Empathy Survey - How Do You Feel When You See a Child Suffering?

I just bought a book by one of my favorite political columnists, Ted Rall. In the foreword, he talks about compassion and empathy. 


He wrote about a time he saw a homeless man and thought, "Thank god, if it weren't for a few lucky breaks, that could have been me." I've thought the same thing before many times too.


How about you?


I agree with what Ted writes in the book and will have a review of "The Year of Loving Dangerously" soon... But, until then, this...


I wonder about people today and think there are far too many people who feint compassion and concern, but it's all an act. Take, for example, the disaster of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 in Japan. So many people I know were actually sincere and got off their asses and did something...


But I also thought there were way too many people who only helped and contributed because it made them look good doing so. There's nothing so wrong with that, I suppose, as long as people are honest with themselves and open about intentions.


There's a word for this and it's Crocodile Tears.


I also think that there is far too little compassion and empathy amongst people today as a general rule.


Take, for example, the poor people who have suffered in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Terrible situation indeed... But the mass media seem to have gone on and people are losing interest.


Is it human nature to do so? Or are we all just robots with heart strings being pulled by the mass media?


I wonder why people will get together to make (at least the appearance of) an effort to help people who are on TV and suffering far away, yet, in their own neighborhoods, they scorn and look down upon the unfortunate in their own neighborhoods?


For those ends and my own research, I've made a survey at the right of this blog. It is asking the question:


"When you see a homeless person, what do you think?"


I hope you will help me by taking 5 seconds to answer the question (as many answers as you wish)... I will post the results on 10/31/11. 


Note: I changed the name of this post from "When you see a homeless person, what do you think?" to "How Do You Feel When You See a Child Suffering?" Because I know that if I write "Homeless" that is a distasteful subject and many will not bother to read the post.

Wind Directions in Japan for the Geographically Impaired

Too many clueless people. Another person, who knows nothing about Japan, or its weather or geography, takes issue with the facts I wrote in a previous blog post about the prevailing winds in Japan ALWAYS blowing from south or east from April to December and then from the north east in winter. Regardless of season, generally speaking, winds blow radiation (if there is any) away from Fukushima towards the ocean. They do not blow from Fukushima towards Tokyo. That's an impossibility. Regardless of what quacks like Arnie Gundersen say.

LENA HORNE - STORMY WEATHER

Laughingly, a commenter named, "S" (in a lame attempt at wit) writes:

BTW, you piqued my curiosity, so I just took a quick look at the forecast for Fukushima, here: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Fukushima/forecasts/latest It shows today's wind blowing SSW all day --i.e., straight towards Tokyo. You might want to call them, and explain that this is 'impossible.' Have a nice weekend.

"Have a nice weekend?" How cute. I will, thank you. And I will be laughing at you in a few minutes. 

Thanks S. I don't think I need to call the weather-forecast people. This is not a forecasting problem. Their forecast for Fukushima is most probably correct. Fukushima is not a big place. Is, say, the weather report for Ventura California  consistent with the weather in Tijuana Mexico? Probably not. They might be if it were all flat lands, but, alas, for you and your weak argument, there are a bunch of huge rocks called, "mountains" in the way.

The nuclear power plants in Fukushima are on the ocean side, opposite of Tokyo, of those high mountain ranges. Winds often blow onshore from the ocean. This is a geography question and how geography influences weather. 

Some people need to open up a relief map of Japan and see the terrain and just how far away Tokyo is from Fukushima is... And, no, it's not the 1/2 inch you see on that map in front of your face. I guess some people's reading and comprehension abilities are lacking as I simply pointed out in my post, about the geographical considerations when dealing with weather patterns here (or anywhere else in the world for that matter - but especially in a mountainous country).

As a professional in the mass media, I do know how to check and cross reference information. I guess I shouldn't hold others up to the same standard, but it is disgraceful when people aren't intelligent enough to do the very basic level of fact checking - or they cherry picks facts. How embarrassing. I wrote about that here: Critical and Analytical Thinking are Lost Arts Amongst Many of Today's Adult Population

Now, let me blow this stupid argument out of the water. Here is the claim of this reader that, "I just took a quick look at the forecast for Fukushima, here: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Fukushima/forecasts/latest It shows today's wind blowing SSW all day --i.e., straight towards Tokyo."

Refer to this map: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/fukushima/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

My God! He's right! If we are to extrapolate, that wind is also blowing straight for Manila, Brunei, and Adelaide Australia! We're doomed! Head for the life rafts! Every man for himself! 

As you can see, "S" is referring to the wind direction in Fukushima, indeed blowing south, all the while being ignorant of Japan's geography and distance between Fukushima and Tokyo.

Now, let's show his how he doesn't have the faintest idea as to what he is talking about. From the very same weather service. Refer to this map: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/tokyo/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

Well, look at that! The winds are blowing from the south to the north in Tokyo! How could this be? How could the wind be blowing south in Fukushima but blowing north in Tokyo!? 

Well, like I said, this is a mountainous country and geography plays a big part. This reader  cherry picked his data so that it shows winds blowing south IN FUKUSHIMA today, Saturday June 11, 2011 - (while conveniently forgetting to check Tokyo). Fukushima is on the other side of a huge mountain range and 230 + kilometers from Tokyo... Yet, in the bottom chart, from his very own sources, it shows the wind blowing from the south towards the north away from Tokyo.

