American Empire And Japan's New Populist Prime Minister

From personal experience I know that U.S. military bases in Japan are a very thorny issue for many Japanese. Not because Japan doesn't want a strong relationship with the U.S., but because many view the U.S. as dominating the relationship. And because there is often a perceived arrogance in how the Japanese are treated in the relationship. That includes many acts of violence against Japanese citizens by servicemen stationed there. Violence that often seems without consequence as servicemen are not tried in Japanese court but instead returned to their bases where justice is doled out.

Arrogance is severely frowned upon, even shamed, in many cultures including Japan. When Japanese business or political leaders are publicly shamed for wrongdoing, it is not uncommon that they commit the ancient act of seppuku or ritual suicide as an act of atonement. (One can imagine the horror of Wall Street's behavior in many countries given the outrage Americans feel.)

Anyhow, it hasn't been a focus of the media but President Obama actually went to Japan earlier this year. While the media was worried more about the President's genuflecting during the trip, I believe the major reason of substance for that visit was to ensure Japan political leaders understood the importance of keeping America's bases in Japan. In other words, the continuation of its hegemony over Japan.

I am quite confident it is not lost upon Japanese politicians or business leaders that a self-determined Japanese foreign policy would create millions of high-paying technology jobs in the military-industrial complex rather than playing a servile role to the American war machine.

The question is whether Japan will ever say no to the United States. Given that the shame of World War II is but a memory read in school textbooks for anyone younger than sixty, I believe the answer is yes. The only question is when.

Frankly, empire is not compatible with democracy. Period. Just ask the Romans who lost their freedoms as Rome became a war state. An empire. Thousands of years later, we have the same dynamic at work in our society - a government which arrogantly believes in its own hegemony rather than serving the sovereign. Have we learned nothing in two thousand years? Of course we haven't. Human behavior is timeless. That issue is playing a much more substantial role in our current economic crisis than anyone in the mainstream media would dare to ponder.

Link here.