Please tell us about America’s empire.[/quote]
Webster’s:
[quote]Main Entry: im
The Prime Minister’s apology had no official meaning. Good for him to offer anything at all, but I believe the victims were looking for official recognition of the crimes done to them. In this regard, Japan lags far behind Germany. Japan also glosses over it worst atrocities in its own history books, so kids growing up there today honestly have no idea what really went on. We expect that kind of revisionist history from communists and authoritarian regimes, but from Japan? Surely they can do better than that! Also Japan was not decimated by the atomic bomb, either literally or figuratively. You’re right of course that they were “forced” to build a new government. Poor them! Those lousy Americans forced them to have democracy, taxation with representation, equal rights for women, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, etc. Damn those Yanks! 
[/quote]
Has Japan done enough? No. Can anything they do ever make up for the lives they destroyed during the war? I doubt it. My point was that Japan has a new government now. The war ended more than 60 years ago. Lots of people suffered during the war. I’m simply tired of hearing other countries, who turn a blind eye to or contribute to human trafficking TODAY, bash Japan for the crimes it committed in the past. It’s time to focus on how to end human rights abuses that are happening in Asia right now. Let’s stop using Japan as a convenient scapegoat.
Please tell us about America’s empire.[/quote]
Webster’s:
[quote]Main Entry: im
Good argument! You win.
Can we play again?
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. An easy way to prove or disprove the urban myth that most Americans can’t find France on a map is to take a map of the world, go to the local McDonald’s or bus stop or wherever, and ask random American people if they can find France on the map. It would be just as statistically valid, as most statistics are derived by similar such random polling. Almost everyone in my highschool could find France on a map. Ask yourself this: how many people do you know personally that can’t find France on the map? I mean, really. Where do they pull these phony claims from?
As for U.S. imperialism…ever heard of the Spanish-American War? The Mexican War? When’s the U.S. going to apologize for the 100,000 Filipinos killed during their “liberation”?
[quote=“mod lang”]There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. An easy way to prove or disprove the urban myth that most Americans can’t find France on a map is to take a map of the world, go to the local McDonald’s or bus stop or wherever, and ask random American people if they can find France on the map. It would be just as statistically valid, as most statistics are derived by similar such random polling. Almost everyone in my highschool could find France on a map. Ask yourself this: how many people do you know personally that can’t find France on the map? I mean, really. Where do they pull these phony claims from?
As for U.S. imperialism…ever heard of the Spanish-American War? The Mexican War? When’s the U.S. going to apologize for the 100,000 Filipinos killed during their “liberation”?[/quote]
It took the Vatican a while:
[quote]JIM LEHRER: There was an extraordinary event in Rome yesterday as Pope John Paul II issued an apology for errors of his church over the last 2000 years. Our coverage begins with a report from Peter Morgan of Independent Television News.
PETER MORGAN: The pope’s “Day of Pardon” mass was designed, in the Vatican’s words, to ask forgiveness for the past and present sins of the Church. Pope John Paul wants Catholics to reexamine their consciences in the new millennium. His homily did not single out specific periods or groups in history but a plea to forgive the use of violence in the service of truth was a subtle reference to the brutal excesses of the Crusades and the Inquisition. Cardinal Edward Cassidy talked of the people of Israel, asking questions to acknowledge the sins committed against Jews. There was no specific reference to the Holocaust, and when the pope replied, the effect of Parkinson’s Disease was evident in every word and gesture.[/quote]
And for those who don’t think any Americans “don’t know where France is”, there’s always the video camera
youtube.com/watch?v=IVBO-Joy … ade%20next
It is a pointless argument. Has any nation ever done enough to put right their wrongs? No! Throughout history there have been some downright shocking things and nothing could make up for them. Look at the history books of any major power and it will be littered with massacres, some of which wiped entire civilizations off the map! Saying sorry just doesn’t cut it so no, Japan hasn’t done enough but then again, no one ever can so what is the point. Just not doing it again would be a start but as we see all too often, learning from history is not one of mankinds strong points 
[quote=“ScottSommers”]And for those who don’t think any Americans “don’t know where France is”, there’s always the video camera
youtube.com/watch?v=IVBO-Joy … ade%20next[/quote]
There’s also such a thing as selective “reporting”. It’s a Canadian comedy show designed to make fun of Americans. Of course they’re going to put the funniest (stupid people are funny) people on the show, not the most representative.
