A sociopath is a person devoid of empathy. It seems they’re becoming increasingly common these days, many of them even have their own television shows and devoted followings. And now, they’ve decided to make themselves known in regards to the crisis in Japan.
The most famous example of this came from Alec Sulkin, a writer of Family Guy. According to Bleeding Cool, Sulkin Tweeted, “If you wanna feel better about this earthquake in Japan, Google ‘Pearl Harbor death toll.'”
When I first read this, I was absolutely shocked and appalled. And then, I discovered there were numerous other instances of Americans Tweeting and posting on Facebook comments that said the current catastrophes in Japan are “karma” for Pearl Harbor.
First off, a history lesson — Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. The U.S. casualties were around 2,459, most of whom were military. In 1945, America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan — one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki. The death toll was between 150-246,000, most of whom were civilians. Survivors of the atomic bomb attacks suffered from numerous health problems, including cancer and leukemia.
For the people making the “karma” argument, hundreds of thousands of dead Japanese civilians apparently wasn’t payback enough for less than three thousand dead Americans. No, in their mind, another estimated 10,000 Japanese civilians deserved to die for the actions of an imperialist government which has been out of power for almost seventy years. Since that time, Japan has become America’s staunchest ally in Asia.
Very few, if any of the Japanese killed during these natural disasters had anything whatsoever to do with the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Saying that they deserved to die because of actions committed by their government before many of them were even born is disgusting, vile, xenophobic and absolutely uncalled for.
If you can’t find some sympathy for the people who have suffered from this unbelievable tragedy (a tragedy which hasn’t even ended yet), if you think innocent people deserve to die for a military campaign they had no involvement with almost seventy years ago, then keep your opinions to yourself.
I agree with you, Percival. Those vitriolic and nasty remarks coming from these insensitive people are uncalled for, nasty and pretty unsmart if you ask me. Japan doesn’t need those hurtful comments, it needs love and support from nice people. Last but not least, those nasty Americans who made those horrid comments are giving good Americans a very bad name.