The Rise of Tourism in Japan

 

The Evil Customs of the Past

  

Three-hearted people

 

The Portuguese Jesuit Joao Rodrigues wrote of the Japanese:

 “They are so crafty in their hearts that nobody can understand them. Whence it is said that they have three hearts: a false one in their mouths for all the world to see, another within their breasts only for their friends, and the third in the depth of their hearts, reserved for themselves alone and never manifested to anybody.”

This seemed to be a common criticism among missionaries, who were often frustrated by Japanese manners. “They learn from childhood never to reveal their hearts,” tutted the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. “They regard this as prudent and the contrary as stupidity—so much so that people who lightly reveal their hearts are considered fools, and scornfully called single-hearted men.”

Three Daimyos that unified Japan

鳴かぬなら、殺してしまえほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, kill it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴かして見せようほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, make it.

鳴かぬなら、鳴くまで待とうほととぎす: If a bird doesn't sing, wait for it.

This is a famous Zen parable about a fictional account of a Zen master asking the three most powerful warlords of the Sengoku or Warring states period (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu) what they would do if a hototogisu or cuckoo didn't sing.  It was a parable which illustrates the character of each of these three different types of leaders.

Oda Nobunaga was known for his fierceness and cruelty and thus would answer, "Kill it."

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the most cunning and would therefore coyly say, "Make it."

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the most diplomatic and patient so he would most likely say, "Wait for it."

There is a saying in Japanese, "Oda Nobunaga makes the pie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi bakes it, but Tokugawa Ieyasu is the one who gets to eat it."

The evolution of every martial artist is much like the philosophies of these famous Japanese Daimyos.  Whichever Daimyo style we identify the most with depends on where we are in our development.

The beginner usually wants to "kill it", the intermediate person wants to "force it" but an expert is willing to "wait for it."

Which of these most resonates with you?

 

via http://www.aikidocenterla.com/blog/2646

Birth of Samurai and Seppuku

 

Why is Japan not happy?

 

Some Incidents in the golden years of Showa

https://medium.com/@dejiridoo/why-you-should-read-the-showa-masterwork-of-manga-pioneer-shigeru-mizuki-1182a95e8df9

 

Kanji and Gender Issues in Japanese Language

 

Alana Chandler, The Tech

As the routine went on Saturday mornings during middle school, I crammed for my Japanese vocabulary quiz on the hour-long drive to the Japanese Saturday School I attended. Attempting to pound the complex strokes into my head, I scribbled down hundreds of characters, one after another in a robotic fashion. In the rushed and rhythmic push, pull, flick of my pencil, it was seldom that I would take a moment to actually consider the meaning of the characters I was writing. Yet, on an otherwise mundane Saturday morning drive, something changed. I was learning the character for “slave” (奴), going through my typical chicken-scratch routine, when I paused. It dawned on me that this character was composed of two others — the characters for “female” (女) and “hand” (又). Suddenly, I wanted to tear up the paper I was writing on. I looked at my trembling hand, that of a girl, stained with the matte silver of lead rubbed off page. My fingers curled tight. 

Quite recently at MIT, the term “freshmen” was replaced with “first years.” In an effort to promote equality across all genders, many universities like MIT are motivating the academic community to use neutral terms instead of words with gendered origins. For some, such a transition in language is perceived as petty and even meaningless. After all, no one says the word “mankind” with the purpose of excluding women from humanity; no one refers to something as “man-made” with the intention of stressing that that something was built solely with testosterone-pumped strength… right?

While it’s true that many people of all genders use such terms without any consciously sexist motive, this is beside the point. What is paramount is the realization that language uncovers the basic perception and biases of a group. In using words chosen by those in power, language reflects a world of how the authority wants the group to be, consequently shaping the very group that uses that language. A growing body of research suggests that gendered language contributes to sexism. In one study by the Rhode Island School of Design, of 111 countries investigated, countries that spoke languages with gendered grammar systems, such as Spanish and German, evidenced more gender inequality compared to countries with other grammar systems. 

Yet, this does not go to say that countries without gendered grammar systems have negligible sexism. At a more basic level than grammar, an examination of Japanese words, as well as the characters that make up those words, reveals that even languages without gendered grammar systems can be insidiously gendered.

Unlike the alphabet, Japanese uses kanji (漢字), an ideographic writing system developed in China around 3,000 years ago that combines visual symbols to create a word. In fact, kanji were what I practiced on my drives to Japanese school. For instance, 人 is the kanji character for “person,” and 木 is the character for “tree.” Combining these two characters creates the character for “rest” (休) with the “person” character on its side up against the “tree” character. Each kanji tells its own story; it is this nature that sheds light on the embittering roots of discrimination in Japanese society. 

