Can't we all just get along??

The Japanese are currently undergoing a heatwave in the southern parts of the country and snow dumping in the north, which is peculiar for the time of year. Nevertheless, I haven't seen a single Japanese news report bring up "Climate Change" or "Global Warming." (And this from the country that hosted the Kyoto Protocol!) In fact, it makes for a pretty boring, short article. But it's the facts. When I think about news of California or Colorado drought, US papers are quick to draw links between climate change and abnormal weather patterns. Something as simple as, "it hasn't rained in a couple weeks" suddenly becomes a multi-page expose on the inevitable collapse of life-as-we-know-it.

It's gotten to the point where even lay people, coworkers or roommates for example, feel the need to point out any anomaly in the season as being a direct result of climate change. "It's a sunny day in February?? CLIMATE CHANGE!" Why is it that we feel the need for so much confirmation bias? 

To put this in perspective, I believe that climate change is happening. But I also know that individual weather events aren't necessarily associated with the overall warming of the planet, and that it's impossible for layman Jonathan to possibly know whether a DC snowstorm in March is a direct result of Climate Change. It's frustrating and unhelpful to the "debate" on climate change when the phrase is thrown around in such an unscientific way.

The Democratic party seems to think the social causes they defend are backed by "science," making the argument "unassailable". Then they mock the other side for having opinions based entirely on moral or religious grounds. Even if it were true that Republicans were guided entirely by their religious compass, there doesn't seem to be a difference! Not when you unscientifically claim that every natural disaster is inextricably linked to climate change. Democrats commonly claim that the Republicans are failing to see reason, but I would say the Democrats are more deluded because they've convinced themselves that they stand on the side of holy Science.

The worst part is, it's basically impossible to bring this up with fellow Democrats. The "holier than thou" attitude pervades the party about every issue, from climate change to homosexuals' right to marriage, to gun control. It makes me seriously consider raising my flag for the other team... Then I talk to my friend in Texas, who is Republican and complains that the very same thing affects all his Conservative friends! I don't think people actually want to do anything about the issues that "matter" to them, they just want to be able to say, as the country comes crashing down around them, that they were right the whole time.

The media on both sides of the aisle questions the other's journalistic integrity. Will someone stand the moral high ground and just report boring facts for a change?

人間って、皆すごい。やっぱり悪い人なんて、一人もいない。ただ、自分のすばらしさを成功させる筋道を忘れたり、気づいてなかったりしているだけだろう。自分の意思や恵まれている性質を認めないで、周りの他人のことを非常に心配している。落ち着かずに、いつもあっちこっちと薄く考えちゃう。自分の中に入っている志願を理解し、そういうものを成功しようと計るようにならないといけない。

たまに、こういう志願を遂行するために、他人に傷つけたりするんだが、それは人生ですばらしく生きるように必須だろう。

皆の心はいつも怠惰な気分ではないよ。成功を行う必至な気持ちはちゃんとある。みんな。幅広い体験を賞味しなければ、分かりにくいが、本気で頑張るための目的はきっとある。僕の場合では、日本人のおかげでニートにかかっている状態を初めて気づいた。だから、日本語を本気に勉強し初めて、流暢な日本語が話せるまでは続く必要はあると思ってきた。