Most of the countries Japan is working with have no interest in the vote. The Japanese gov't is essentially bribing these nations to vote in their favor.

We are encouraging people to write to some of these governments and ask them to stand up for the whales and not the whalers. Check it out if you have a chance.

Amy Gregory GreenpeaceUSA

   It's not just what we say, it's how we say it.

patrick

I understand what you are saying, and mostly sympathize with your point.  But there are nuances which need to be appreciated.

It is, alas, a frequent moral error of righteously indignant activists to direct their indignation not only against those who deserve it, but also against some who do not.  E.g., the American in Europe, treated coldly, even though he/she dislikes Bush, voted for Gore and Kerry, and disapproves of the occupation of Iraq.  Let us all beware of punishing all Japanese, for the sins of their government and of some of their major business leaders.

On the other hand, I have no sympathy whatsoever for sentimental "offense," felt on allegedly nationalistic grounds.  After 9/11, many Americans, in the name of "patriotism," I guess, or whatever, went out looking for Arabs, or Muslims, to bash and punish; and they beat up many innocent people, including many Christian Arabs, and many South Asians who were neither Arab nor Muslim.  That is surely one of the saddest episodes in the history of American society.

In late 2002, and early 2003, the French government led an international appeal to the US, to slow down its plans to invade Iraq, and to give Hans Blix and the WMD inspectors time to finish their work.  Most bizarrely, it became fashionable to mock France, the French, and anything associated with them, and not just in conservative circles.  And why?  Because the Chirac government questioned the propaganda and the war drums of Bush, Cheney & Co.?  So, the French "offended" the US?  That American reaction, that nationalistic "taking offense," was ridiculous, and childish, and deplorable.

In fairness, I cannot expect the people of Japan to be any less childish and petulant than are the majority (apparently) of Americans.  Nevertheless, it is impossible to show any respect for those Japanese who resent international protesters of Japanese whaling, on the grounds that their Japaneseness is being offended.  "Tough," say I to them.  "This is not about you.  This is about sensitive, intelligent, vulnerable beings, who are suffering and dying in part thanks to your ignorance.  Grow up."

And as for "tradition": Tradition Shmadition.  The Newfoundland fishers claim that slaughtering young harp seals is their "tradition."  The Makah of Washington have revived their "traditional" practice of whaling.  And of course the Japanese whalers insist that whaling is their ancient "tradition."

See here, an injustice is no less an injustice for being "traditional."  In fact that makes it all the more pernicious, because then it is harder to uproot and redress.

Dear Amy, of Greenpeace USA,

I have written to the ambassadors of Honduras and Nicaragua, editing your form letter to include a paragraph in Spanish.  Greenpeace deserves more praise than we can ever declare, for all that so many of you have done on behalf of the welfare of cetaceans.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

        The issue is not whether we should be nice to people when they say their national sentiments and traditions are under attack.  The issue is "how can we best support and facilitate the changes we wish to see."

        It is great to be morally correct, but if that moral correctness is displayed and communicated in such a manner that we lose the attention of those we are trying to communicate with, then what?

        Telling someone else to "grow up" usually results in them not listening.  

        Should they listen?  They don't.  

        Given that the world sees Americans as arrogant and snobbish, it may sometimes be the most effective way to support change is by quietly supporting those folks in the other country who are advocates for change.

        Note that I was relaying what a "Japanese anti-whale meat campaigner" had said.  The very kind of people we should be supporting.

        Is it better to be morally pure, or effective?  

pace,

Patrick

you suggest that our goal should be "how can we best support and facilitate the changes we wish to see."

Well, fine.  But the issue is far more nuanced than that.  We do not know how the hell to facilitate changes in the US, after all -- short of having a few millions of dollars to pass around -- , let alone a country we barely know such as China or even Japan.

I am furious that just because I am an American citizen, anything I have to say should be morally connected to the Bush administration, the Pentagon and American big business.  I have no moral connexion to any of those institutions.  Quite the opposite, I do what I can to overthrow them.

