Thanks for Rot?

Thanksgiving is a special time for reflecting on good fortune, family, community, and our wider world. Some helpers volunteer to feed the homeless or disadvantaged. It's likely few Americans consider our untried tortured captives at Guantanamo, or the treacherous autocrats we fund around the world (at the cost of human rights & basic investment in US domestic infrastructure & education).

I know that my blogging and talking about political problems is unlikely to make much positive impact. On the contrary, I lived in Japan long enough to wholly understand "the nail that sticks up gets pounded down" (出る杭は打たれる).

Yet perhaps perversely, I also feel it's important to speak up, not to accept bullying or quietly acquiesce to antisocial chauvinism. Perhaps my persistent interest could be labeled a hobby; more importantly, I hope when the smoke clears to have stood on the side of justice, and have worked for integrity.

After WWII, many emerged from the rubble of defeat wondering how they'd been fooled; blaming their leaders or the military for excess, ignorance, cruelty & genocide. Some falsely claimed to have always been anti-fascist (some weasels claimed active resistance when instead they'd prospered as toadying sycophants). As many ignore horrors, we all suffer escalating indignities. I believe it's important to work for peace, with our God(s) & ourselves.