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4월 4일자 타임에 실린 도쿄발 기고문이다.
요지는;
역경은 발전의 기회이기도 하다.
이번 사태로 일본 젊은이들이 지난 20년간의 무기력증에서 깨어날지도 모른다.
관건은 그들을 이끌 지도자가 있겠는가 하는 점이다.
일본은 젊은이들이 따를 지도자가 나오기 힘든 환경이다.
'아마쿠다리'(전관예우,낙하산인사)라는 정계와 산업계의 결탁, 인터넷선거운동을 불법화하고 있는 선거법등이 젊은지도자의 출현에 장애가 되고 있다.
아래는 원문 중 일부와 링크
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It's standard history that the unexpected can turn social attitudes upside down. Often it takes a huge crisis to make a society change. For Japan, even two lost decades after the bubble burst were not enough to fundamentally change the country's economic and political systems. But this crisis is different. It could be the catalyst that finally changes Japan.:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Even if the new mood of sleeves-rolled-up volunteerism persists among young Japanese, they may still need leadership: someone to organize where the supplies and relief efforts should go. But in today's Japan — a nation of lackluster politicians, bureaucrats and salarymen — that seems to be lacking. The sad fact about many young people today is that if there's one person who leads the way, they will follow and work hard. But right now it doesn't seem that one person steps forward on the political stage in Japan.
It's not just that Japan's politicians and bureaucrats are dull. They also form an Establishment phalanx with Japanese industry. In a phenomenon known as amakudari, which literally means "descent from the heavens," retiring government officials often take on top jobs at companies, some of which they were once charged with regulating. The cozy ties between government and Big Business are exemplified by Tokyo Power Electric Co., the operator of the damaged Daiichi nuclear plant, whose executives are beneficiaries of amakudari. The power company has been criticized not only for being less than forthcoming with information about the ongoing nuclear crisis but also for securing a license for an aging reactor earlier this year without making adequate safety checks of equipment that ended up failing during the March 11 disasters.
Outside the Establishment, though, the ice may be cracking. In Tokyo, one unlikely change agent could be 38-year-old Yujiro Taniyama, who has used Facebook to organize earthquake donations. Brash and flashy, the sometime TV entertainer is running against Ishihara, whom he refers to as "a dinosaur," in the race to be Tokyo's next governor. Taniyama, who grew up outside Japan and wants the country to embrace internationalism, won't win. For one thing, election regulations prohibit the use of the Internet for campaigning. The Web didn't exist back when the laws were enacted, and Taniyama's support base is the wired generation. But at least he is articulating the frustrations of a younger cohort that has tended to isolate itself from politics rather than do something about it. The young people have to say, “Enough is enough, shake up this outdated system."
Can the new generation actually change Japan? If they're to do so, the first step will be simply recognizing the magnitude of the problems facing the country. "After this earthquake, a lot of us feel energized for the first time," says Kentaro Adachi, a student at Waseda University in Tokyo, who admits he has never voted. "My friends who were never interested in politics, even if they majored in politics, are saying, “What can we do?"
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2061132-2,00.html
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야 기분좋다