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One of the big differences between us and many cultures is our reverence of those who take risks, of those who try to do what they believe is the right thing, even if everyone else feels it is wrong. We can see the difference in Japan. The 3 people who were kidnapped and held hostage have said that the trauma they felt from seeing how angry the Japanese people are is worse than having a knife held at your throat expecting to die. Read the article and realize not how different another culture is. But how that difference can hamper its ability to succeed in a changing world that requires innovative solutions to difficult problems.
The hostages were there in Japan trying to help Iraqi children. But they are viewed in a horribly negative way now by the Japanese, because they somehow made the Japanese look bad. hey are being required to pay $6000 for their air fare home. They are vilified in the press. I certainly hope that the pressures they are under do not cause them to do something extreme.
Our belief that the individual is more important than the government is one of our strengths. Since the government holds so much power over individuals, we created one that had severely limited power. We are seeing the image of limited government become so altered under our current stresses, that I sometimes fear for its survival. Government in war (whether real WAR or simply 'war') is seldom limited. With this 'war' lasting potentially decades, have we seen the last of limited government actions against the people?
What is interesting in reading this article is that Japan is actually going through the same generational dislocations that we are. The younger generation is finding that those that try to improvise, think for themselves and create innovation (different) solutions are more capable of finding useful answers. This requires them to be more individualistic and to act in ways that go against accepted thought. So, many in this Japanese generation gravitate to the US, because here they can use these attributes that are not valued highly in Japan. We still have what we need to succeed. But, it will be a battle in America against the same sort of Industrial Age (and older) thinking that is really hampering Japan.
The whole story was very sad to read. Unfortunately, I think the battle between the two divergent ways of thinking will get much, much worse before it gets better. It seems likely that the resilience of Western approaches to life may help us survive this transition. But I really believe that more brittle, less flexible cultures than ours (i.e. many Islamic nations) may not survive without substantial changes. And their death struggles have made our own transition so much more difficult. Perhaps someday we will get a government that actually understands somewhat that things are changing and find a way to smooth the transition. At the moment, this current one does not have a clue. (And, truthfully, Clinton's had only a small clue, but they did show a spark of being able to improvise well.) 11:48:22 AM 
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