The more humane society.

I will watch with keen interest how the Japanese recover from a devastating disaster. It’s gotta be a societal thing. With everybody pitching in. Making sacrifices. For the common good. Probably far more than we Americans would do for each other. We Americans have more of a every-being-for-himself mentality. As an individual, you either sink or swim. On your own. If one is struck with misfortune, you are allowed to fall by the wayside. The message is to pick yourself up by the bootstraps. That’s the American way. I think it’s a callous, uncaring way. That’s why we have an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. The prevailing attitude, especially in Republican circles, is that the poor choose to be poor. Just as the rich choose to be rich. Granted, that may be an oversimplification. But when I contrast American society with Japanese society, I think of the Japanese as more humane than Americans. –Jim Broede