International Relations - Binding your feet to prevent progress

裹足不前 - Binding Your Feet to Prevent Progress

Many times in my travels I have encountered prejudice, dislikes, and rivalries between the peoples of different countries. Many Scottish and Irish people retain sharp memories and prejudices from 400-year-old wars against England. Many people around the world dislike the actions of the American government through the last 20 or 30 years. And of course Chinese and Korean people sharply dislike Japan because of the 2nd World War, 70 years ago. I learn quickly that I need to walk on eggshells, avoid political discussions, and stay strictly neutral. Nevertheless, I am fascinated when observing how prejudice and strongly-held opinions influence people.

I have been extremely fortunate to meet many great people, some who treat me like family. I have met many kind-hearted and generous people around the world - people who are honest, simple, and good. I will never apologize for having good friends in Japan. Likewise I won't apologize for having good friends in China, in Korea, or elsewhere. I don't really care about governments and international rivalries. I care about people.

Sadly, I have listened to some examples of unfortunate talk. Some recent examples are:

• "I want to kill ALL Japanese people."
• "We Scots killed as many English as the Germans did. However, it took us 500 years to kill the same as Germany did in 2 wars."
• "It doesn't matter how the Nanjing people died. When it's your time to die, you die. How doesn't matter."
• "That Chinese university student in Fukuoka killed 4 Japanese people? Why did he stop at only 4?"

I am never sure how to react or what to say. Maybe I'm a coward, but I simply observe and say nothing. I need to find another way, perhaps. The most disheartening aspect of these statements is that they came from young people, not from the people who survived the actual wars many years before. People and governments have long memories, often preferring revenge to progress. Often, government leaders use grievances against foreign governments (or "terrorists") as propaganda to unite their people, getting people to overlook the weaknesses of their own leaders.

My philosophy for success is to concentrate on the positive aspects of a situation or task. Focusing too much on negatives - worrying more about failure or past problems - this often causes failure. The ancient Chinese proverb calls this 裹足不前 - binding your feet to prevent progress. Hopefully I can use this blog to illustrate positive features and good people in different countries.

For instance, today I was reading about a Japanese teacher named Toru Kato, 92, who received a special award from the Shenyang city government in northeastern China. The honor recognized Kato's decades-long contribution to the promotion of friendly relations between Shenyang and Sapporo, in Japan. http://www.asahi.com/English/Herald-asahi/TKY200601110127.html Kato Sensei spent many decades during and after the War helping young children in Shenyang get good educations.

"Teachers must devote themselves to the children's education irrespective of whether the students are Japanese or Chinese. It is a matter of course," Kato said.

Yes. That is how individual people can improve the world. One small step at a time.