While kanji were exclusive to upper-class men, “hiragana” (平仮名), a phonetic letter system, was later created by the few females in the upper class who could read kanji. Mostly used by women, hiragana letters were called “onna moji” (female lettering), while kanji characters were called “otoko moji” (male lettering). While “kan” (漢) in kanji means “man” in Japanese, “hira” (平) means level, flat and peaceful — perhaps this alone sheds light on the perception of women during the inception of Japanese writing. 

The dawn of hiragana deepened the divide between men and women. General communication matters, news, and business information were written in kanji, while hiragana were used by women for personal purposes. The historical exclusion of women from writing kanji made it possible for men to develop words and revitalize characters with sexist meanings behind the backs of the very people they talked about.

 

Like Latin and Greek roots in English words, Japanese characters are often created based on radicals, or “hen” (編), used for categorization of the character’s meaning. For example, the “person” hen (人) is used three times to create the following character, 众, which means “crowd”. The “tree” hen (木）used three times in one character (森) means “forest”. Yet, the female hen (女) used three times in one character (姦) means both “loud” and “rape.” 

Some common kanji words include the following:

• Bride (嫁): female hen (女) + house (家)
• Wife (家内): house (家) + inside (内)
• Husband (主人): synonymous to “lord” and “master”
• Security/Cheap (安): female hen (女) + roof hen (宀)

These characters suggest that it is most safe and effective for men to have women remain domestic beings. 

While there does exist a handful of kanji associated with women with positive connotations, most kanji for women have a negative connotation, while kanji for men award power and leniency in their actions. Combining the female hen with the “disease” hen creates the character for “jealousy” (嫉), implying that envy is a sickness inflicted by women. Even the character for “dislike” (嫌) contains the familiar female hen. On the other hand, the character for “man” (男）is that of dignity and hardwork, composed of the character for “field” (田) and “strength” (力). The character for “bravery” (勇) looks almost identical to the character for “man”.

Both of the characters 嫐 and 嬲 are comprised of only the male (男) and female (女) characters. The former character (嫐) is two female characters enclosing a male character and translates to “flirting.” The latter (嬲) is two male characters enclosing a female character and means “to tease and bully,” “toy with,” and “make fun of.” These characters imply that when there is a female majority, they seduce the male, yet when there is a male majority, the men can have a good time at the expense of female suffering. Granted, even my mother who is a native Japanese speaker, had never seen these characters, showing that although these characters exist in the Japanese language, they are not heavily used. 

Perhaps even more elucidating of the male-female discrepancy is the nefarious description of sex crimes. The kanji for “molester” (痴漢) is made of characters meaning “foolish” (痴) and “man” (漢). This insinuates that message that perverted men are indulgently stupid in their sexual desires rather than criminal abusers. While 30 different words prevail for female prostitution, I could not find a single one that exists for men who buy their services. Kanji portray women as objects, and men can use these objects with little shame and social repercussion.

While these kanji convey stereotypical notions of women, people do not use these words on a daily basis with the thought that the characters are discriminatory. When learning kanji, the emphasis is placed on learning characters as a whole, rather than their components, making it almost automatic to bypass thinking about their sexist meanings. Yet, given that so many kanji relating to women are demeaning, is it a surprise that sexism is still widespread in Japan? According to The Japan Times, in 2019, only 13 percent of managerial positions were held by women in Japan. Japanese is just one example of a language that reflects underlying gender bias, embodying cultural thoughts and values. 

As I continue to learn kanji, I am amazed at the potential for a single character to convey both meaning and sound. Yet, as times progress from the nativity of kanji, its evolution and adaptability is required to suit the modern times, instead of depict an inaccurate, insulting perspective.

There exists a yearly competition in Japan to create pseudo-kanji; one such submission replaced the male character (男) in bravery (勇) with the female character (女) to symbolize one who is strong-willed and spirited. Seeing new characters like these brings me hope that language that excludes or demeans women, or anyone for that matter, is a reality we may one day no longer have to bear. While changing a language from its most basic component, its characters, is perhaps idealistic, the first step to making progress is by being aware of the sexism inherent in our world.

Making mistakes are the best times for brain growth

Most of us have grown up with the idea that mistakes are bad, especially if we attended test-driven schools, where we were frequently marked down for making mistakes, or our parents punished mistakes with harsh words and actions. This is unfortunate, and this is why. 

