So much for the United States being the Great Eagle of
democracy.
Here in Japan, many think of the United States more as the
Pigeon of Conceit. Or the Vulture of Dollars. Or the Cockatoo of
Military Cooperation.
That is not to say that people in Japan are not interested in
the United States. President Clinton’s on the news and Meg
Ryan speaks Japanese in bank commercials. And among younger people
at least, there is still the sense that America is the land of
opportunity ““ a place where dreams can come true.
That is not to say that Japan is completely shielded from
America’s dark side. The United States slips off its pedestal
of lofty ideals by housing soldiers, guns, airplanes and other
paraphernalia on military bases composed of land co-opted
unwillingly from private Japanese citizens.
Okinawa, the site of the G-8 summit ““ a collection of
eight of the world’s most industrialized nations ““ is a
flash point for these issues. Under treaty obligation to the United
States, the Japanese government conscripts land owned by private
Japanese citizens to provide space for American military
institutions.
And while the Japanese government is also culpable, it is a
valid question as to how the land of democracy, human rights, and
freedom has no qualms about squashing democracy, human rights, and
freedom if it means expanding military bases of which 90 percent of
Americans have never heard. What happened to ideology? What
happened to self-determination? What happened to democracy?
For some Japanese, however, America is still a promised land of
sorts. History came alive when a Japanese friend explained to me
that he plans to go to the U.S. for work. Japan, he said, is
“tight and small,” while America is loaded with
opportunity. In America, he explained, skill, not social position,
birthright or (and this is big in Japan) age is important for
getting ahead.
And while you would probably find some contrary opinions, my
friend’s attitude, correct or otherwise, is consistent with
those of potential immigrants throughout American history.
His is a wonderful ““ even if misguided ““ sentiment,
but it reflects understanding and desire for American greenbacks
more than admiration for those tremendous principles of democracy
supposedly embodied by red, white and blue.
What happened? Presumably the Founding Fathers (and though you
never hear about them, I’m betting there were some
influential Mothers too) meant it when they were talking about
stuff like justice for all and people being created equal.
Remember that stuff?
Surely the United States has always been the land of economic
opportunity, but ideological convictions have long played at least
a tacit role making the United States a destination for the
world’s poverty-stricken, oppressed or ambitious.
But now, at least to the Japanese I have spoken with, the United
States is nothing but a place of economic opportunity, nothing more
than a nesting ground for people with lots of cash.
The frightening part is not that people around the world do not
recognize American ideology, but that many U.S. citizens have
disconnected from their ideological roots. And without such
attachment, the United States blows like a gigantic, heavily armed
tumbleweed across the world.
Today, when we Americans talk ideology and internationalism, we
talk human rights and worldwide democracy. But when we talk human
rights we talk about giving sovereign states ultimatums. And when
we talk worldwide democracy, other states see American
unilateralism and American scorn for international cooperation.
This discrepancy between talk and action is especially poignant
today because of the American indifference toward the G-8
summit.
Presumably, the meetings are an opportunity for countries to
approach international issues and disputes in a democratic fashion.
But, from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s absence at
the Foreign Ministers meeting on July 12, to President
Clinton’s late arrival in Okinawa, the United States has
shown scorn for an assembly of the world’s great powers. So
much for international cooperation and democracy.
Still, you cannot escape your past completely. And we Americans
are still affected by American dogma. Unfortunately American ethics
often offend our international partners like Japan.
Another Japanese friend of mine wanted an explanation of
American human rights policies.
He wanted to know why Americans seem to think it all right to
preach ethics to other nations.
“Why do Americans want to tell all countries what to
do?” he asked confidently.
This sentiment reaches into the Japanese educational system.
“Cultural differences define human rights
differences,” claimed one of my Japanese professors in a
lecture about the United States and globalization. The implication
being that condemning human rights practices is tantamount to
Americans’ condemning cultures.
For better or worse, the Japanese are insulated against outside
ethical systems, since they have a centuries-old cultural umbrella
as defense against ideological imperialism.
I sympathize; if 260 million Pigeons of Conceit were headed my
way, I’d want an umbrella too.
As one of those pigeons however, it is bothersome that anyone
feels the need for an umbrella, especially when the principles upon
which America was granted its wings are still beautiful and
attainable ““ freedom, justice, democracy ““Â even if
they are often forgotten and ignored on both sides of the
Pacific.
What to do? Ignorance pervades domestic and international
politics (George W. may not even know where Japan is) but enough
dollars drip from American pockets into international ones that no
one makes all that much noise about the discrepancy between
American “ideology” and American action. And without
such noise, constructive attempts to practice what we wrote 225
years ago are unlikely.
American apathy for and ignorance of international perspectives
leaves the nation blind and believing that international acceptance
and pursuit of American dollars is tantamount to acceptance of
American ideology.
And while the United States has long given lip service to
ideological imperatives laid down hundreds of years ago by
intelligent, albeit far from perfect, people, today the United
States seems to stand for nothing.
Proving his smarts, Thomas Jefferson summarized my article in
seventeen words: “A nation that expects to be ignorant and
free expects what never can and never will be.”
Near American flags flying over tainted ground, the Okinawa
Summit continues ““ ostensibly led by the Great Eagle of
Democracy. But half of the time it cannot be found, and the other
half of the time it cannot find itself.