Quote:
Originally Posted by lostalex
i don't think power was a centralized back then as you think it was. It was a fundamental racist Japanese philosophy against outsiders which led to their brutality. It was a racist ideology which they held in their hearts.
You are trying to make it sound like superiors were standing over them forcing the Japanese people and soldiers to act brutally. It was the ideology of Japanese nationalism that was evil, not just the leadership.
There can be no storm without the rain.
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As a species, we obey our superiors. The generals obey the emperor, the captains obey the generals, and the soldiers obey the captains. It's a small loop, and doesn't require some kind of dictator to hold centralised power.
Even recently we've seen what can happen in photo's of both our armies abusing enemy soldiers we've captured. We know that's wrong, and those soldiers must know it's wrong too, but people do stupid things wherever there are chains of command that sanction such behaviour.
Any ideology concerning nationalism is extremely flawed in my book. I don't believe in American exceptionalism, I don't believe in the flag waving Rule Britannia's either.
People are just people, and we just want to fit in.
03-02-2014, 10:39 AM
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