**

... [In a workshop, Carol Dweck] announced that every time we make mistakes, synapses fire in the brain, indicating brain growth. All the teachers in the room were shocked, as they had all been working under the premise that mistakes are to be avoided. Carol was drawing from work that has researched the brain’s response when we make mistakes, particularly investigating the different ways brains respond when people have a growth or a fixed mindset.

Jason Moser and his colleagues extended Carol’s work investigating the brain’s response when we make mistakes. Moser and his team found something stunning. They had asked participants to take tests while they monitored the participants’ brains with MRI technology. They looked at the scans when people got questions correct and when they got them incorrect. The researchers found that when people made mistakes, brains were more active, producing strengthening and growth, than when people got work correct. Neuroscientists now agree that mistakes positively contribute to the strengthening of neural pathways.

This learning key is particularly significant because most teachers design classes so that everyone is successful. Curricula and textbooks are designed with trivial, unchallenging questions, so that students will get a high percentage of answers correct. The common belief is that getting most answers correct will motivate students toward greater 

success. Here’s the problem, though. Getting questions right is not a good brain exercise.

For students to experience growth, they need to be working on questions that challenge them, questions that are at the edge of their understanding. And they need to be working on them in an environment that encourages mistakes and makes students aware of the benefits of mistakes. This point is critical. Not only should the work be challenging to foster mistakes; the environment must also be encouraging, so that the students do not experience challenge or struggle as a deterrent. Both components need to work together. 

**

One of the significant characteristics of the highly effective learning described is the presence of mistakes and the role of struggle and error in transforming people from beginners into experts. This is consistent with the brain research showing increased brain activity when people struggle and make mistakes and decreased activity when they get work correct. Unfortunately, most learners think they should always be getting work correct, and many feel that if they make mistakes or struggle, they are not good learners—when this is the very best thing they can be doing.

Practice is important for the development of any knowledge or skill. Anders Ericsson helped the world understand the nature of expert performance and found that most world-class experts—pianists, chess players, novelists, athletes—practiced for around ten thousand hours over twenty years. He also found that their success was not related to tests of intelligence but to the amount of “deliberate practice” they undertook. Importantly, although people succeed because they are trying hard, the people who become experts are trying hard in the right way. A range of different researchers describe effective practice in the same way—people pushing at the edge of their understanding, making mistakes, correcting them, and making more.

** 

Japan has always scored well in mathematics—it has always finished in one of the top-five TIMSS positions—and was one of the countries visited in the study. The researchers found that Japanese students spent 44 percent of their time “inventing, thinking, and struggling with underlying concepts,” whereas students in the US engaged in this kind of behavior less than 1 percent of the time.

Jim Stigler, one of the authors of the study, writes that the Japanese teachers want the students to struggle—and recalls the times when they would purposely give the wrong answer so that students would go back and work with foundational concepts. In my thousands of observations of classrooms over many years in the US and the UK, I have never seen this kind of practice; more typically I have seen teachers who seem to want to save students from struggle. Many times I have observed students asking for help and teachers structuring the work for students, breaking down questions and converting them into small easy steps. In doing so they empty the work of challenge and opportunities for struggle. Students complete the work and feel good, but often learn little.

I saw a very similar teaching approach, focused on struggle, in a visit to classrooms in China, another country that scores highly in mathematics. I had been asked to visit China to give a talk at a conference and managed, as I like to do, to sneak away and visit some classrooms. In a number of high-school math classrooms, lessons were approximately one hour long, but at no time did I see students working on more than three questions in one hour. This contrasts strongly with a typical US high-school math classroom, where students chug through about thirty questions in an hour—about ten times more. The questions worked on in Chinese classrooms were deeper and more involved than the ones in US classrooms. Teachers would ask provocative questions, deliberately making incorrect statements that students would be challenged to argue against.

One of the lessons I watched was on a topic that is often uninspiring in US classrooms—complementary and supplementary angles. The teacher in China asked the students to define a complementary angle, and the students gave their own ideas for a definition. Often the teacher would push the students’ definition to a place that made it incorrect and playfully ask, “Is this right, then?” The students would groan and try to make the definition more correct. The teacher bantered with the students, playfully extending and sometimes twisting their ideas to push the students to deeper thinking. The students probed, extended, clarified, and justified for a long time, reaching depths that were impressive.

**

**

"I am going to figure this out if it kills me."

