I am absolutely sure you are right, which is why I don’t intend to stay in Taiwan too long either (which you may have seen if you check my very few posts on this site, haha). I’m no stranger to this effect, having lived in Japan for many years and then eventually leaving after I found enough reasons to dislike it. Just for the record though, Japan may have alt-right sentiments, as anywhere would, but it is nowhere near as ugly, as prevalent, or as in-your-face as it is in the USA. Japan is a class act, and they generally keep their beliefs to themselves in the interest of preserving the cohesion of society.
Japan? The country where you can still find “no foreigners allowed” signs, and ethnic Koreans who don’t have Japanese citizenship despite living the the country for generations? I’m trying hard to think of an American equivalent in the 21st century…
regarding the signs, that’s virtually untrue these days. In 4+ years in Japan I never found any such signs anywhere, nor had anyone refuse me service, even before I could speak Japanese. I was often treated better in Japan than I was in the US (this is just superb Japanese service and part of their custom, really), and even black people in Japan tend to agree (that’s why so many move there from the US and never look back). Even 10-20 years ago, the “no foreigners” thing may have been more prevalent, but I guess they got enough bad press about it back then that it’s all but eradicated now. Again, I never saw or even heard of such a thing happening among the hundreds of foreigners I met and worked with in Japan. If you ask me if it has ever happened in history, well according to documentaries, it has happened at least a few times, but it comes more from xenophobia and panic (“what do I do if they can’t speak Japanese?”) than it does from a place of hate.
As for the Korean issue, yeah, it’s a very real problem (and it is hate), but very unlikely to affect you unless you yourself are Korean. The two countries were at war in recent history, so yes, there is a lot of tension there and lots of hate groups. But still, they aren’t getting shot by cops all the time or run over by cars at hate rallies.
Those aren’t (or rather shouldn’t be) political issues. Those are fundamental issues of basic decency toward other human beings in a civil society, which is becoming more of a problem in the US. I’m not afraid to speak out against that. If you ask me how I feel about our POTUS, or whether or not I agree with NAFTA, those are political questions and I’m not going to comment. But I think we can all agree that those things I mentioned are bad without being political, right?
You think Forumosa has “alt-right” sentiment ?
" The alt-right, or alternative right, is a loosely-connected and somewhat ill-defined[1] grouping of white supremacists, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, neo-fascists, and other far-right[2][3][4] fringe hate groups.[5][6] Alt-right beliefs have been described as isolationist, protectionist, antisemitic and white supremacist,[7][8][9] frequently overlapping with neo-Nazism,[10"
Or are you saying Peterson/ Trump etc, supporters are "alt-right?. I don’t think I have seen any of the above here ? There are jokes, there are opinions, there are anti Hillary DMC opinions and also plenty of anti-Trump sentiment . It is indeed a Polarized World .
I can only presume when you said “alt -right” , you meant Conservative views, Republican supporters or even folks who think Trump is doing ok?
I hope you are not intolerant of opposing views…it’s fine to debate, even have a dig and express your own opinions but being so intolerant of other opinions ( unless very extreme or illegal) would be the very definition of bigotry.
Although I personally think Trump is one of the worst presidents ever, I don’t think anyone (left or right) is too rabid in their political beliefs. Some of my favorite posters here hold polar opposite beliefs. But most people are pretty respectful of differences. Sometimes people aren’t when things get really heated (like after the Charlottesville protest last summer), but they usually mellow out after the argument dies down. No one really holds a grudge, which is nice. Like my mom used to say, when two people argue it’s not really us vs them… it’s us vs the problem… and we just disagree about the best solution.
Two years ago in Okinawa, my buddy and I were refused entry into a bar on the floor below our AirB&B. They kept saying it was for “members only.” When we asked how to become members, they just said we can’t go in because it’s for members only.
Four of us were denied entry in a day club in Zhongli several years ago. But, it was a Thai club. They didn’t care that we weren’t Taiwanese, just that we weren’t Thai.
I live in Japan four months a year and regularly encounter Japanese only barriers in nightlife districts and some resort hotels. It’s illegal to post No Gaijin signs any longer but the invisible barriers remain. Even the term gaijin is derogatory.
Well, that’s the thing with some left wing folks: they are, supposedly… they claim to be tolerant, open minded, etc… BUT only with their own ideas. They can’t tolerate people with different points of view. And they explain it saying that what other people think or say is offensive.
If to make fun of the hysterical feminism is to be a nazi in diguese, ok, whatever, this site and the whole internet are horrible places.