I challenge anyone on this forum currently in America to perform this experiment. I dare ya, I double dare ya. Alternately, you could do it in Taiwan with Taiwanese or any other country you’re at. France is pronounced “fa guo” in Mandarin.
Again, same question for any Americans on this forum: how many of your friends, family, schoolmates, colleagues do you personally know that really, genuinely can’t find France on a world map?
[quote=“Stray Dog”]Good argument! You win.
Can we play again?[/quote]
And you think that quoting a passage from a dictionary constitutes a persuasive argument? 
[quote=“ScottSommers”]And for those who don’t think any Americans “don’t know where France is”, there’s always the video camera
youtube.com/watch?v=IVBO-Joy … ade%20next[/quote]
Great…another pseudo-intellectual whose beliefs are formed from watching comedy videos. How…60s.
[quote=“gao_bo_han”][quote=“Stray Dog”]Good argument! You win.
Can we play again?[/quote]
And you think that quoting a passage from a dictionary constitutes a persuasive argument? [/quote]
No, I don’t. :loco:
True story
Once I was in Maine; one guy asked me “do you have agriculture in France ?”…
ah ok, I must admit many others heard of Paris
Sorry out of topic
lol, that’s funny (the question).
It’s interesting to note how the Philippines handle this situation… at least, afaik, they do not advocate ethnic hatred. It is commendable to note that the Filipinos are more willing to forgive and live on (and improve) their lives instead of playing the victim game.
[quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“ScottSommers”]And for those who don’t think any Americans “don’t know where France is”, there’s always the video camera
youtube.com/watch?v=IVBO-Joy … ade%20next[/quote]
Great…another pseudo-intellectual whose beliefs are formed from watching comedy videos. How…60s.[/quote]
I suppose you’re right. After all, America is the home of everything great. But actually, one of the most widely cited surveys of geographic knowledge news.nationalgeographic.com/news … urvey.html
states that 65% of Americans could NOT identify France on a map. I guess you and your friends are among the other 35%.
I know this will surprise most of you, but actually, the USA continually scores poorly in international comparisons of educational attainment, including
literacy
air.org/news/documents/Release200601pew.htm
math skills
air.org/news/documents/TIMSS … 0study.pdf
But in case you missed my point, my intended meaning was that American education is generally so poor that Americans are not qualified to criticize the education system of Japan simply because some of their students fail to learn basic facts about their national history. Get a sense of humour. Or does it bite too deep when someone makes a joke about your home?
I’d like to add that people intertwine the people of a nation with the government in control of a nation far too much. Like the Asian Women’s Fund set up to raise money for compensation for comfort women in Japan. It is a private organization, funded by donations from the people. But comefort women reject this for the very fact that it is the government that must own up to its past and admit to the mass institutionalized rape. It cannot appeal to the sympathy of their people who were not involved. When the two are so intertwined, you start to get people who feel offended, like they, themselves are the scapegoats, and Japanese people start to ask, haven’t we tried?
So, when is Russia going to apologize for the millions of German women the Red Army “comforted” during WWII?
cdi.org/russia/johnson/6043-11.cfm
Personally, I disagree with the notion that the sins of the father are visited upon the son. It’s way too late for apologies for events that happened over 60 years - nearly 3 generations ago - where nearly everyone involved has long since died. The Japanese born today had nothing whatsoever to do with it. They shouldn’t be sorry for something they didn’t do.
If it is the active policy of a nation to glorify its militaristic past, this poses a danger to citizens of that country, as well as others. I think that’s the concern about Japan, and I agree that the behaviour of some Japanese people and the government borders on this. However, the ‘evidence’ often given for this is not correct. This continual use of inaccuracies is hard to distinguish from outright racist attacks against Japan and feeds the Japanese right-wing.
It’s not so much just an apology, but an admittance to the institutionalized rape. There are people in the Japanese government who still claim that Comfort women don’t exist or they were happy to have done it–that they were actually paid prostitutes.
Hmmm…imagine government officials in Germany claiming that the Holocaust never happened or that the Jews were happy to die…
The problem with this argument is that it quickly descends into points that we all agree on. No one denies that there’s a problem with the willingness of many Japanese to accept that as a nation they are responsible for wartime atrocities. But if we go back to Maoman’s original statement that Japanese kids growing up today have no idea what happened during the war, this is simply wrong - even though it is stated repeatedly in discussions of this sort. Honestly, how do think most Japanese feel when they hear this? And how do think those Japanese who don’t care about wartime atrocities will interpret this continued use of inaccuracies to describe Western thinking about Japan?