When I talk with teachers, they often say this sort of persistence is missing in the students they teach. One of the most common complaints I hear from teachers is that students don’t want to struggle; they want to be told what to do. To the teachers it seems as though students just can’t be bothered with struggling, which is probably what it looks like. The truth is, however, that when students don’t want to struggle, it is because they have a fixed mindset; at some point in their lives they have been given the idea that they cannot be successful and that struggle is an indication that they are not doing well.

**

As an academic, I experience a lot of failure. To keep our youcubed center at Stanford running, supporting staff salaries and providing free materials for teachers and parents, we have to apply for lots of grants—most of which are rejected. I also have to submit our papers to journals, where rejection is part of the process. If they are not rejected, they are subject to reviewers’ comments. I have had reviewers dismiss my work entirely, saying that it is “not research, just a story.” It is nearly impossible to keep going as an academic without viewing “failure” as an opportunity to improve. A wise professor named Paul Black, my PhD advisor, once said to me: “Whenever you send a paper to a journal, have in mind the next journal you will send it to when the paper is rejected.” I have used his advice a number of times.

Taking a limitless approach—particularly when embracing challenge and struggle—also helps when we encounter difficult people. In today’s world of social media, it seems impossible to make a statement about anything without getting pushback, some of it aggressive. I have experienced extreme and aggressive pushback many times, and I now know that it is important to stay strong in those moments and to look for something positive. Instead of dismissing a challenge or beating yourself up, think, “I will take something from this situation and use it to improve.”

The Red Tricycle

 

Japanese Morning

 

History of Yakuza

 

The history of the yakuza is murky. There are two major types: tekiya, who are essentially street merchants and small-time con artists, and bakuto, originally gamblers but now including loan sharks, protection money collectors, pimps, and corporate raiders. Almost half of the yakuza are Korean-Japanese, many of them the children of Koreans brought over as forced labor during Japan’s colonial period. Another large faction is made up of dowa, the former untouchable caste of Japan that handled butchering animals, making leather goods, and doing other “unclean” jobs. Even though the caste system is gone, racism toward dowa remains.

There are twenty-two officially recognized yakuza groups in Japan. The big three are the Sumiyoshi-kai, with 12,000 members; the Inagawa-kai, with 10,000 members; and at the top the Yamaguchi-gumi. There are 40,000 members of the Yamaguchi-gumi and more than a hundred subgroups. Each group is required to pay monthly dues, which are funneled to the top of the organization. In essence, every month the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters takes in (at a conservative estimate) more than $50 million in private equity. The Yamaguchi-gumi originally began as a loose labor union of dockworkers in Kobe. It began to branch out into industry in the chaos following the Second World War. Japan’s National Police Agency estimates that, including the Yamaguchi-gumi, there are 86,000 gangsters in the country’s crime syndicates, many times the strength of the U.S. Mafia at its violent peak.

The yakuza are structured as a neofamily. New recruits pledge their loyalties to the father figure known as the oyabun. Ties are forged through ritual sake exchanges, creating brotherhoods, and those who are in the business world are allowed to become

kigyoshatei, or corporate brothers. Each organization is usually a pyramid structure.

The modern-day yakuza are innovative entrepreneurs; rather than a bunch of tattooed nine-fingered thugs in white suits wielding samurai swords, a more appropriate metaphor would be “Goldman Sachs with guns.” A 2007 National Police Agency white paper warned that the yakuza have moved into securities trading and infected hundreds of Japan’s listed companies, a “disease that will shake the foundations of the economy.” According to “An Overview of Japanese Police,” an English document by the National Police Agency distributed to foreign police agencies in August 2008, “Boryokudan (yakuza) groups pose an enormous threat to civil affairs and corporate transactions. They are also committing a variety of crime to raise funds by invading the legitimate business community and pretending to be engaged in legitimate business deals. They do this either through companies, etc. which they are involved in managing or in cooperation with other companies.”

The yakuza have long occupied an ambiguous position in Japan. Like their Italian cousins, they have deep if murky historical links with the county’s ruling party, in Japan’s case the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Robert Whiting, the author of Tokyo Underworld, and other experts point out that the LDP was actually founded with yakuza money. It’s such an open secret that you can buy comic books at 7-Eleven discussing how this happened. Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro’s grandfather was a member of the Inagawa-kai crime group and heavily tattooed. He served as a cabinet minister and was referred to by his constituents as Irezumidaijin—“the tattooed minister.” In the past the yakuza’s reputation for keeping disputes between themselves and not harming the families of other mobsters, or “noncombatants,” protected them from the ire of citizens and the attentions of the police. They were considered a “necessary evil” and a “second police force” that kept the streets of Japan safe from muggers and common thieves. Yet they were still considered outlaws.

