By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Why was there no looting after the earthquake, the tsunami and nuclear meltdown, which is still going on, in Japan?
In any other country, it seems, whenever something like this happens, be it earthquake in Haiti, tsunami somewhere, a hurricane devastation in the US, or in the Caribbean, and in most other cases, in the world, the looters are out in force immediately after the event and well before any aid can arrive and any security can be established.
In the case of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath even cops of the NOPD were involved in the looting incidents. They went into a variety of stores and just took what they wanted, instead of actually preventing the looters to do so.
I japan, on the other hand, no such problems anywhere, it would appear. Unless, like with the ongoing nuclear accident, the media, especially the foreign media, is being kept in the dark.
But, the way we seem to be seeing it is that there has been no looting and is no looting going on in Japan anywhere in the aftermath of the quake and the tsunami.
Instead people seem to be helping others to gather up belongings that can still be salvaged and no one seems to have to mount armed guard over things to prevent them from being stolen.
It seems to be a case that if you fight over something, there is never enough. But if you share, there is always enough. And this appears to be the philosophy that reigns in Japan.
The question has to be whether it is based on the Buddhist religion, in the case of Japan, the Zen Buddhism version, or whether it is something else.
I would, personally, venture to suggest that the Buddhist faith is what seems to be making the people resilient and at the same time work together to help others in adversity.
This is what should happen in the Christian faith, that is to say that we should help our neighbors, and thus our Western countries and those that have a predominately Christian outlook but it does not. Instead in places that are “Christian” looting always seems to happen immediately and people steal from their neighbors and from companies in their neighborhood.
What does that tell us about our so-called Christian society? It tells me that it is all but a sham and that those that so many Christians tend to regard as heathens, such as they do Buddhists, may, in fact, have the better outlook. Maybe there are some lessons to be learned.
© 2011
