(in a nearby garden)True Change and Division
(Vrai changement et la division)
SETCTION I: Races in the U.S.
Official statistics on ratios of races in the U.S. as of 2000 indicate some crucial information related to the US Presidential Election as follows:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-1.pdf
(Population by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United States: 2000)
Total Population..................100%
(ONE RACE...........................97.6)
White...................................75.1
Black or African American......12.3
American Indian/Alaska Native...0.9
Asian....................................3.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander..0.1
Some other race....................5.5
TWO or MORE RACES.............2.4
HISPANIC OR LATINO
Total population...............100%
Hispanic or Latino..............12.5
Not Hispanic or Latino........87.5
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Tables PL1 and PL2.)
It also presents some definition on races:
Hispanics may be of any race. The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably in this report.
“White” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicated their race or races as “White” or wrote in entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.
“Black or African American” refers to people having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicated their race or races as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or wrote in entries such as African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian.
“American Indian and Alaska Native” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. It includes people who indicated their race or races by marking this category or writing in their principal or enrolled tribe, such as Rosebud Sioux, Chippewa, or Navajo.
SETCTION II: Change and Reference Point
According to an article of New York Times, an American scholar said that people are feeling a compelling need for a change, so that “what is an issue is no longer a matter.”
In anything, American people like to see a change that will give them a sense of relief or a sense of assurance.
But, you need a point of reference against any change in measuring progress toward a target level of a change.
Now, I suppose the reference point is the incumbent US President himself.
Maybe, another reference point is the New Orleans’ ordeal and the subprime loan issue in addition to large-scale mountain fires in California.
But who want a change most?
In general analysis, poor “white,” rich and poor “minorities,” and aspiring Americans, mostly youths wanting to be rich and richer, want a change that can be translated into more money and respect on their side.
The more they are compelled to any actions for any change, the more they look like voting for the candidate “Obama” supported by a huge fund brought in even through convenient channels over the Internet based on certain advanced software.
SETCTION III: True Distinction and True Change
According to "Hinkon Taikoku Amerika (Poverty Great Nation America)" written by Japanese female author Ms. Mika Tsutsumi, some US statiscs are truly bleak:
( http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9D%E8%B2%A7%E5%9B%B0%E5%A4%A7%E5%9B%BD%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AB-%E5%B2%A9%E6%B3%A2%E6%96%B0%E6%9B%B8-%E6%96%B0%E8%B5%A4%E7%89%88-1112-%E6%9C%AA%E6%9E%9C/dp/4004311128 )
The number of Americans who receive Medicaid is 53.4 million as of 2005;
The infant/child mortality rate in the U.S. is 6.3 per 1000, which is the worst among developed countries (2.29 per 1000 for Japan which is the fourth lowest in the world);
The number of Americans who received food stamps was 26.2 million in 2006; and
The number of Americans living below the poverty line was 36.5 million in 2006.
Roughly speaking lower 20% of the US population is suffering poverty, grave poverty, or extreme poverty.
On the other hand, higher 10% of US households have an asset of one million dollars or more.
But, the rest of 70% Americans are traditionally divided into 40 to 30 in their sense of identification or belonging between the rich and the poor, since two thirds of “white men” are believed to be rich, thus making the political parity even between Republicans and Democrats, almost 50% to 50% as proven in the recent Presidential Election.
However, due to intensification of mal-distribution of wealth, competition linked to the global market, and IT-driven financial babble making the rich richer and the poor poorer, the ratio is getting to 35 to 35, thus 45% of Americans supporting the current system and 55% of Americans requesting a change, in this context.
But, I don’t think simply electing a female candidate or a minority candidate as US President cannot be a true solution.
It is because the sense of urgency for a change in this era is a religious matter rather than an economic or system matter.
What they need is not a Presidential Election Revolution but a Religious Revolution, definitely.
* * *
In Japan, yesterday, a new mayor was elected in a city, near Hiroshima, where about 60 US Navy fighter planes are going to be newly deployed from their base near Tokyo.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200802110053.html
Just by a margin, a candidate, backed by the ruling parties, who supports the US military’s transformation plan was elected.
In this context, even in Japan where 99% of the population shares the same culture, traditions, and a sense of racial belonging, 50% of the people are against the ruling parties and another 50% of the people are supporting them in a municipal election where presence of US jet fighters is at stake, though China and North Korea are still basically unfriendly to Japan, for example, in terms of Japanese abductees by a North Korean secret agency.
(This is the Year of the Rat.
According to ancient-East Asian principles of Yin and Yang or the positive and negative, the rat represents a positive nature, but not a burgeoning one as seen in a new born baby. It is rather shaky positive.
Japan’s Prime Minister Mr. Yasuo Fukuda actually once said that he would work diligently like a beaver or a rat, since 2008 is the year of the rat.
I was born, however, neither in the Year of the Rat nor in the Year of, say, the Snake.)
“Good Managers of God’s Gift”
(Gute Verwalter der Gaben Gottes)