**

Yamaguchi-gumi has a high-walled central compound in one of the wealthiest parts of Kobe. They own land, and are impossible to drive out. Of course, that’s because the yakuza are recognized as legal entities in Japan. They have the same rights as any corporate entity, and their members have the same rights as ordinary citizens. They are fraternal organizations—like the Rotary Club. Even in cases where they do not own the property where they have set up their offices and are simply renters, they are almost impossible to remove. The Nagoya Lawyers’ Association advises that many businesses and landlords should insert an “organized crime exclusionary clause” into any contract drawn up, to make it easier to sever ties with yakuza tenants or businesses when the time comes. Nagoya is the home of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s leading faction, the Kodo-kai, which has roughly four thousand members.

Problems with organized crime in Nagoya are so extensive that in 2001, the lawyer’s association issued a manual of sorts entitled Organized Crime Front Companies: What They Are and How to Deal with Them. There are lawyers who specialize in dealing with yakuza.

**

Major gang bosses are well-known celebrities. Bosses from the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Inagawa-kai grant interviews to print publications and television. Politicians are seen having dinner with them. They own talent agencies that the general public knows are yakuza front companies—such as Burning Productions—but that does not stop major Japanese media outlets from working with them. There are fan magazines, comic books, and movies that glamorize the yakuza, who have metastasized into society and operate in plain view in a way unthinkable to American or European observers.

As the yakuza continue to evolve and get into more sophisticated crimes, the police have had a tough time keeping up. The so-called marubo cops (organized crime control detectives) are used to dealing with simple cases of extortion and intimidation, not massive stock manipulation or complicated fraud schemes.

The Yamaguchi-gumi have been notoriously uncooperative since Shinobu Tsukasa took power in 2005. The police used to be able to play the various organizations against one another to extract information—the Yamaguchi-gumi would rat on the Sumiyoshi-kai, the Sumiyoshi-kai on the Yamaguchi-gumi, and so on. But now the Yamaguchi-gumi is increasingly the only player in town and it has no reason to cooperate. In fact, the Aichi police, when raiding a Kodo-kai office in 2007, were horrified to discover that the faces, family photos, and addresses of the detectives working organized crime were posted on the walls of the yakuza headquarters. The names of all the organized crime detectives of another major police agency in Japan were leaked onto the Internet last year. The yakuza, especially the Yamaguchi-gumi, are not only not afraid of the police anymore, they are saying, essentially, “We know who you are, we know where you live, so be careful.”

A detective from the Osaka Prefectural Police Department concurs. “Since the anti–organized crime laws went on the books in 1992, the numbers of the yakuza have changed very little—hovering around eighty thousand—for sixteen years. They have more money and more power than they ever had before, and the consolidation of the Yamaguchi-gumi has made it a huge force to be reckoned with. In many ways, the Yamaguchi-gumi is the LDP of organized crime, operating on the principal that ‘Power is in numbers.’ It has capital, it has manpower, it has an information network that rivals anything the police have, and it is expanding into every industry where money is to be made.”

In the old days, the yakuza left the general population alone. But that was a long time ago. No one is off limits anymore, not even journalists—or their children.

Best Selling Books in Japan

The number one–selling book was a manual for how to argue with Koreans (whether in Japan or South Korea—I can’t speak for North Korea) who don’t have nice things to say about Japan. Koreans keep moaning about the fact that Japan invaded Korea, enslaved their people, raped their women, forbade their language and culture, performed biological experiments on POWs, and kidnapped thousands of Koreans, shipping them off to Japan to work in sweatshops of industry. The thrust of the book is this: Tell those miserable Koreans to stop exaggerating and shut up.

The book has had one unexpected side effect: by disdaining Koreans’ complaints, it actually touches upon Japan’s less-than-noble history with Korea, which is something the Ministry of Education has worked hard to keep out of the public school system. Apparently, not knowing history means never having to say you’re sorry.

Number two on the best-seller list, Kabu no zeikin, was a manual for preparing your tax returns if you own or sell stocks. The popularity of this title, one assumes, is indicative of the significant flow of cash into and out of the Japanese stock market.

