Societal schisms are becoming one of the grave issues confronting nations worldwide. Former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis noted in the June 3 issue of The Atlantic magazine, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.” He went on, “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society.”
Forces trying to openly cause a schism in society like those supporting Trump appear to be on the rise in Japan as well. I would like to share with readers the views of my respected friend, John Lukacs, who died in May 2019, on this issue as I interpret them.
A factor that hampers the healthy development of peace and democracy is the existence and action of groups whose members hold in common a complex of one type of perception, emotion, discourse and behavior, and who empathize with each other. Japan has seen such groups engaging in intense activities over the past several years. Their messages can be broken down to five points, as follows:
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