The unrest in Libya is also broadcast almost every day in Japan. I wonder why Libyans hate Libyans so much that they kill each other relentlessly? What reason for excusing their slaughter do they have? I read some books about African history and I understood that there had been lots of armed intervention by the European superpowers into the African Continent in previous times. It was more harsh than I had learned in my high school days.
In Africa most borders were marked out, not considering African native people but suiting the convenience of Europe. It is said that lots of kinds of people live in Libya, like Arabs, Berber and other African tribes. They have their own views and agendas. The majority are Sunni Muslim, but some people are Coptic Christians. It might be impossible for these people to get together and shape a single nation. Will the conflict drag on for a long time?
Japan is located in the far east of Eurasia. In a fixed area, with almost a single ethnicity and almost a sole history, Japanese people have survived on the globe since recorded history. Though there are several dialects, people use Japanese for daily communication. The people who live in Japan are the Japanese public. The way of thinking is alike. It might be an extremely special occasion. I reached this conclusion.
This might be the reason for the incredible stability of Japan. Despite frequent replacements of the prime minister, the social status is calm with a few rare exceptions. Armed uprisings have seldom broken out in Japan after the Edo era, which started in 1603 and continued until 1868. In this period, the social security was extremely stable and science technology and various cultures developed remarkably. These accumulations of technologies and cultures surely became the basis of the present Japan.
I hit on a curious idea now. The words, "country", "nation" and "state" are translated into Japanese as a single word, "kuni". This fact makes it difficult for me to distinguish between these three words. For example, in European countries and the States, different ethnic people live and different languages are spoken and there are different cultures in one country. It might be the reason that English has various words that stand for the Japanese word, "kuni".
Anyway, I hope that Libya will became a secure country soon.
(Vocabulary)
in previous times かつて
mark sth out (線を引いて) ＜場所など＞を区切る, 仕切る
ethnicity 民族性, 民族意識
uprising 反乱, 暴動, （武装）蜂起
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