Number three was a manual for aspiring landlords. When land is scarce and housing is expensive, becoming a landlord is the high road to fortune and luxury. Japan, however, has very strong tenant rights embedded in the law that have been known to gum up the works. I assume that’s where the manual comes in, to keep that cash flowing. It was also a sign that the decadelong real estate slump might be coming to an end.

Number four was the perennially listed Perfect Manual of Suicide. The title is self-explanatory, to be taken literally. More on that later. 

Tokyo Vice

 

Murder was always big news in Saitama, just as it is anywhere in Japan. It says a great deal about the safety of the country that a murder, any murder, is national news. There are exceptions, however, and that’s when the victim is Chinese, a yakuza, a homeless person, or a nonwhite foreigner. Then the news value drops 50 percent.

Covid-19 ve Faşizm

İrfan Aktan - Gazete Duvar

1918’de ABD’de başlayıp dünyaya yayılan ve sadece bir buçuk yıl içinde 50 milyonu aşkın insanı öldüren İspanyol gribi, korona virüsünden farklı olarak yaşlıları değil, gençleri vurmuştu. (Salgına İspanyol gribi denmesinin nedeni, hastalığın İspanya’dan çıkması değildi. Hastalık ABD’de çıkmıştı ama o dönemin otoriter rejimleri bu konuda yazılıp-çizilmesini yasakladıkları için, salgına karşı sansürün devreye konmadığı tek ülke olan İspanya’da mesele tartışıldı ve hastalık bu ülkeyle anılır oldu.)

Birinci Dünya Savaşı’nın sürdürülemez hale gelmesinde önemli bir etkenin, İspanyol gribinin gençleri vurması olduğu söylenir. Zira salgın ordulara sıçramış ve sayısız asker, birbirlerini yok edemeden, grip tarafından öldürülmüştü.

Peki sonrasında nasıl oldu da insanlık, Birinci Dünya Savaşı ve onu takip ederek milyonlarca insanın daha hayatını kaybetmesine yol açan İspanyol gribi deneyimiyle mutlak bir barış ve tüm insanlığı kapsayacak geniş bir halk sağlığı sisteminde ortaklaşamadı?

2004 tarihinde yayınladığı Kaygı Üzerine isimli kitabında Renata Salecl, savaş ve salgın hastalıklar sırasında artan kaygının, toplumları otoriter iktidarlara sarılmaya ittiğini tarihsel örneklere yaslanarak aktarıyor.

Salecl, Birinci Dünya Savaşı’ndaki “askeri krizin” daha sonra yerini ekonomik ve “zihinsel” krize bıraktığını, bunun da toplumsal kaygıyı beslediğini vurguluyor ve şöyle devam ediyor: “Âdemoğlu handiyse yapayalnız kalmıştı, zira Tanrı’ya olan inancını kaybetmişti. Gelgelelim bilime, ilerlemeye ve akla inancın kaybolması da bir o kadar önemli olmuştu. Avrupa’nın da ölümü gibiydi bu. Ne var ki kaygı zamanları Avrupa’da yeni totaliter liderlere yer açmıştı. İtalyan faşizmi ve Almanya’da Hitler’in iktidara gelişi, kaygı çağına çözüm bulma girişimleriydi. Öte yandan uyguladıkları politikalar ikinci kaygı çağının doğmasına katkıda bulunmuştu. Nitekim İkinci Dünya Savaşı’nın ardından, bir kez daha, bilhassa Yahudi Soykırımı ve Hiroşima deneyimiyle yoğunlaşan bir kaygı çağına girilmişti. Bir kez daha, görülmedik gaddarlıkta bir şiddete yol açan kitle imha silahları, savaş bittikten sonra ortaya çıkan kaygı duygusunu tırmandırmıştı. (…) Tabii ki en son kaygı çağı, 1990’larda en zalim şiddet biçimlerine tanıklık etmiş olmamızla ve son birkaç yıldır yirminci yüzyılın yeni savaşları ve şerleriyle -terörist saldırı ve ölümcül virüs kullanımı tehdidiyle- meşgul oluşumuzla ilgilidir…”

Birinci Dünya Savaşı sonrası yaşanan toplumsal kaygı üzerinden yükselen, daha doğrusu Almanlar tarafından yükseltilen Adolf Hitler’in, şu günlerde korona virüsünün yaptığıyla da örtüşen bir vahşet politikası vardı.

