On the puzzles of human nature

A reflection on a year of reflections and questions, moral and legal


My father died a year ago today, 23 May 2017, aged 78. He died in a nursing home in regional Victoria, away from his more familiar environs of Manly in New South Wales, sufficiently out of the way for most members of the family to visit. That was the action taken by my youngest brother and his wife, without reasonable consultation.


He returned to Sydney in 2014 from an almost permanent residency in Los Angeles. He had and we had anticipated a new phase of his life, back in Sydney, back visiting him. He was subsequently diagnosed with Lewy Bodies dementia and as other members of the family sought to make arrangements to accommodate this new phase, the youngest brother and his wife (with assistance from an acquaintance, a long term employee of my father) took him to Victoria. They neglected to inform us of his new residence, my eldest brother had to seek out the address of the home for himself.


On his death, I wrote a tribute to be uploaded to the website of the funeral home, as is now the done thing. My youngest brother and his wife deemed it inappropriate and deleted it. This was among tributes that joked about guns to the head and crooked cops in the 'whatever it takes' 1970s Manly, Sydney. My father was a car dealer on Sydney's northern beaches and later invested in real estate. I thought there were other aspects of his life that ought to be known too.


There remains much to be told in this story. That will be for another day.


I have sat on this for a year now. I post it here, for myself, and as a reminder that while I might be an international relations academic interested in questions the politics of human nature, sometimes the difficult questions are always much closer to home.


The tribute is reprinted here, without changes, as reflected at the time, one year ago.


I returned to Australia in August 2017 where I understood we were, as a family, to gather to scatter my father's ashes over his preferred spot in Sydney, as he had requested. Instead, the youngest brother took it upon himself to defy those wishes and inter his ashes in a suburban crematorium in Sydney.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Reflecting on the tributes here, it is clear that America, especially Los Angeles, was where Ted lived his life as he wished. His first trip there in the early 1970s cemented his fascination with the country and on his return he did his best to convert us, whether through Stars and Stripes t-shirts and cowboy boots, the American flag on the bar wall and JFK (yes, JFK) quotes throughout the house. 


After our parents separated in 1973, the next few years were spent travelling to Sydney in school holidays spending time washing cars on the car yard, travelling across town to do a deal, being taken to Luna Park by friends or left at our Nan's house.


The legacy we leave when we die is what those of us left have to consider. More than the material possessions or accumulated wealth, sometimes that legacy will be lessons in how to be or how not to be. Clearly, for my father's friends in the US, that is one of how to be. As the first-born, however, there is another facet of the man who said that it was my fault, being born, that messed his life up so much. That after years of telling me my education was pointless and right on the point of starting a career in public service and teaching.


It is one thing to sense that level of rejection in your teens, quite another to be confronted by it in your twenties.


It remained the touchstone for over two decades. Later during work trips to the US, I took the difficult step to make contact, to see Ted in his ‘home’ environment. We started working on that distance.


Ted’s return to Manly, the beachside he enjoyed, the pigeons on Corso, the ferries at the wharf, made it easier to begin the journey over. Occasional meetings and phone calls helped to counter a long-held grievance.


The talk was mostly of politics, our almost entirely diametrically opposed views on everyone and everything in US and Australian politics; our views of the world so opposite. Ted never could or would understand why I ‘wasn’t interested in making a buck’ but I think we were on the verge on reconciling that too.


It is a shame that just as Ted was settling again in Manly and re-establishing himself, he was taken to country Victoria to see out his days. Perhaps because he was settling, some saw it in their interests to take him away. It made walking that last distance much harder.


In our last phone conversation, mostly about politics again, I explained I had achieved a coveted position in Tokyo. I explained it to him in terms of his best ever car deal. Ted seemed to finally get it.

As per his request, he discouraged me from returning to Australia for his funeral. He said he didn’t want any fuss. I thus farewell him in respecting his wishes in our last conversation.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the tribute that was deleted by the same brother who evicted his own daughter from a long-term property owned by my father, to expedite sale; he later also evicted his own brother from a property gifted to that brother by our father some years ago. 

Some days, there's is seemingly no accounting for the motivations of the avarice of certain individuals.

The puzzles of human nature continue to puzzle.  

