Hi! It's been really cold lately, and I'm having a very difficult time getting up and getting out of my bed every morning. Does anyone know how to get out of the bed during winter? lol Because I really need to know. I spend like 30 minutes or even longer in my bed every morning after the alarm went off because it's so cold! I do turn on the AC but still, being in my bed is way more comfortable than getting up. I wish I were more punctual and organized. I'm a lazy person by nature. lol I know I should get out of my comfort zone to make a change, and it's never easy to make a change, but as I said, I am a lazy person, and I'm too lazy to get out of my comfort zone. Ok, that was a joke... I hope it really was a joke... lol But if you have any tip or hack on how to get up smoothly every morning during winter, please let me know.
Alright, so today, I would like to talk about free speech. I am talking about this because lately, I feel like this really basic human right is in danger. Ah, I already hear some oppositions claiming what I have just said is untrue. We do not live in a world where freedom of speech is explicitly oppressed, like the world of 1984 by George Orwell. Freedom of speech is protected by law. We will not be imprisoned by criticizing our government, and if that happens in the worst case, people will blame the government, because that is just so wrong. Most people believe that having the right to express our thoughts freely is very important. Free speech is in danger? Nah, I don't believe that.
What I want to say in this post is that we need to stop and think. ...And doubt. Do we really live in a world where free speech is supported and encouraged? Don't we feel like more and more people are avoiding discussions lately? Don't we feel like there's this atmosphere of "preferred opinions"? And if you are brave enough to go against this preferred opinion, you will be slammed. People do not just oppose your opinion; they will dehumanize you. They will start to look at you like you are a savage, and a cruel person. They don't just deny our opinion; they will deny you, and start to doubt your humanity.
Now, let's talk about things that happened (relatively) lately. Donald Trump was inaugurated as the new President of the United States in January. It may seem weird to say the inauguration happened only lately, but you know what I mean, right? lol I mean that it happened this year, not like 100 or 1000 years ago. During the time when he was fighting against his opponent, Hilary Clinton, a considerable amount of information about him and what he had done in the past was heard. People say he is a sexist, and also a racist.
Now, there could many reasons to support a candidate over another one. Maybe you like Candidate A's political policies better than those of Candidate B. Or maybe you choose to vote for Candidate A, even though you don't particularly support Candidate A, because you do not like Candidate B at all, and you think it would be better if Candidate A could get the position. You don't have to be an enthusiastic supporter of Candidate A to vote for Candidate A.
More that often, choosing is very difficult. Sometimes, you have to choose one, even if you don't like either of the choice. Choosing a choice over another doesn't always mean that you just adore every little detail or aspect of the choice you picked. Sometimes you need to go through hard decisions. But what happened during and even after the election campaign is the discrimination against Trump supporters. You cannot say that all Trump supporters are both sexist and racist as he is, and therefore, you cannot blame those who voted for Trump by labeling them as racists and sexists. You cannot say that they chose Trump because they are essentially a bad person. I am not a supporter of President Trump, so I am not saying this to defend myself. I'm just trying to be fair.
When you start labeling people like that, there's no meaningful discussion. You can have different views and opinions. And it's not the matter of which is right and which is wrong. I have heard that some students had experienced being assaulted because of their political views. Treating those who do not share the same view as being evil should ever be allowed.
I came across a video last month when I was scrolling down Facebook. Here's the link of the video: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/education-41837205/brexit-supporting-students-getting-abuse-on-campus The debate over whether the Britain should stay in EU or not was also a very hot topic. And in universities, the preferred opinion was: the Britain should stay. But of course, they were people who thought that the Britain should leave. And basically, people didn't like that. In the video, some students who supported the Leave Campaign share their experience of how they are discriminated and assaulted on campus by other students. They were called out simply because they didn't support the preferred opinion. They were told stupid, dumb, racist, xenophobic, etc. Once people have found out that they were Brexiteers, the friendly conversation is over, and people will treat them as their enemy, and start to doubt their humanity.
Now, let's talk about Japan. There have been a discussion over whether to change the ninth article of the Constitution of Japan. Basically, in the current version, the ninth article declares that Japan will pursue peace and justice, and therefore, Japan will not participate in war, and will not hold military power. Well, in Japan, we don't have any military, but we have the Self-Defense Force. The Self-Defense Force is not supposed to take a part in combats, at least for now.
Lately, some people are claiming the article needs to be changed or modified. Looking at the international tension between North Korea and Japan (and other countries), Japan needs to be able to defend itself when things happened. The Constitution went into effect 70 years ago, which means that it is old, and it is reasonable to think that modifications should be considered or made once in a while. These are what people who support the idea of modifying the article generally say, I think.
And of course, there are people who do not want to make any change. We live in Japan, the peaceful country. We have established our country's identity as the country that pursues peace. If we make changes to the article, that identity will fall down. Some people might even go so far as to say that the thought of making modifications to the article itself is evil.
Me? My take on this issue is: we should consider making modifications. The Constitution is 70 years old, and it's about the time we start reviewing it to see if it needs some modifications or not. And I think we need to redefine the Self-Defense Force. I know. It's the Constitution, the greatest law of our country, and I know that we can't just change things up so easily. That makes it even more reasonable to discuss this matter closely. Plus, I feel like many Japanese people stick to the idea of the peaceful country, Japan, not the idea or the concept of peace itself. We, the nation of Japan does not possess any military power. But on behalf of us, the military of the United States is supposed to protect Japan in case of emergency. So it's totally fine for American troops to fight for Japan on behalf of us, while we just sit at home? I think not many Japanese people think about this, and that's why I said many Japanese people just stick to the idea of the peaceful country, Japan, not the idea of peace itself. Right now, North Korea is doing whatever it pleases. And all Japan can do is blame.
But unfortunately, I'm not on the preferred-opinion side. I'm on the "wrong" side. So many people are quick to conclude that people who suggest modification are those with a dangerous thought. They would say, "What?! So you support war?" NO. I never support war and violence. It's not just me; other people who support making modifications do not support war and violence either. All I want to say is that we need to redefine peace once more. Let's think about peace. What is peace? Yes, we have not had any war since the end of WWII. But is it enough? Do you like the idea of peace? Or do you simply care about the idea of the peaceful country, Japan, only? I am not saying that we should change the Constitution so that we can start a war tomorrow. I'm a peace seeker. I take peace seriously. That's why I say that we should think about peace. It may not be a comfortable topic for a conversation, but we need to talk about it. It's easy to avoid this conversation by saying, "You know what? I'm a peace seeker. Modifying the Constitution sounds too radical, so let's play it safe, and leave it as it is." For me, the unwillingness to review the article is a sign of willingness to avoid the uncomfortable, not important topic, peace.
Not many people are willing to talk about this controversial in the first place, and saying that I suggest modification takes a lot of courage, because I know this is not the preferred opinion, and I know people will judge me for my opinion. But freedom of speech is very important, and no one should never feel that they are somehow oppressed to feel in a certain way. It's easy to speak up when there's the atmosphere of valuing free speech. But right now, it's not. I feel the importance of thinking for myself, and expressing my idea openly even more nowadays, because not many people are willing to do so. Freedom of speech is under threat, people! People had fought, and shed blood to gain this right. Let's not ruin this.
Thank you for reading! English is not my first language, and there are so many things I want to say, but more that often, my poor English skills (and my poor writing skill also?) interfere with them! lol I hope one day, I will be able to express my thought freely in English as well as Japanese, and never have to feel this way! Alright, so until next time! Bye!