Hitler’in “ari ırk” hedefi sadece Yahudileri, eşcinselleri, çingeneleri değil, aynı zamanda sakatları, “işe yaramaz” yaşlıları da yok etmeye odaklıydı. Eylül 1939’da devreye konan politikaya göre hastalar, sakatlar, “işe yaramazlar”, doktorlar tarafından tedavi edilmeyerek, aç bırakılarak ölüme terk edilecekti. Büyük tepkiler sonrası rafa kaldırıldığı söylense de, Nazilerin bu politikayı 1945 yılına kadar sürdürdüğü ve 200 bine yakın engelliyi bu şekilde öldürdüğü söylenir.

Bu açıdan bakıldığında, Birinci Dünya Savaşı sonrası Almanya’da oluşan kitlesel kaygının yücelttiği Nazizmin, kapitalizmle uyumlu bir vahşet uyguladığı ve “gereksiz yük” olarak görülen sakatları, “işe yaramazları” da hedef aldığı görülüyor.

Korona virüsü de kapitalizmin artık sömüremediklerini, kâr elde edemediklerini, yoksullaştırarak bağışıklık sistemlerinin zayıflamasına yol açtıklarını aramızdan alıyor. Teksas Vali Yardımcısı Dan Patrick’in açıktan söylediğini dünya liderleri zaten kabullenmiş görünüyor.

Bakın, dünyanın en zengin ülkesi olan ABD’nin Los Angeles kentinde, korona virüsü teşhisi konan ama sigortası olmadığı için evine yollanan 17 yaşındaki bir genç, hayatını kaybetmiş.

O halde karşımızdaki esas düşman virüsten ziyade kapitalizm. Üstelik vahşi kapitalizmin, virüsü işlevsel bir silaha dönüştürmesi son derece olası: Faşizmin bir alt uygulaması olarak yaşizm.

İtalyan doktorların, yoğun bakım ünitelerinde hangi hastayı gözden çıkarabilecekleri konusundaki mecburi tercih sırasında yaptıkları da bu kapsamda. Düşünsenize, korona virüsünden yoğun bakımda tutulan iki hasta ama tek bir solunum cihazı var. Sağlık personeli bir tercih yapmak zorunda ve bunun da kriteri yaş. İhtiyarın ağzındaki solunum cihazını alıp gence takıyorlar… Bu, ne yazık ki evrensel bir ahlaki sorunsal olarak karşımızda duruyor.

Genci yaşlıya tercih eden aslında doktorlar değil, böylesi bir salgının her an kapımızı çalabileceğine ilişkin güçlü delil ve emarelere rağmen olağanüstü dönemde devreye girecek şekilde acil durum sistemi inşa etmeyi fazladan maliyet olarak gören kapitalizmin kendisi. Silaha, savaşa, şatafata, tüketime ayrılan payın yüzde biri sağlığa ayrılsa, insanların plastikten farkı olmayan ucuz tüketim maddeleriyle değil sağlıklı gıdayla beslenmesi sağlansa, önleyici aşı araştırmalarına ağırlık verilse, muhtemelen İtalyan doktorlar yaşlının solunum cihazını söküp gence takmak gibi travmatik, korkunç bir tercihi yapmak zorunda kalmayacaklardı.

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Ayrıcalıklı sınıflar daha fazla yiyebilsin, yediğiyle acıkan kapitalistler daha fazla tüketebilsin diye yaşlılar sistem dışına, yahut Narayama’da olduğu gibi dağ başında, korona virüsünün pençesine terk edilmek üzere. Böylece aşının bulunmasını bekleyerek zaman kaybedilmeyecek, sürü bağışıklığı sağlanacak, “dayanıklı” genç işçi-köleler fabrikaları dolduracak, kapitalist çark durmaksızın dönebilecek.

Sağlık Bakanı’nın, virüs vak’alarına ilişkin istatistikler paylaşırken, ölenlerin şehrini sır gibi saklayıp yaşlarına ısrarla vurgu yapmasıyla, daha sonra İçişleri Bakanlığı’nın 65 yaş üstü yurttaşlara sokağa çıkma “sınırlandırması” getirmesiyle, yaşlılara yönelik saldırganlık bir nevi meşrulaştı ve korona virüsü ile “yaşistlerin” ittifakı hızla sokağa taşındı.

Sokak serserileri yaşlıların önünü kesip tehditler savuruyor. “Bu seferlik seni affediyoruz” denilerek korkutulan, kafasına kolonya dökülüp alay edilen, binmesine müsaade edilmediği için toplu taşıma aracının önüne yatan, sadece yaşlı olduğu için bir polisin sözlü şiddetine maruz kalan, dışlanan, horlanan, virüsün hedefiyken kaynağı olarak lanse edilmeye çalışılan yaşlılar sadece hastalıktan, “yaşist” politikalardan ve bahse konu saldırganlıktan korktukları için içeride.