On a public holiday to commemorate the 1947 Constitution

...an estimated 60,002 people turned up

This week's peace rally was the third Constitution Day rally I had attended since returning to Japan in 2016. It is held near the Ariake campus of the university, in a large open area which mostly poses as a park but is also a designated emergency evacuation area in the event of an earthquake or similar. (Probably not a tsunami, it is a bit low-lying for that.)

Front page of the Tokyo Shimbun on 4 May, showing the 60,000 crowd

I attend because part of my research concerns public engagement in political issues, seeking out reasons for apathy and disinterest in politics; and also for that part of my work that revolves around examining security in the East Asian region, particularly in response to interpretations of Article 9 of Japan's 1947 Peace Consitition, the so-called peace clause. 

This year, a reported 60,000 turned up, an increase in the last two years. Article 9 is at the forefront of debate at present in Japan. It is the ambition of the current Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to amend the Constitution to 'better reflect' the role of Japan's Self-Defence Force, the jieitai, in being able to undertake overseas missions. As it is being presented to the general public, most consider to it be a 'legitimising' of the Force's overseas roles, largely in peace-keeping related missions. 

Placards for peace

For those closer to the frontline of peace movement, there are greater fears that Japanese forces will be sent to wars overseas, mostly in the service of an American alliance, something only too well known to Australians. 

I added the 2 above in the subheading to acknowledge two of my students who attended their first such rally. One of my seminars this semester is focussing on citizens movements and political engagement. I invited the students along to observe and record their impressions. The two who attended were, at first, taken aback by the size of the crowd. It was a privilege to watch them taking in their first such event. I look forward to their reflections. 

Applause

On the stage, speaker after speaker--authors, politicians, academics, journalists, social group leaders--all spoke and put their take on the importance of Article 9 in maintaining peace. One of the more interesting arguments I heard put forward raised a challenge to the status quo.Back in the 1990s, a politician had his book translated into English. In it he argues for Japan to be an ordinary country (futsu nokuni), it was translated as 'normal power' and those who want to strengthen Japan's military, argue that 'normal countries' have a military, and so should Japan. (This wasn't actually the main point of Ozawa's argument, the author of the 1990s book, but that is for another time.) One speaker said that 'it is argued that we need to amend Article 9 for Japan to become a 'normal country'...well, perhaps we don't want to be 'ordinary' but should remain extraordinary by being a country that doesn't have a military force. The point earned accolades from the crowd. It was an interesting take on a popular argument. 

Campaigners

The peace rallies today were held in 250 cities and towns across Japan. While no estimate is available at present for the total attendance, that's a lot of people and towns expressing their interest and concern about the Constitution, its proposed amendment, and peace. 

Abe may not get the easy ride to constitutional amendment he seeks. 

Off on the march

A note on the Korean Peninsula

A note of caution, but optimism

It would be hard to pass up a comment on events on the Korean Peninsula this week. There was an array of emotions watching North Korea's Kim and South Korea's Moon hold hands and jump that slab of concrete which has demarcated both countries now for decades. 

Saturday morning's papers

The Korean Peninsula has been a key part of my work over the last 15 years or so as I've worked on ways to secure peace in the Northeast Asian region. My primary focus has been through the idea of a security community, a community where countries share the notion that there can be dependable expectations of peaceful change. In particular I've been building on the work of Adler and Barnett (1998) which also includes shared identities values and meanings. Critics argue therefore North Korea couldn't possibly be included, indeed, the nation-states of the Northeast Asian region could not possibly ever share identities, values and meanings. 

I have long-argued that the nation-states of East Asia have as much or as little in common as the states that make up the EU, if you want to see that way. For much of my work, I have been arguing for an inclusive approach to North Korea, much in the way Burma/Myanmar was ultimately engaged in ASEAN. It is not a short-term approach, it will take time. 

All this to say that watching the two leaders on television unleashed an array of emotions as they shook hands, talked, appeared to laugh. There is much to be written on this chapter and detente is a long way off. 

But in International Relations, sometimes you have to withstand the criticisms, and take the optimistic path and hope that things will work for the better. So often the easier, belligerent path is argued, supported and perpetuated. 

Kant's Perpetual Peace is something still to aim for. 

28 April 2018; more to come.