Hello, everyone~!
Today, I indulged myself in sleep especially because I was tired from yesterday's watching of the football match.
After I woke up, I checked my e-mail and websites that I visit everyday for news and the information that I'm interested. And I found the very very saddening news happened in Tokyo, Akihabara.
In this Sunday afternoon, a man suddenly stabbed the people there at random at Akihabara and it results 7 innocent people killed, 10 people wounded. At the moment I heard the news, I just didn't know what to say. It's beyond my imaginings.
When I was an elementary student, I often went there with my father to buy computer goods because my father has been familiar with computer since then. After 10 years or so, I went there for the event of job-hunting. I couldn't but realize how much the atmosphere of Akihabara has changed. It made me remember those days I and my father had there, and I came to think that the change is not always a bad thing because more and more people are attracted by Akihabara's features such as an electronics quarter, maid cafe, and the culture of Otaku. But suddenly, these things got overtaken by the incident happened today.
According to the police, the suspect did this because he was "tired of life and sick of everything." It seems he works as a temporary employee. Of course, he's really really bad. But at the same time, I think we need to think about the society in Japan that made him commit the crime like this. After I criticized him for what he did, I became confused because I thought that the Japanese society itself has done something unknowingly to make him do this. And it makes me wonder how we, as a society, can help others be a good citizen by doing the right thing.
In Japan, the situation of temporary employees has gotten worse so much that the gap between rich and poor is widening more than ever. Some say they are responsible for what they are, and they don't do enough independent efforts. And the people who have opinions like this usually don't try to look at the situation that they don't want to face with. So, the voices of the people who are stuck in the situation I mentioned above probably won't be heard or be lost because many people think it's their problem.
But if we think about it carefully, we might gradually realize that the burden they've got is definitely ours. The incident like this lets us realize the inconvenient fact. And the more we pretend to be ignorant about this fact, the more we have to pay the price which is ultimate.
As a citizen, however, I just can do very little things such as casting a vote, talking about it on the blog, and so on. It's a bit frustrating, but I guess I'll do as much as I can because we can't afford to leave the society like this for the younger generation, right?
Anyway, for now, I pray for the victims of the incident.
If you look for more detail of the news, you can go to the link below.
"7 dead in stabbing spree in downtown Tokyo"
(The fact that the article of the incident comes to the top of Yahoo! News(US) is really disturbing, and really really sad....)
VerveEarth
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Price We Pay
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1 comment:
This sort of event is horrifying, even when it is relatively common, as it is here in the United States.
You are right to be suspicious of those who blame the downtrodden for their plight. This is usually a gross oversimplification and comes from a person who has been fortunate in life. For example, many Americans think that if only homeless people got a job, they could afford a place to live. They don't stop to think that once you are homeless, you no longer have suitable clothes or a place to launder them, or a way to keep yourself clean and presentable for a job interview. Once you are in that hole (often through no fault of your own), it is very hard to climb out of it.
It's easy for us lucky ones to blame those who are unlucky for their fate, as if we deserved our money, education and situation. But I think it is just an accident of birth.
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