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发表于 2010-12-14 16:52:48
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本帖最后由 abyssthinice 于 2010-12-14 16:57 编辑
VOX POPULI: People watch the Diet for debate, not vitriol
2010/11/27
The Diet ought to be a bastion of free speech, but lately it seems to have deteriorated into an arena for cheap verbal skirmishes.
Observations to this effect are becoming more noticeable in the "Koe" letters to the editor section of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.
I, too, have noticed that Diet debates worth listening to have become few and far between. Instead, strident accusations and insults are what we hear most of the time. This is not good, as many people must agree.
Several Asahi readers lamented in their letters that some legislators--particularly young opposition members--seem unable to resist grandstanding when TV cameras are rolling. "Their behavior suggests some kind of hysteric syndrome," noted one reader. "(Some lawmakers) speak with great exaggeration and vilify their opponents with crude gestures and language," wrote another reader. Such scenes, yet another reader concluded harshly, "belong in a tasteless TV variety show."
I could not agree more. I have seen some legislators become so set on putting their opponents down that they don't realize they have gone overboard. The more heated the words, the more they intoxicate the speaker. Language gets progressively uglier and more grandiose as a result, and this only dimi(SENSITIVE!)nishes the dignity of the speaker.
This inability to rein in one's speech with decorum is noticeable nowadays not only in one-on-one verbal duels during Diet committee meetings, but also when younger lawmakers take the floor to question the prime minister on behalf of their parties.
The public's disillusionment with the Democratic Party of Japan administration is certainly great. But the opposition Liberal Democratic Party hasn't endeared itself to the people, either, and given the behavior of certain young LDP members, I think I can see why.
The esteemed sociologist and critic Ikutaro Shimizu (1907-1988) noted in his highly acclaimed "Ronbun no Kakikata" (How to write a dissertation): "When you are overly strident in arguing your case, your words will explode before they can burrow deep into the heart of the other person. It is best if your words enter the other person's heart quietly and then explode." The great scholar understood the importance of circumspection in speech.
The human ear is fully capable of registering quiet and precise words. There is no need for firecrackers to attract people's attention. The ruling and opposition parties alike ought to realize that people are perfectly aware of the difference between an animated debate and a quarrel.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 26 |
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