It has been credibly presented that the four countries in all the world that have most recently committed the great majority of fatal, mortal, deadly, probably sinful, judicially justified executions are (in alphabetical order):  China; Iran; Saudi Arabia; United States.

Whoop-de-doo.  Cause for celebration.  No?  No.

I do indeed believe that there are many people around the world who appreciate that we Americans do not all share the same international agenda.  And that whole bunches of us do not think much of the Bushies, and do not share the peculiar values of their supporters.

Still, it is frustrating and troubling that constructive criticism, from an American source, should be rejected, on the prejudicial grounds that where it is coming from somehow discredits it.

Why, Patrick, should Chinese and Japanese observers of the various attitudes of Americans be permitted morally to entertain fewer nuances than are American observers of them?

"Given that the world sees Americans as arrogant and snobbish":  No, I will not give that.  I entirely accept that it is mostly true -- unfortunately.  But there are some people out there, including Chinese and Japanese and Europeans, who are thoughtful enough to understand that even Americans, bullyish and arrogant and snobbish as we mostly are, nevertheless include a few others, of other disposition.

And when I say we should all treat one another as "adults," I am not bullying anybody, I am not asserting my moral superiority; quite the contrary; I have extreme respect for thoughtful Chinese, Japanese, and other East Asians; I very much want them to make up their own minds on everything, after hearing lots and lots of options.

And I very much want the entire world to hear what the free-speaking Chinese, Koreans in the South, Koreans in the North, Mongolians, Tibetans, Nepalese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Hong-Kong-ese, etc., all have to say.  There will be no justice, without the voices of every single one of them, especially of the too-long silenced.

And would it not be great to hear from Aan Sang Suu Kyi, in house/captivity in Myanmar/Burma?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

        Your post contained a lot of good points (as usual), but I want to come back to what I see as one of the central issues in communications between Americans and "others" in these times.

        The question in my mind is not whether we communicate, but how we communicate.  It's all about style.

        You might consider reading (if you haven't already) Suzette Haden Elgin's "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense".  Here is a link to one of the pages about her (she also publishes a newsletter about religion and linguistics for those who are spiritually inclined.)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735200890/sfwa-20/102-2509788-6640906

http://www.sfwa.org/members/elgin/

         The question is not only whether Americans are, in fact, arrogant, but whether American communication styles come across as arrogant (and you can believe I've been called this more than once! (smile)).

         Effective communication means finding ways to say things that other people can hear.  If we can't do this, we don't achieve our desired results (being heard, at the least).

         People from other nations often find they have difficulties in communicating with Americans, just for the stylist reasons.  

         But we face a special situation because we are in fact part of the "Last Empire".  Whether we support Bush or not, most people believe that we happily benefit from American hegemony.

         For example, it is relatively painless for American citizens to travel where they will, but not for others to travel to America.  This grates, it has to, it should.

         As a "privledged" people, what we do and say is looked at from a different point of view.  We need to be aware of this, if we wish to effectively communicate with others.

patrick

grazie, I entirely agree with what you have written on the importance of style.  My hero Oscar Wilde would definitely approve; it is up there with the importance of being earnest/Ernest.

Thanks very much for the links to the work of this wonderful author, Suzette Haden Elgin.  No, I had not heard of her, and now really want to read something by her.  The editors of the Catholic opinion magazine Commonweal have asked me to review the global-warming books by Elizabeth Kolbert and Al Gore; thanks to all my Grist friends, I have some hope of getting by; it is a triumph, really, that those editors have allowed environmental matters a place, up there with abortion and stem-cell research.  But anyway, I think Ms. Elgin would be very attractive to many of Commonweal's readers, and shall do what I can to recommend her.

And by the way, and don't mind please if I nag, I really do want you to write up your memoirs.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

         Great to hear about the book reviews!  Please post your reviews around here somewhere when you finish them!  :)

         Thank you for your too kind comments about memoirs, but I am mostly too busy living to be concerned, I am thinking of setting up a China web page (for people like me before I got here (smile)).

         I have been a fan of Ms. Elgin for many years, she has had some deep and wonderful thoughts about the meaning of language.

take care, and don't forget to post your reviews!

patrick