Bu iş üç-beş sokak serserisinin, “terbiyesizin” veya İçişleri Bakanı’nın ifade ettiğinin aksine “etkileşim hastasının” işi değil.

Bu, yeryüzü kaynaklarının paylaşımı mücadelesinde, sınıflar arası savaşın ötesinde, artık yaşlar arası bir gerilim noktasının da yeni halkası. Bu anlamda yaşizmi, kapitalizmin bir virüsü olarak okumak mümkün. Türkiye örneğinde ise durum biraz daha ilkel saldırganlığı andırıyor. Meseleyi idrak edecek tefekkür yeteneğinden yoksun, “devletine-milletine bağlı” güruh, dün Çinli sandıkları herhangi bir uzak Asyalıya, bir mülteciye, bir Kürde, bir “vatan hainine” yaptığını şimdi dedelerine yapıyor.

Elbette iktidarın vak’a sayılarını aktarırken ısrarla yaşlıları vurgularken aslında hitap ettiği “kod” bu değil. Başka.

YAŞLILARI ÖLÜME TERK: NARAYAMA TÜRKÜSÜ

Yaşizmin tarihsel bir arkaplanı var. Mazisi nereye kadar uzanıyor, bilemiyoruz. Fakat 19. yüzyıl Japonya’sındaki Ubasuteyama geleneği fikir verici olabilir. Shichirô Fukazawa’nın 1956 yılında yazdığı Narayama isimli romanı, daha sonra 1958 ve 1983 yılında iki ayrı filmin konusu oldu. Bizler daha çok Keisuke Kinoshita’nın yönettiği 1983 yapımı “Narayama Türküsü” filmini biliyoruz. Kıtlığın hâkim olduğu 19. yüzyıl Japonya’sının uzak bir dağ köyünde geçen hikâyede insanlar 70 yaşına geldiklerinde, aileye daha fazla yük olmamaları için yüksek bir dağın tepesine götürülüp ölüme terk edilirler. Yaşlıların çoğu bu kadere razı olmak durumundalar, zira gençliklerinde kendileri de anne-babalarını götürüp o dağa bırakmışlardır. Kaderine razı olmayan yaşlıların elden ayaktan düşmediklerini kanıtlamak için “gençlik rolü” oynamaları da sonucu değiştirmez. Zira kıt kaynaklardan dolayı nüfus sabit tutulmalıdır!

Peki halihazırda dünya, Narayama Türküsü’ndeki gibi, gerçekten de yaşlıları sırtında taşımayacak kadar kıt kaynaklara mı sahip?

Bu soruya “evet” yanıtı verenler, kapitalizmden ve dolayısıyla korona virüsünden yana saf tutmuş sayılır. Zira dünyanın kıt kaynakları, insanları doyurmaya fazlasıyla yetiyor. Fakat ayrıcalıklı sınıflar daha fazla yiyebilsin, yediğiyle acıkan kapitalistler daha fazla tüketebilsin diye yaşlılar sistem dışına, yahut Narayama’da olduğu gibi dağ başında, korona virüsünün pençesine terk edilmek üzere.

Böylece aşının bulunmasını bekleyerek zaman kaybedilmeyecek, sürü bağışıklığı sağlanacak, “dayanıklı” genç işçi-köleler fabrikaları dolduracak, kapitalist çark durmaksızın dönebilecek.

Bu sene Parazit filmiyle Oscar alan Güney Koreli yönetmen Bong Joon-ho’nun 2013 yapımı Snowpiercer filmindeki tren gibi… Filmde, dünya buzul çağına dönmüş, hayatta kalan insanlar ise Snowpiercer adında, “olağanüstü tasarımlı” ve hiç durmayan bir trende yaşıyorlar. Fakat katı eşitsiz koşullarda! Film, trenin en arka kompartımanında yaşayan yoksulların, insani şartlarda yaşamak için öne doğru gidiş mücadelesini, bu esnada acımasızca katledilişlerini ve ilerledikçe gördükleri olağanüstü şatafatı, ayrıcalığı anlatıyor.

Alttakiler, daha doğrusu arkadakiler, ileriye gitmelerinin her şeyi mahvedeceğine inandırılmak isteniyor. “Yaşıyorsunuz işte, daha ne istiyorsunuz?”