And you know what? I’m taking my example from the south east US, which is supposedly the most racist area in the country. Just to be clear, all the racists live in the same place and whites aren’t the great majority they are in the rest of the country. As for equal opportunity, I see just as many blacks and Latinos at work as whites (granted, most of the latter work as laborers, but I’ve seen them elsewhere. Generally, the laborers weren’t born in the US, so maybe they haven’t acquired a GED yet). I want you to go back even just twenty or thirty years ago and tell me that the US of today is racist. Racism is almost completely dead here. Stereotyping and stereotypical jokes still survive, but those are hardly hurtful. Real racism is almost completely confined to those lunatic colonies where all the white supremacists gather.

As for the revocation of the apology, think of it this way; most people today don’t think about the war crimes committed by Japan during the war. Apologies have been given; the war is over; just leave it alone.

However, by taking it back, they are saying that, as a country, they don’t think their past actions warranted an apology. They are saying to the world that they don’t give a damn about it. They are essentially being the brat that says “B-b-but, It wasn’t my fault!” long after the fight is over. When one gives an apology, even as a country, they express humility and generally make the recipient of the apology think “Hmm. They’ve reflected on their actions and can now advance. This is someone I’d be happy to do business with in the future”. It doesn’t matter what you think of the situation once the whole deal has quieted down, because taking back that apology will only make you look bad, whether you’re an individual or a country. It will make you look like a brat and bratty countries are just as bad as bratty people as everyone has learned from the US over the past few decades.

The only way you can advance is to remember the past. Remembering is distinctly different from reliving though.

As for “We are all connected to the war somehow”, my grandfather served during the Korean war, while the US was still involved in it. His relatives served during WWII. Sure, I’m related to all of them. Sure, I was pretty much raised by my grandparents, but that still doesn’t mean I was involved in it. Reading about the Korean war does piss me off, but only because the textbooks and most ‘historical books’ lie about it and tend to gloss over just why General MacArthur was pulled for ‘insubordination’ (apparently what they called “coming up with an effective plan of attack that the politicians worried about relations with China didn’t like” back in the day). But you know what? I didn’t serve then. It didn’t affect me directly. Why should I be bothered either way by it? Answer: I shouldn’t. The world will go on even if people don’t bitch about things finished decades ago. We should work for today and tomorrow instead. Bitching about old wars just unsettles what peace finally got after the war ended.

However, I don’t care about personal opinions on the matter of the apology. The reason I’m saying that recalling it is wrong is completely based in the politics. That’s what I’m trying to get across. I’ve studied politics to a point and I’ve gotten a bit of experience in debates. However, I would never want to be a politician for the very reason this whole thing is even an issue in the first place. The only reason this is becoming anything is because politicians world wide love sensationalism. The media is just as bad and loves to cover these absurd political moves while almost completely ignoring anything important and generally not even getting facts right on what they do cover.

Basically, if it weren’t for someone thinking that this would get them a lot of recognition and the so-called ‘news reporters’ thinking it would boost ratings, this wouldn’t even be a thing. Japan has better things to worry about than whether a show of peace should be recalled in its entirety. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this is just a complete waste of everyone’s time. Japan will not benefit in the slightest by this move. In fact, it may hurt them. And for what? Political recognition and ratings? That’s just BS politics right there.

Once again, I hate politics. It’s never for the common good and it irks me every time I have to explain that something they are undoubtedly spending a lot of time and money on is completely worthless for all the people paying for it.

So, in my humble opinion as an observer of the world, I think this whole thing is complete BS and a waste of time.

Now, let me apologize for this absurdly long response. And don’t worry, I won’t be taking my apology back, because there’s no reason to.