater focus in our schools as well.
this is so relevant! that motto completely contradicts abe's educational reforms.... his crazy rantings about teaching "national pride in a beautiful japan" are nothing but thinly veiled rallying calls for a return to nationalism in japanese schools..... scary stuff!
good luck with the bike and the vaseline
-vicki in himi.
You write very well.
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