Monday Musings...
Yeah, it's MONDAY, and I've got more than my share of stuff on my mind, but I think I'll narrow the field down to TWO items...and believe it or not, they ARE somewhat "related", when you see how it is to be explained (by yours truly).
So, let's fire up those coffee pots, because there's things that need to be done and said.
First up...
*** Unless you've been camped out in some cave watching the shadows on the back wall, you have undoubtedly heard and seen the recent devastation in the northern part of Japan.
Now, in my 58 years, I've seen some sh*t happen across the globe, but on a scale from ONE to TEN...THIS was an ELEVEN...
Easily.
You can say what you want about Haiti or even Thailand. This is almost unbelievable.
If anything, it looks like some apocalyptic movie on the SCI-FI channel rather than real life.
But here it IS...nonetheless.
Think of this as being close to about FIVE TIMES WORSE than hurricane Katrina.
AN (undersea) EARTHQUAKE...and the resulting TSUNAMI.
Oh, and toss in a nuclear threat akin to THREE-MILE ISLAND.
And then...have them ALL happen at ONCE...in the SAME PLACE...got it?
There are no real estimates to the dead and missing...that will be determined over the next several weeks.
But there was THIS MAN...found several miles OUT AT SEA. (and alive)
Floating on the roof of his demolished house, he was hauled out to sea by the receding waves from the tsunami that hit his neighborhood. (his wife in still missing) Coastal patrols saved this man.
Needless to say, about 100,000 soldiers of the JSDF (Japanese self-defense force) were mobilized immediately, and are working with close to 10,000 of OUR forces station in Japan to help with relief and search efforts.
Now, you have to consider that Japan takes precautions to alleviate damage to structures and constructs it's building to withstand earthquakes...
Hard to stave off THIS one, though...8.9 magnitude is pretty damn far UP the Richter scale...in ANYONE'S book.
Over THREE MILLION are still without power, and, as is usually the case...without water in the northern third of the main island, and it's not quite summer there yet (it still snows up there, sometimes into MAY), so you can clearly see the plight of these people.
It's extremely difficult to watch such videos or see the pictures of what has been transpiring the last few days and NOT be overcome with emotion.
I know I can't fully comprehend the degree of wholesale devastation that this part of Japan is realizing.
I mean, how the hell can you get "out of the way" of something of this magnitude?
Short answer: You can't.
The death tolls in the effected areas could run into the tens of thousands.
Yet, this is only a part of the situation.
How does such a catastrophe affect the world economy?
Now, without sounding a tad "selfish" here, consider the impact an event like this has on the global market.
Suppose Japan decides to (rightly) sell off all the U.S. Treasury Bonds it currently holds...in order to help with it's OWN relief efforts and reconstruction.
What would THAT do to OUR economy here?
Granted that oil usage in japan will be lackluster for a while, and that could indeed drive DOWN prices at OUR pumps, until Japan gets back up and running in some form of normalcy.
China would be in place to help the world economy...no doubt, as it has the strongest currency at this time.
Wouldn't that be a strange turn of events?
But lets get back to Japan...
*** With ALL this aftermath happening around them, and with ALL the destruction around them, the Japanese people have shown (thus far) one astounding side to them, which we here in America seem to lack.
I have not seen nor heard ONE story from Japan related to RIOTING or LOOTING...NOT ONE!!!
While, here in America, we have people that don't even NEED an excuse, such as a hurricane, or even a power outage in order to perform those acts of theft we've come to know and love.
Remember that "mob" that ran into that convenience store in MN last week...about 50 TEENS who set about (basically) LOOTING the store for no real reason, other than they COULD?
Not seeing ANY of that in Japan, even after those people would have a real reason to get needed supplies...
Oh, wait, the looters HERE tend to NOT go after "supplies" and things they NEED, but rather things they WANT...like CLOTHES...or LIQUOR...or even TV sets...yeah, THAT'S what's important to THEM.
These American thugs could take a REAL lesson from those dealing with the situation in Japan, don'cha think?
And why do you think JAPAN is better than we are in that regard?
I'd have to say that Japan has very deep roots in DISCIPLINE, both collectively, and individually.
And they have a much better sense of HONOR, overall.
Over here...well, it's more like:
"Let the government give you everything so YOU don't have to fret yourselves with nonsense like DISCIPLINE and HONOR", right?
Would appear that way from what I see.
The Japanese don't have this "Hurray for ME, and to hell with the rest of you" mentality that (too) many of OUR citizens have come to embrace.
Luckily, the Japanese will not be party to seeing THAT side of us during the relief efforts.
We DO have a compassionate side to us, otherwise Japan would have not risen so strongly after WW2.
Yet, we still have people in OUR society that have no other reason to live, other than to take from anyone for any reason, and do nothing to deserve it.
Case in point:
This came to me via an email, and it was corroborated (monetarily):
(( I was speaking to an emergency room physician this morning. He told me that a woman in her 20s came to the ER with her EIGHTH pregnancy.
She stated, "my momma told me that I am the breadwinner for the family."
He asked her to explain.
She said that she can make babies and babies get money for the family.
It goes like this:
The grandma calls the Department of Child and Family Services and states that the unemployed daughter is not capable of caring for these children.
DCFS agrees and states that the child or children will need to go to foster care.
The grandma then volunteers to be the foster parent, and thus receives a check for $1500 per child per month in Illinois .
Total yearly income:
$144,000 tax-free,not to mention free healthcare (Medicaid) plus a monthly card entitling her to free groceries, etc, and a voucher for 250 free cell phone minutes per month. This does not even include WIC and other welfare programs.
Indeed, grandma was correct in that her fertile daughter is the "breadwinner" for the family.
This is how the ruling class spends our tax dollars.
Sebastian J. Ciancio, M.D. Urologist, Danville Polyclinic, LTD
Is this a GREAT COUNTRY or what... ?
Don't forget to pay your taxes!!!
There are a lot of "Breadwinners" depending on you & I ))
Now, I'm sure that some of you out there might have, at one time received some government assistance, and that's OK with me...EVERYONE has things that go wrong financially in one's life, and this "safety-net" is there so you can get back ON YOUR OWN TWO FEET, but this particular story is almost beyond belief!
And it is being perpetrated across our nation... with increasing regularity.
Why can't OUR people be as self-reliant and with a better sense of INTEGRITY as those in Japan?
Do WE need to have our OWN crisis to make that happen?
(in many ways, we're already hip-deep in one...we just don't see it all that well)
Well, whatever crisis THIS nation has happen to it, you can be VERY sure that it will NOT spur those who are generationally "on the dole" into ANY sort of personal responsibility...that kind of epiphany is NOT in their "game-plan".
THOSE people WILL be the ones looting, rioting and causing mayhem to such a degree that strong measures WILL have to be taken. And woe to those agencies tasked with enforcement. The cries of the wrongly-entitled will echo across this vast nation.
That's the way we seem to operate in THIS country.
Personally, I feel WE, as Americans can learn a LOT from those whose lives have been turned inside out in Japan.
The courage...the personal fortitude, and yes, even the dignity they show in times such as they're experiencing SHOULD be sending a STRONG message to every one of us.
It would seem that Japan HAS learned a lot from us, and through this crisis over there, they are demonstrating to US (here) that we need to start being better people ourselves...more like the way we USED to be AS a nation.
If nothing else comes of this, it should make us all back up and think a little.
My prayers and thoughts go to all of those affected by this crisis in Japan.
And they also go out to our country...we need it just as much.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.