I'm surprised no one has commented on this. These people have been incredibly poised during this crisis. I didn't realize how bad it was till watching detailed footage, and to see these people waiting in long lines for minimum food while holding their kids actually brought tears to my eyes. I understand this is different levels of wealth, different culture but still its incredible. their are no reports of one single looting incident. there are several thoughts that come to my mind, obviously disasters we have seen in Hati (actually) I thought the people of Hati behaved very well especially given their already precarious wealth status as the poorest country in the western hemisphere. there is also the since of community exhibited by the japanese. they were showing footage of some people in theater I believe who immediately came together to start removing debris minutes after the quake. with all the anti government, individualism talk that happens in this country I wonder how we would react.
My mom works with the Japanese, apparently everyone is really disciplined and in order, I don't know how they do it. Apparently people waits in a huge line for a bit of gas for like 3-4 hours without one guy honking. Everyone just waits in their cars quietly, same as grocery stores and banks etc.
Both countries suffer from income disparities, but the income disparity in the U.S. is MASSIVE in comparison to Japan's. That's all the explanation you need for why we loot and they don't.
what you're witnessing is individualism in action. we saw it here, after 9/11. saw it again when the US Air flight landed in the hudson. it was an ad hoc flotilla of private boats that provided most of the response- not the government.
No disrespect to 9-11 victims, that's apples and oranges. edit: we're talking about the living who have no homes, no transportation, out in the cold, no food or water.
Although a totally different country and situation, when we were at the Shanghai World Expo, Asians were waiting 6-8 hours in line just to go through a single exhibit. They are an incredibly disciplined and patient society from my observations (except when it comes to getting on a plane )
I'm not seeing Japanese restraint regarding looting to be a virtue. When you have someone handing out relief supplies, standing in line and following instructions is good. But, with the need so great, it'd be a lot more efficient if people would help themselves to the unofficial supplies that can be foraged in the area. Looting the jewelry store probably isn't appropriate, but I think it's downright foolish to refrain from looting food, water, medicine, clothing, and tools after a disaster. C'mon Japanese, loosen up! I would think individualism would incent a person to loot and that it is collectivism that keeps people standing in line. Of course, here you're talking about the pro-active individual effort to rescue others, which doesn't have much to do with looting.
Wow, Juan Gonzalez showing the desperate panic ridden barbarian that he really is. People like him who lose all composure when **** hits the fan disgust me. Thank the great Lord he's not a US citizen. Now you stay in guatamelah you hear me? A fence is there for a reason.
you dont know what you are talking about.. There are huge income disparities in Japan also. The area that was hit is actually a poorer area.
I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. I sure hope you're trolling here. Do you think the Japanese won't provide immediate aid to those who need it most (you know, the ones collapsing from thirst/hunger)? If your symptoms aren't that acute, then you can certainly wait in line. This way, food gets evenly distributed and the weaker citizens don't have to fight stronger ones for resources. This way, everyone's in it together not in a survival-of-the-fittest style loot-fest.
I remember a lot of pushing and shoving on Tokyo trains.... (the response and relief seem do seem to be going very well -- so hard to comprehend the magnitude of what's going on there....).
massive fail. It's not even close to the same disparity in the US. Japan's Gini coefficient is substantially lower than the US (about .24 vs. .4, where 1 = perfect inequality and 0 = perfect equality), and one of the lowest in the developed world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality Japan is actually second only to Denmark in the developed world (or even the developing world) in terms of equality of income distribution, surpassing even Sweden and Norway. THe US is more like.... well, basically nobody in the developed world. Maybe Hong Kong or Russia.
I guess this bent of 'tardation & 'lective memory is part of a grass roots campaign to try to strip CB powers from the police & firemen's union via basketball message board posting? Good luck with that squatty.
another reason may be because the the area struck is a elderly area? But I think the main reason is the level of education and how they were brought up to respect others. When tragedy hit here in NO, we had a lot of people who had this whole attitude of "I am a victim! Now give me everything since I am entitled" The Japanese do not have this attitude and work together rather than run over and loot and rape each other.