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发表于 2013-7-14 19:14:22
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@kingsnews
VOX POPULI: Hydrangeas of rainy season subtle reminder of importance to get out the vote
If we had no hydrangeas, the landscape of rainy season would be bleak. The way the flowers change color in different shades of blue, white and purple is a wonder of nature.
Near my home, next to hydrangeas that bloom in the rain, a signboard for election posters has been erected. On July 3, the board was blank, but a day later, the Upper House election campaign officially kicked off. Come to think of it, elections for the Upper House, which never dissolves, are always held around rainy season, except for some parts of Japan, such as Okinawa.
“Hydrangeas/ Yesterday’s truth becomes today’s lie” is a haiku by Shiki Masaoka (1867-1902). Although the poet was not referring to the faithlessness of candidates and political parties, voters have often been disillusioned by lawmakers' failure to deliver on election promises.
The manifesto of the former ruling Democratic Party of Japan turned out to be an endless series of disappointments. Furthermore, a consumption tax increase, which was not included in the DPJ manifesto, was passed in the Diet. Once the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power, like hydrangeas that change colors in rainy season, it also changed its stance on key issues such as nuclear power and the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement. Apparently, some LDP Diet members are being taken to task by their constituents for the party’s shift.
As might be expected of rainy season, the forecast for July 4 is mostly wet. Although people tend to dislike the rainy season, it has an important role to fill dams that supply us with water during the summer. The same can be said of what candidates have to say during rainy season. Are they telling us important things for the future of the country or just trying to be popular with voters? We should carefully scrutinize their arguments.
The rainy season is expected to be more or less over by voting day, which as usual, falls on a Sunday. Could Sunday be one of the reasons voter turnout is usually poor? Employment, income disparity and the Constitution are all important issues, particularly for young people with an uncertain future ahead of them. In the future, when they find themselves in a painful situation, it would be too late to rue the day they spent at leisure on a beach instead of going to the polling station.
If we carefully cast a vote that we have tenderly kept in our pockets, it can uplift us, if only by a little. Popular will sounds vague, but it is made up of the will of each individual. In a way, it is like the round flower heads of hydrangeas made up of many tiny flowers.
--The Asahi Shimbun, July 4
红字所以说不是 "一夺回政权,便又是核电,又是TPP,像紫阳花一样说变就变"
这样的叙述给人的感觉是原本没有核电也没有TPP的议题,一下提出核电,一下有提出TPP的议题。
应该是 "对于已存在的议题(核电及TPP)一下这样一下那样的改变立场"
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