tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293584194478197482.post8662848840157379673..comments2023-05-27T18:49:57.427-06:00Comments on FukushimaVoice: Kouta Kinoshita’s Stance on Weekly Demonstration in Front of Prime Minister Noda’s Official ResidenceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293584194478197482.post-57122207596341376132012-07-08T11:36:14.765-05:002012-07-08T11:36:14.765-05:00Factions are normal within movements. We need to l...Factions are normal within movements. We need to live with it. Kinoshita provides a valuable service by focusing on the dangers of internal exposure, which is something the nuclear industry fears most and it should be what people fear most as well. But the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes also provides a valuable service by providing a platform from which tens of thousands of Japanese people can be seen and heard globally. Note that the international English-based media is picking up these protests, so the more activity on the ground the better.<br /><br />Personally, my own views are somewhat closer to what Kinoshita is doing. Also, I find that mass movements eventually fail if they are not well planned and managed. For that we have many models and sources of information: Grace Lee Boggs, Noam Chomsky, Marshall Ganz, Gar Alperovitz, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Howard Zinn, Ralph Nader, Saul Alinsky, Gene Sharp, and many others around the world.<br /><br />Gene Sharp probably has the best documentation for taking down power. His books are credited with helping guide activists and organizers in the middle east. Read his stuff and watch his videos and you realize right away that you *must* be organized and you *must* be smart or you *will* fail.<br /><br />http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html<br />http://youtu.be/KAZaKeEpYJE<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRKnKiHrms0<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpXbA6yZY-8<br />And more on YouTube and Google, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293584194478197482.post-35814424313819573752012-07-06T23:23:45.732-05:002012-07-06T23:23:45.732-05:00I do not completely agree with reader Anonymous at...I do not completely agree with reader Anonymous at 8:45 PM, July 6. I noticed that people who gather on Friday evenings DO shout slogans apart from SAIKADÔ HANTAI (No to the restart!). You can hear things there like SAVE JAPAN, SAVE THE CHILDREN (obviously, from radiations...), or: WE DON'T WANT RADIATIONS, GIVE US BACK FUKUSHIMA and so on. It's a pity of course that tensions and fighting DO exist within the movement but it is also inevitable, considering that it's new and still growing. I see the Friday evenings'protests as an important step toward cooperation between people, toward social & political maturation. Most importantly, it is for everyone a means to express anger and sadness, anxiety but also hope, and witnessing the impact such protests have on people's minds, seeing the movement growing week after week gives courage to many and allows us to measure our collective strenght and determination. When you think of the tremendous progress recently made in Japan, from a culture of "gaman" (silent enduring) to a very vocal and collective expression of anger, it IS a HUGE development. <br />People have the right to gather and to express their anger, and I would think that the participation of so large crowds is the proof to a newly acquired awareness of their own right to do so.Janick in Tokyonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293584194478197482.post-68330451774887312182012-07-06T20:45:58.743-05:002012-07-06T20:45:58.743-05:00If you take a look at the faces of the protesters ...If you take a look at the faces of the protesters you can figure out their "mindset" about why they are there protesting. As mentioned in this blog post, most are protesting simply because they don't want nuclear radiation because it's a "bad" thing. I don't think most people in Japan believe in the real medical effects of nuclear radiation. This is due to the Japanese culture and the way they have constructed their society. People are taught from a young age not to think for themselves. Schools ensure that and so do parents and the society at large. People are taught what's right, what's wrong and simply accept things that are told to them, not think with their own brains. <br /><br />I realize that my comment here can be seen as being critical of the protesters in Japan but the way Mr Kinoshita has been treated by fellow protesters is proof that most people in Japan simply doesn't understand the scope of seriousness that they're dealing with. To put it more bluntly, they're in a way facing a situation that is no different than a "genocide" especially with the nuclear reactor #4 hanging on a limb from a total collapse. Yet people carry on with their lives as though nothing really "bad" has happened to their country. TV shows continue to show "entertainment" and keep people in a state of slumber. Even some protesters that I saw out in Kyoto take it as a festival to go marching through the streets of Kyoto for "fun" as they chant "stop restarting the power plants." The whole protest looked like a picnic event for the whole family and the leader looked like she had no clue what nuclear radiation is except that it puts her on the spotlight. I know many may agree to what I've said here but just take a good look at the protest videos coming out of Japan. I'm ALL for stopping any nuclear power plants from operating but I also have to take a firm stand and say that this is not a joke, or a carnival or a festival of some kind where people from all walks of life come together and scream at the prime minister of Japan to listen to the people for once. Nuclear radiation is real. It can't be seen or touched, and has no scent. But it will "show" itself in the deformities and diseases that it creates from contact with living organisms. Now is that "fun" or something to make a festival out of?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com