Two nations...
There have been a fair number of Japanese in my professional life over the years. Neither comparative calm of those most affected by the present disasters, nor the departure from that calm by individuals overwhelmed by loss, surprise me greatly.
It is instructive, though, that the calmest people in Japan are those most directly affected. The inclination to panic increases in proportion to the distance from the crisis. Shift the scene several thousand miles across the Pacific, and you find Americans ready to drool with fear at the thought that their radiation exposure might go up by a milliroentgen, and find the usual American panic-mongering industry ready to play into their fears.
Much of this has to do with choice. In my day job, I see the example of people who find it essential to have every radiological examination known to medicine. They usually get their way by whining and pouting and threatening lawsuits.... Oh wait, that's by "threatening lawsuits, whining and pouting." American medicine, in a display somewhere between pure mendacity and passive-aggressive hostility, is likely to expose these anxious souls to a normal lifetime's worth of radiation in a week simply to avoid having them put their lawyer on speed-dial. (These noble sufferers are doubtless out there writing Congress to repeal health care reform and to keep the gummint outta Medicare.) Those who get used to doing this grow addicted to it. After a few such encounters, they must save a fortune on electric bills, because they have to glow in the dark. However, they choose this response to panic, so it's OK by them and they are insensitive to the risk. They don't choose the risk of getting as much radiation from Japan as they get from that old radium dial analog alarm clock by the bed. That risk, remote as it is, becomes an anxiety for fear dealers to whip into pink froth.
What gets lost in the panicked stampede is perspective. Quite possibly, perspective is what keeps the Japanese caught up in this disaster on a more even keel than an American cable news junkie.
Is the American panic a Cold War holdover, or something proving how many of us were born after the Arms Race? I think it's the latter. Those of us who were junior Cold War warriors already know how to handle excess nuclear radiation. We simply crawl under our desks and wait for the All Clear signal.
It is instructive, though, that the calmest people in Japan are those most directly affected. The inclination to panic increases in proportion to the distance from the crisis. Shift the scene several thousand miles across the Pacific, and you find Americans ready to drool with fear at the thought that their radiation exposure might go up by a milliroentgen, and find the usual American panic-mongering industry ready to play into their fears.
Much of this has to do with choice. In my day job, I see the example of people who find it essential to have every radiological examination known to medicine. They usually get their way by whining and pouting and threatening lawsuits.... Oh wait, that's by "threatening lawsuits, whining and pouting." American medicine, in a display somewhere between pure mendacity and passive-aggressive hostility, is likely to expose these anxious souls to a normal lifetime's worth of radiation in a week simply to avoid having them put their lawyer on speed-dial. (These noble sufferers are doubtless out there writing Congress to repeal health care reform and to keep the gummint outta Medicare.) Those who get used to doing this grow addicted to it. After a few such encounters, they must save a fortune on electric bills, because they have to glow in the dark. However, they choose this response to panic, so it's OK by them and they are insensitive to the risk. They don't choose the risk of getting as much radiation from Japan as they get from that old radium dial analog alarm clock by the bed. That risk, remote as it is, becomes an anxiety for fear dealers to whip into pink froth.
What gets lost in the panicked stampede is perspective. Quite possibly, perspective is what keeps the Japanese caught up in this disaster on a more even keel than an American cable news junkie.
Is the American panic a Cold War holdover, or something proving how many of us were born after the Arms Race? I think it's the latter. Those of us who were junior Cold War warriors already know how to handle excess nuclear radiation. We simply crawl under our desks and wait for the All Clear signal.
posted by Uncle | 23:32
1 Comments:
Ah, yes, the duck-and-cover...and that cutesy turtle popping into his shell. Non-boomers can't relate to the negative thrill at a loud siren.
I also had an advanced science teacher in the eighth grade who was (wait for it) a Jehovah's Witness. She told us repeatedly and particularly at the A-bomb drills that if God wanted to save us, he would do so regardless of where we were when a blast occurred. Eat that science!
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