Originally Posted by
mkjr
well have to agree to disagree on the right to special treatment and that's fine with me...
but that is a debate that we have in Canada all the time and is litigated here much like it is litigated in other countries all the time. here we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Codes that constitutionally and legislatively recognizes equal treatment (not just of the disabled, but women and many others) and that does not mean equal treatment....but goes well beyond that. Canada has a dirty human rights record also but I think we are generally going in the right direction...albeit at times regress as others do.
that said, when it comes to equality, in many respects, I don't agree when in Rome. I don't agree with the way women are treated in oppressed countries around the world. I certainly am not going to keep my mouth shut about it.
that said, your entitled to your views. I am sure your wife knows things first hand and far better than I ever will specifically as to the disabled in Japan...or the "obstacles" as I believe the world literally translates to.
either way, I am glad I don't live in Japan where children like my child would be very poor off I would think given the current society views....and they are not that well off here. I would feel even more concerned about what to do when I am dead if I lived in Japan....and this is only based on some very limited travel there and conversations with a local with a disabled child.
either way, Japan has, by its own recent legislative enactments, recognized its failures to accommodate those with disabilities. I recall it was only recently they even legislated the idea of "reasonable accommodation"....
I am certainly not getting on my high horse about Canada since we are by no means any sort of model out there.
that thing that i wonder about also, is whether we were subject to stigma by being the parents of a disabled child? I'm not sure.
I think if I lived there we would be stigmatized....even as a bengoshi...although I would only be able to be a gaikokuhō jimu bengoshi...I would probably be stigmatized anyway.
but if I get looked at upon as a rude and imposing gaijin for suggesting societies most vulnerable have a right to be accommodated and a right to differential treatment and reasonable accomodation up to undue hardship....so be it.
if it has taken japan this long to wrap its head around the disabled, how long will it take for them to accept immigration? I mean, that is unless they can figure out how to deal with their population decline...although ironically, that would mean more kids and probably more social activism to be accommodated in a system that does not...but that is another debate that japan will have to have and I will get to visit the country without needing to grapple with the same.
I chuckled at the immigration thing. I agree entirely. The speed of change is dreadfully slow. That handicapped kids and adults are treated as someone to be tucked away is a disgrace. There are amazing parents here who disregard that tradition and assist their kids to live full and rich lives. I laud them but they are unfortunately too few still. Hopefully with time….
Immigration is going to change faster because it will be economically driven. Money unfortunately speaks louder than humanity it seems.
I think that there are far better places to live if facing a variety of challenges, but at the same time there is a curious sharing of space here too. Hard to describe but the whole “I would be embarrassed to infringe upon you” attitude that is evolved form the agricultural background of Japan is the basis for making Japan an easy place to stand out.
Equality and the right to certain things are a fun topic for comparison of cultures. Even a comparison of cultures at various points in their history, and then even further a comparison of the rate of change and the catalysts in each society.
Here in Japan, compared to Canada, the US, most of Europe etc., the country is severely backward on a number of what you and I might call “basic rights” issues.
Or are they? I suppose what is right for one person is not for the next because we are all entitled to believe as we wish so long as we follow the law.
Here in Japan to hold certain values on public space, public privacy, etc. is just as much the right of Japan as are the various aspects of a North American culture the right of those people. So while, I too am happy to share dialogue and periodically agree to disagree, I think that common sense also tells us that until you are paying taxes and voting in a given country you do not have much right to do more than behave according to and accept the constraints of a foreign society. This is one of the major gripes I have about America’s foreign policy. World policemen we do not need. And that extends to people from one country seeking to force their values on another. So in truth, to politely observe as the Romans do as they will in Rome, is to be the best fellow occupier of the planet you can be.
As for being stigmatized, I think it may be more accurate to say you would be obviously observed. Stigmatized is a too strong I think. Here in Japan the locals find great comfort in sameness. That which is perceived to not be the same is observed obviously and then quite likely subjected to some form of comment or judgment by individuals.
Being foreign you are automatically at a huge disadvantage in terms of slipping by unnoticed. Some deal with that better than others. I started out 24 years ago ready to swing at anybody that treated me derisively, today I feel empowered by my ability to smile and walk in without feeling any anger at all. It has been a journey to get there though.