Series: The Responsibility of the People, Part 1: Who Is to Blame for the Deterioration?

 

 When a country goes to war, I’d like to consider the question, “Do the people bear any responsibility?” in the context of Japan and the United States.

What Is the Responsibility of the People?

Observing the current situation in the United States, I’ve come to keenly feel the weight of “the people’s responsibility.”

If Trump were to complete his rise to dictatorship and plunge not only the United States but the entire world into a dire situation, whose responsibility would that be?

Trump’s current path is still incomplete, but if left unchecked, he will undoubtedly become a dictator.

While it is certainly true that the responsibility lies with those who propelled him to power, I believe that “the people who elected him also bear some responsibility.”

 

Why is that?

If Trump’s war eventually escalates into a large-scale conflict, causing massive damage and casualties both at home and abroad, who will bear the responsibility?

The United States has waged numerous wars since World War II, and the likelihood of it launching an even larger and more reckless war increases with the rise of a dictator.

If we liken Trump to a demagogue or a con artist, one might think that the American people who were deceived are merely victims and bear no responsibility.

Even in this case, however, the American people would likely bear “responsibility for causing harm to others through negligence.”

While those who voted for Trump should bear the greater share of responsibility, those who allowed this to happen also bear some degree of responsibility.

 

A Delicate Issue

Were the German people, who brought the Nazis and Hitler to power, or the Japanese people, who started the Sino-Japanese War, to blame?

Germany at the time was a democratic nation, and although the Nazis were elected, the establishment of a dictatorship would have been impossible without Hitler’s conspiracy (the Reichstag fire and the exclusion of the Communist Party through the declaration of a state of emergency).

At the very least, it seems that the approximately 30 percent of the population who voted for the Nazis at the time were at fault.

 

At the time the Manchurian Incident began, Japan’s Diet was run by the two major political parties elected through the ballot box.

However, politics was dominated by the military, which sought war, and the will of the people was not reflected in the political process.

It was extremely difficult for the people to rein in the military’s reckless actions (Public Order Maintenance Act, National General Mobilization Act).

Given this, it may be unreasonable to hold the people of that time responsible for any negligence.

 

Nevertheless, subsequently, the people of both nations harbored expectations for and even became enthusiastic about foreign invasions.

 

What about the United States today?

As life has become increasingly difficult for Americans, they were told, “I’ll easily get rid of the people who are making things worse,” and entrusted the solution to that demagogue (Trump).

What made this possible was the long-standing concealment of the truth—including “post-truth” narratives and “alternative facts”—by the entrenched interests.

The true causes of this deterioration lie in half a century of political practices, as I explained in Chapter 4 of the series “An Imminent and Severe Crisis.”

Over the past decade or so, online incitement and fake news have entered the picture.

To make matters worse, religious beliefs have been exploited, leading about one-quarter of Americans to stubbornly believe the agitators.

Even so, nearly half of the population is aware of the agitators’ lies and the danger they pose.

 

Looking at this situation, it seems that about half of the public—including religious people—bears some responsibility for being deceived and incited, but questions remain.

 

Are people who were deceived, incited, and led to make the wrong choice really to blame?

Aren’t they in the same boat as those who were deceived by con artists?

If we’re going to say that, then the German people who were swayed by Hitler’s demagoguery and voted for the Nazis are no different from the Japanese people who, under censorship, were unable to resist military dictatorship.

 

So what about the responsibility of those who tolerate dictatorship in exchange for the realization of religious beliefs—such as “a ban on abortion, opposition to same-sex marriage, and attacks on Palestine linked to the resurrection of Jesus”?

These people praise the authoritarian methods that made such beliefs a reality, yet they do not understand the true horror of dictatorship.

Ahead of the Fuehrer election, Hitler also secured the support of the German Center Party (a Catholic-affiliated party) by promising to protect the Church in exchange for their votes.

Shouldn’t politicians who exploit religious organizations for political gain in this manner be the ones held accountable?

 

When a country heads in the wrong direction, its citizens—though their individual power may be limited—are constantly faced with important choices.

Let’s take a closer look at this issue.

 

 

---Table of Contents---

 

Part 1: Who Is to Blame for the Deterioration?       Japanese and English

Part 2: The Path Chosen by the Imperial Army           Japanese only

Part 3: People Fascinated by Dictatorship               Japanese only

Part 4: What Is the Military Spirit of the Imperial Army?   Japanese only

Part 5: Looking Back on Japan’s Wars                  Japanese only

Part 6: Military Build-up and the Enemy                Japanese only

Part 7: Confronting War                             Japanese only

Part 8: A Request to the American People           Japanese and English

 

 

To be continued in the next episode.