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Citizens Near Fukushima Make Several Unanswered Requests to Japanese Authorities

Kawaikochan
We all love the dramas, but many of us have an interest in what is going on in Japan. The following is allegedly footage from a town hall meeting between government officials and residents near the notorious nuclear power plant in Fukushima. I only say "allegedly" because I can't understand all of the Japanese and am not familiar with the officials. The citizens ask several questions that go unanswered including inquiries regarding evacuation and testing their children for radiation poisoning. It is heart wrenching.

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Jeaniessi
They just got up and left!!?? Why couldn't they just be honest and say they were just as scared and confused as them and that they would do something to help? Oh I'm crying...
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boutux
wow i got goose bumps watching this. the government need to tell the people smtng. i mean ppl around the world have questions about the level of radiation release in fukushima much less the ppl living there. the government is letting alot of time pass and lives maybe hanging in the balance. it's all really sad.
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Kawaikochan
Usagi_Serenity wrote: They just got up and left!!?? Why couldn't they just be honest and say they were just as scared and confused as them and that they would do something to help? Oh I'm crying...


Exactly. I cried at the end. That one guy was literally begging for help for the children. The government representatives at the meeting probably don't have the power to do anything. The whole situation is heartbreaking.
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Kawaikochan
LDM wrote: wow i got goose bumps watching this. the government need to tell the people smtng. i mean ppl around the world have questions about the level of radiation release in fukushima much less the ppl living there. the government is letting alot of time pass and lives maybe hanging in the balance. it's all really sad.


Most of the people who suffered from the radiation poisoning that resulted from the atomic bombs have just recently passed away. It makes me wonder if people have forgotten the HUGE effect that had on the health and quality of life of an entire generation.
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boredandtwitchy
Unfortunately, withholding information is seems to be common in Japan. A Japanese friend of mine told me about her mother who was never told by her doctors that she had cancer. They just told her to come in for treatments on specific dates and gave extremely vague and evasive answers to her questions. It was only when they discovered that the treatments were chemotherapy did they realize that the problem was cancer. According to her, her mother's case is not an isolated occurrence. If doctors tend to withhold information from their patients, I'm sadly not surprised that the government would do the same on a larger scale.
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Kawaikochan
omg b&t I can't imagine that happening here in the US. That would be a sure way to get a malpractice lawsuit. It's a very paternalistic arrangement. I wonder if this approach to authority has worked for the majority of the time it has existed and is just going through a change, or could it be that the people in charge are having to face more accountability because it's harder to hide misdeeds in the current era.
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Jeaniessi
SwetGurlz wrote: omg b&t I can't imagine that happening here in the US. That would be a sure way to get a malpractice lawsuit. It's a very paternalistic arrangement. I wonder if this approach to authority has worked for the majority of the time it has existed and is just going through a change, or could it be that the people in charge are having to face more accountability because it's harder to hide misdeeds in the current era.


But didn't that happen here? Think of Hurricane Katrina and how our president at the time treated that disaster. Although I believe the scope of Japan's tragedy and pain is certainly on a much much larger scale. But it is always heartbreaking when a government or a company (I'm looking at you BP Oil!) can't simply suck it up, stop trying to cover their collective asses and look at those human faces begging them for help. There is a time to step up and this is the time. What happened in Japan was a natural disaster of epic and horrible preportions. I understand that to relocate those people will probably cost billions but can't they even try to make a start? Can't they even try to help? And if nothing else...not walk away? I will never understand why those men on that panel couldn't have spoken to those people and said..."Okay, we don't have all the answers now but we will try and think of some. We will test for radiation. We aren't sure if we can move or relocate all of you yet. We're just as confounded and scared as you. Give us some time." ...Couldn't they have said anything? They just WALKED AWAY!!

I saw that and it reminded me of Katrina and how Bush and his FEMA team mishandled the Katrina disaster and left a city and it's people floundering. Thank God for the people of that city loving their town and it's rich history and refusing to give up because our government certainly let them down. (Oh and rich celebrities...thank god for them too.)
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Kawaikochan
123 wrote: But didn't that happen here?


I was referring to the fact that they didn't tell the patient she had cancer.

I totally agree with you that government inaction or inappropriate action takes place all over the world. I don't think that there is any country that is immune. In addition, just as globalization has increased the ability for people to meet people from different walks of life and discover different cultures, it has also enabled the handful of groups/families that possess most of the world's economic and natural resources to rally behind one another in coordinated efforts to increase the gold that lines their pockets. The combination of government inefficiency, selfishness, and greed is lethal to a massive degree.

As for the American situations you've mentioned, many people believe that minorities, the poor, and mentally ill are all treated with an exceedingly paternalistic nature in the US, by society in general and government entities. However, generally, I think that the US has always encouraged dissenting opinions that criticize the ruling party in a way that is not common elsewhere, particularly in parts of Asia. It goes back to our history and Constitution. Whether the ability to dissent is used wisely or effectively is very much debatable, but it's existence is not ubiquitous across cultures worldwide.
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