Just how do we justify this discrepancy? Could it be geography as I showed in my previous post? Seems like the only plausible explanation. Either that or weather gremlins!

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home! 

Oh Auntie Em!"

Also, let's examine further... What about the area just north of Tokyo, Chiba Japan? Well,  sorry about that one too: Refer to this: http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Chiba/forecasts/latest

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER VIEW

Wow! Astounding. The winds are blowing north or, later, from the west (as they always do) away from Tokyo! Who'd a thunk it?

Do I need to alert the weather service? Or does dear reader and Arnie Gundersen need to get an education on Japan's geography and weather? 

As I have said numerous times, Japan's prevailing winds blow from the south or the east. For a few months in winter, they blow from the north east. There might be times when, due to terrain, in small areas, winds blow different directions (a walk in a windy hallway in any city in the world can demonstrate that), but these winds are caused and controlled by geography.

Winds do not blow from Fukushima to Tokyo over the biggest and widest and highest mountain range in Japan.

May I now start enjoying my weekend? 

I already started laughing at least five minutes ago.  

Very Interesting Take on "Flyjin" & One More

The Flyjin phenomenon in Japan has many facets. Generally speaking, Flyjin is a term used as a play on words in Japan. Gaijin is the word for foreigner. "Gai" means "outside" and "jin" means "person." So Gaijin means outside person or foreigner.

お江戸の火消し

SMOKE ON THE WATER

The Flyjin came in as an insult and joke deriding many of these foreigners who panicked and left places like Tokyo and Nagoya during the Fukushima accident. It is especially a dig at those who panicked and left co-workers, friends and neighbors (lovers too) holding the bag. It is not targeted at the foreigners who were in the disaster areas who left Japan. Only foreigners who were hundreds of miles away who panicked and fled - many even though their own embassies told them Tokyo was safe.


Nikkei Newspaper, though, has an article about foreigners who have left Japan that is looking at the problem from a totally different perspective. Even though many Flyjin get their feathers ruffled at the insinuation that they showed poor leadership and weak crisis assessment abilities, this article deals with a completely different segment of the foreigner in Japan market. It actually deals with a much larger workforce in Japan than the few westerners (who will most assuredly get angry about this article) that have been brought up in a society that makes people think they are entitled to everything.    
    
The title of the article asks Japanese people, "Do you think that only Japanese workers can protect your workplace?" From Nikkei:

消えた外国人労働力　日本人だけで職場は守れるか：NBonline(日経ビジネス オンライン)

business.nikkeibp.co.jp

震災と原発問題で日本を離れた外国人労働者たち。そこで突きつけられた問題がある。多くの職場で外国人が不可欠である現実と、彼らを身勝手に使ってきたという事実だ。外国人労働力を日本社会でどう位置づけるか。この問題に今こそ正対する時だ。...

Translation:

Many foreigners left their workplaces after the earthquake and due to (Fukushima) nuclear problems. This leaves us with many issues to consider. The reality of the situation in the workplace is that we (Japanese) have been using this (cheap) foreign labor selfishly. Perhaps it is time to consider how these foreign laborers are placed and viewed in Japanese society. Now could be a good time to consider this issue.

Japanese factories have a serious problem without cheap foreign labor

The article goes on to discuss how, due to a rapidly aging population and declining birth rate, Japan desperately needs these people to perform manual labor duties in order for the Japanese economy to run.

While many foreigners might cheer and raise their fists reading this and scream, "Right on! We are taken advantage of in the workplace!" This article is generally not about the highly paid westerners working in Japan. No. Not hardly. It is an article discussing a much larger and much more important labor force in Japan: cheap manual labor from China, Pakistan, Iran and many other southeast Asian nations.

It continues on talking about how Japan must open up more and take better care of these people who come to earn a living in Japan. They are not just cheap labor, they are a critical and important part of the labor equation for a healthy Japanese economy. They deserve to be treated better.

The other story I wanted to mention was about a president of a factory in the Fukushima area that hired many of these people as cheap labor from China.

Because of a bad past history and, in many cases, the Japanese management taking advantage of cheap foreign labor like mentioned above (but, then again, in what country don't they do that?) Japan and Japanese companies often have a bad reputation amongst Chinese workers. 

It is most likely deserved in many cases.

But there's a story about a Japanese president of a factory that risked his life to save some Chinese factory workers who were staying at the company dormitory near Miyagi or Fukushima when the earthquake and  tsunami hit. 

Anyway, this president heard about the tsunami warnings and realized that he had several Chinese workers staying at the company dormitory and that this dormitory was in the path of the tsunami. People were told to evacuate immediately and head for higher ground. But the president knew that these workers wouldn't understand the announcements and so he risked his life and drove full speed ahead to the dorm and got those workers out of there and saved their lives.

Soon after the Chinese workers left Japan (because of Fukushima) but, according to the article, they reported back in China that, "Not all Japanese company president's are bad guys" and that their company president risked his life to save theirs and they were grateful.

I looked for the article about this story, but am unable to find it. If I find it later, I will paste it into this post.

The moral of the story? Not all Japanese bosses are bad guys. Not all Flyjins are westerners and not all of them are bad guys either.