Unfortunately, the past war crimes, were horrific and the lack of accountability for them remains an issue. I can not speak for the average Japanese citizen but I have a feeling most of the Japanese people are ashamed of the cult of personality of their past leaders and wish the current government would handle things like the controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine differently. Much like most American’s don’t support Trumpism.
But do they support literally any other of our war criminal presidents? Why do you all act like America was somehow a force for good and not terror before Trump was elected?
Fair point, the history or US “gun-ship diplomacy”, Banana Republics, School of the America’s, Domino Theory inspired coup d’etat’s in Chile, Iran, and a dozen other places is nothing to be proud of but you have to understand that like many other places in the world much of these act’s were done covertly or couched in a steady stream of propaganda. Regular people have been fed the idea of “American Exceptionalism” most of their lives with little access to alternative narratives or if they did questions the system they were branded “radicals” or “Un-American”. You could find counter-narratives but they typically were isolated and the “counter culture” was even famously targeted by the Nixon administrations and FBI in the 60’s (e.g, COINTELPRO) but un-covering these programs required a lot of effort but because of the changing tide of less conservative and corrupt supreme court judges and a strong middle class (aka a modern educated bourgeoisie) and the existing frame work of the the Bill of Rights and Constitution along with the iterative amendments there was progress in the Rule of Law. This was also aided by legal tools like the Freedom of Information Act along with the Fifth Estate in bringing the truth to light. However, there have been strong forces by American Oligarchic’s and organizations they fund such as the Federalist Society working tirelessly to undermine these changes. Understanding this requires a level of effort beyond the typical citizen especially as the middle class has been steadily eroded and most people are just struggling to survive economically. Not to mention the proliferation of conspiratorial thinking like Q-Anon and other miss-information. So I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s complicated and it’s easy for regular citizens to often believe what they are told or want to believe things that make them feel good or not even have a voice in the actions of their own government at all. This isn’t just a United State or Japan problem it’s a constant problem in many nation states around the world and the history of societies. To your specific point of “why do you all act like America was somehow a force for good and not terror” a lot of us don’t! Maybe take a look at some of the work of English philosopher and physician John Lock because I’m just trying to keep a roof over my head and enough food and other basics like most people on this planet.
Unfortunately, the past war crimes, were horrific and the lack of accountability for them remains an issue. I can not speak for the average Japanese citizen but I have a feeling most of the Japanese people are ashamed of the cult of personality of their past leaders and wish the current government would handle things like the controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine differently. Much like most American’s don’t support Trumpism.
But do they support literally any other of our war criminal presidents? Why do you all act like America was somehow a force for good and not terror before Trump was elected?
Fair point, the history or US “gun-ship diplomacy”, Banana Republics, School of the America’s, Domino Theory inspired coup d’etat’s in Chile, Iran, and a dozen other places is nothing to be proud of but you have to understand that like many other places in the world much of these act’s were done covertly or couched in a steady stream of propaganda. Regular people have been fed the idea of “American Exceptionalism” most of their lives with little access to alternative narratives or if they did questions the system they were branded “radicals” or “Un-American”. You could find counter-narratives but they typically were isolated and the “counter culture” was even famously targeted by the Nixon administrations and FBI in the 60’s (e.g, COINTELPRO) but un-covering these programs required a lot of effort but because of the changing tide of less conservative and corrupt supreme court judges and a strong middle class (aka a modern educated bourgeoisie) and the existing frame work of the the Bill of Rights and Constitution along with the iterative amendments there was progress in the Rule of Law. This was also aided by legal tools like the Freedom of Information Act along with the Fifth Estate in bringing the truth to light. However, there have been strong forces by American Oligarchic’s and organizations they fund such as the Federalist Society working tirelessly to undermine these changes. Understanding this requires a level of effort beyond the typical citizen especially as the middle class has been steadily eroded and most people are just struggling to survive economically. Not to mention the proliferation of conspiratorial thinking like Q-Anon and other miss-information. So I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s complicated and it’s easy for regular citizens to often believe what they are told or want to believe things that make them feel good or not even have a voice in the actions of their own government at all. This isn’t just a United State or Japan problem it’s a constant problem in many nation states around the world and the history of societies. To your specific point of “why do you all act like America was somehow a force for good and not terror” a lot of us don’t! Maybe take a look at some of the work of English philosopher and physician John Lock because I’m just trying to keep a roof over my head and enough food and other basics like most people on this planet.
It’s just a topical example, but what aboutism that.