What really is impressive in the quake
 

From all photos and news reports I saw in my country, Japanese people didn't lose the slightest bit of bearing. There is no turmoil, no looting, people go around with their own business in an orderly fashion, no cut in the line, no shoplifting, actually people were putting stuff fall off on the ground back to shelves.

It's really a doomsday situation, but people in Japan just lived through like another mundane week.

I hate to do the comparison but another developed country really showed its undesirable side in a relatively minor disaster, you saw swats sitting on APCs with boots dry and clean, a few feet away were Africans keen deep in the flood, you saw "YOU LOOT, WE SHOOT" boards from one place to the other...

The funny thing is, that country is playing the world police, while Japan, with a comparatively smaller military presence, an equivalently sophisticated technology level, a slightly higher education level, is sitting idle.

Japan would be almost perfect had not been these seismic disasters. I guess culture does make a very significant difference.

Your thoughts?

thoughts
 

You are right, the correct words are "playing the world police". In their own eyes only, I would add.
So, it's normal that japanese people have an ultimate level of common culture and behaviour. They aren't playing world cops .

Japan is a long, long way from perfect but you are seeing a different reaction by the people because of a vastly different culture. The Japanese do not elevate the individual like you see in the west. They believe more in the group, community and society as a whole before the needs and desires of the individual. This is not always a great thing but in times like this it is a great strength and most people will consider their consequences of their actions on others before doing them. Whereas in the me, me, me culture of the west people generally only think of themselves.

The Japanese do not elevate the individual like you see in the west.

One word "idols".

They believe more in the group, community and society as a whole before the needs and desires of the individual.

This isnt true..one word "Hierachy"

culture of the west people generally only think of themselves

Obviousley a lie as im from the west as are others willing/able to help

one word "bullshit"

Even famous people in Japan aren't gonna get coked up or try and make out they're king of the world.

So there's no difference between western and Japanese cultures? The looting and riots common to most disasters in western countries that doesn't occur here has no explanation because of different cultures? Have you even ever lived in Japan?

hi there my opinion if your brains work properly and you test tsunami you cant loot for what?

?

yes in that instance, but he's talking more as a whole. we westerners are constantly thinking of ourselves and personal gain before thinking of our fellow man.

Hierachy? :confused: in what sense? we are not in fuedal times... The Japanese workplace? I'm not sure...

even in the Japanese workplace they go out to drink/have dinner with eachother mutliple times a week, have annual trips together and the like. much more "family" like than we are here.

that's only you as an individual. western society as a whole doesn't give to sh!ts about one another in these types of situations. during katrina we had looting, and people selling water bottles at $10 each, preying on their fellow man. In japan there have been multiple stories of donations from people/grocery stores/whoever both in goods and time. if you'd like i can find a few of them for you, they'd bring a tear to your eye.... and of course no looting.

The one thing I found that was interesting...The amount of energy released by that 9.0 is the amount of energy the US consumes in a month. Every year the US consumes the equaliant of 12 9.0 earthquakes and the devestation resulting there in.

I don't think it's that impressive.

A more cohesive society is going to band together than a less cohesive society.

I don't think it has anything to do with culture apart from the fact that they all practice the same culture.

Perhaps we're seeing the benefits of Japan's strict immigration policy?

Honestly, I think it has to do with the fact they live on a small island with no where to go. You tend to learn that infighting just isn't going to help anything. The British have this at times, not allways but they have shown that same type of tenacity in the past as well.

What a lame reason.

The irony is that it's probably true, that's what really irks you.

lol.. how?

You ever hear of the Sengoku era?

No, I'm familer with the Menji period and the shoganate under the Toganawa's. I missed most of the Japanese histroy class I was takeing cause I was called up dureing Desert storm.

Also known as the warring states era.

I think that says enough about your island theory.

Oh I know they went through a fuedal era. They have many similarities to Fuedal Europe. Even then they allways had something of a "polite" way of doing things.

Then on what grounds does your island theory stand?

Even a brief knowledge of the history of Ireland proves it bogus.

I would also incorperate population. Japan per land mass, has a much larger population liveing in available land space than does Ireland. So I suggest it's a combination of population size and location. I suppose it could also be how Asians think compared to how Irish think..Irish are nuts.I know..I am part Irish...we's crazy.

lol... Now you're just making sh*t up.

So basically the island theory works if you ignore all the contradictions to it that exist in time/space.

Actually, that's just the "radiated seismic energy": the amount of energy released in surface shaking, the stuff that damages buildings and such. Although that energy actually seems to be a smaller fraction of the US's annual energy consumption: around 1%, or only a few days worth. On the other hand, if you imagine taking several days' energy usage of a continent-sized developed country and packing that into a few minutes' shaking of a restricted region, it does seem like it might be pretty devastating. So, yeah, if you just count the shaking, rather than the event that caused it, that comparison makes sense.

But the total energy released in the earthquake was far bigger, by roughly 200,000 times. That amount of energy is roughly equivalent to Earth's entire fossil fuel reserves, or the sunlight energy that hits Earth in a day. Only a tiny fraction of the earthquake's energy went into shaking; the vast majority went into breaking the rock along the locked fault and physically moving the plates. (Think of a car's engine; only a tiny amount of its power goes into engine noise and vibration.)

Not to mention Britain, which has actually been a pretty violent place for much of its history.

Can I please get hold of the source of your claim? I think it's absurd US could in any conceivable way capable of consuming that amount of energy... in only one month.

You are fully aware this earth quake is 10k nuclear bomb Equivalent aren't you? Just how many power-stations would be needed to prop the entire country up?

USA Today was the source, and it was the shakeing aspect of it, not the geological forces underlaying the cause of it.

Not now though. When I went to London I expected knife crime on every street and maybe a terrorist or two. Neither happened. The news in this country makes out the worst possible thing will happen.

I have no idea what you just said.

the difference between what happed in the aftermath of the quake and what happen in the aftermath of Katrina is the fact that Japanese are not taught that they are victims by the liberal public school system that they are victims based on the color of their skin. And the people live with the fact that quakes could happen at any time and are prepared to deal with them

I'm pretty sure the fiasco in Katrina was caused by the inaction by the government to do anything about it.

Just curious, which courses were the victims of Katrina taking in school that taught them they were victims based on the color of their skin. Had these courses been taught for generations?

not specifically any one course but a general attitude they were not counted as humans and they deserved more rights cause of their color and if anybody questioned why they needed more rights then others that they were racist.
Just look at affirmative action cases such as where Ohio is being forced to accept people even though they have lower then the standard test scores just cause of their color. Eric Holder said that pointing out that the black panthers were violating the rights of voters by their presence demeans his people.

Inaction by the State government which had a Democrat Governor and Mayor.
the residents of LA was giving one too two weeks warning where as the people of Japan had none. the procedure for the Federal Gov to aid a state is for the Gov of that state to ask for assistance. and the left wing media was doing nothing but fear mongering. And why was the Democrat Gov violating the 2nd Amendment rights of the law abiding citizens instead of working to bring chaos under control.

I kind of know that the Japanese are like this. ;) I don't need to be reminded that if there's an disaster shock horror people won't loot! It's almost as if it's a new piece of information! Yeah,I wasn't terribly surprised that they weren't nicking stuff.