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Guest Post: Boots On The Ground In Fukushima, Japan
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man
Boots on the Ground In Fukushima, Japan
I had to come see for myself. What does the worst radiation and natural disaster in history look like? Chaos. Devastation. Cataclysm. Right?
Actually… none of the above. Fukushima and the surrounding prefecture is as quaint and picturesque as ever. Eight months on, there are hardly any signs of a nuclear accident or major earthquake, at least on the surface.
Smiling bunny rabbit welcomes tourists to nuclear disaster.
I was half-expecting the town to have a permanent decontamination facility… with radiation detectors as far as the eye can see, and legions of workers in biohazard suits. After all, this town of nearly 300,000 is now the world’s largest dirty bomb.
But riding through the surrounding area and walking around the streets today, Fukushima looks like any other small(ish) town. Schools, temples, shops, and restaurants… everything is normal. In fact, it’s almost eerily normal, like something out of an old Hitchcock film.
Keep looking until you can see the gamma rays...
People here have moved on and even learned to joke about the incident with an untraditional sarcasm. At dinner this evening, my friend asked the waiter “How’s the eggplant?” to which the waiter replied with a dry smile, “Oh don’t worry, we source that from another location now…”
The really bizarre thing is that the radiation levels are still really high… yet everyone is staying put. Tepco, the group that operates the failed nuclear reactors nearby, has been publishing all sorts of propaganda saying that radiation levels are falling. Nobody believes it.
A group of politicians staged a recent media stunt, drinking water that was supposedly filled from a puddle outside Fukushima’s reactors, and dining on local produce. Nobody seems to care.
"Good for drinking" says my hotel bathroom sink.
The government is telling them not to worry while private studies suggest otherwise. A recent paper published by Norwegian atmospheric scientist Adreas Stohl refutes a number of claims made by the Japanese government, and it more than doubles the government’s estimate of how much radiation was released in the accident.
And yet, nearly everyone is still here. After the initial evacuation, people just came back to town and picked up where they left off. They know the government is lying to them. They know they’re in danger and that their lives and livelihoods are at risk. But they’re staying put.
Some of this is due to a lack of preparation. Most people didn’t plan for this emergency and didn’t have an action plan or bolt hole somewhere. For others, it’s just the expected thing to do– stay and suffer.
It seems crazy, but this is a familiar story.
Think about how many people are lied to on a regular basis by their politicians. They know they’re being lied to. They know their livelihood is under attack. They know the trend is bad, and it’s getting worse. But they do nothing and plan nothing, warning signs be damned.
Oh, how politicians love it when citizens are good little sheep, patiently waiting to be milked and sheared.
Look, each of us has a choice to make. Like the folks here in Fukushima, most people will simply put up with constant abuse indefinitely. Others will grab a pitchfork and join the lost souls’ convention on Wall Street. Most will pin their hopes on the next election.
Fukushima teaches us that voting with your feet is sometimes the only sensible option. After all, there are a lot of green pastures out there in the world.
It may not be a popular decision. Throughout history, societies frequently derided anyone with the foresight and fortitude to leave.
And so what? Let them complain. Our obligations are to ourselves, our families, and whomever else we choose to let into our circles. There is no natural debt to society or political servitude simply by accident of birth.
It’s time to start rejecting antiquated social expectations and think in new directions. With so much uncertainty, it makes a world of sense to have a backup plan overseas.
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Time for the Richchild Report!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaX5lZGaNtA
Like the folks here in Fukushima, most people will simply put up with constant abuse indefinitely.
Others, like Simon Black, will purposely seek it out and write a banal essay on what it was like.
Not to worry until they start getting radiation sickness and/or mutation.
http://enenews.com/
For those that can read
Maybe this is why they are staying on-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T575Pbo4eWM
Next time post a picture of your passport stamps.
Would enhance your credibility. Otherwise....YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNN
All that info free and widely available on the internet
Mr. Boots on the Ground Sovereign Man is being a little dishonest here. The exclusion zone around the Fukushima reactor is 50 kilometers. Fukushima City is sixty kilometers from the eponymous plant, which also means it is 60 kilometers inland and far from any tsunami damage. Little wonder the city's structure shows little residual damage from the quake/tsunami. It might still be crazy to remain in Fukushima City, but it's not like that city is Futaba, which is where the plant is actually located.
Most of those folks near Fukushima worked at the nuclear plant. They've been educated in the physical sciences, health sciences and nuclear physicists in particular. You call them "sheep." Your theme seems to be exploitation coupled with frustration that the area has actually improved significantly.
Seems like you'd rather see arms floating in green slim.
Don't fret. There's no doubt another catastrophic weather event you can utilize to prove your conclusions and harness donations to "green" business lobbyists.
Improved significantly?
What bollocks - I'm sure thyroid cancer isn't an improvement.
There are similar stories about Prypriat - about how the animals all came back. Well like these people - they don't know any better.
You must be pretty green yourself - don't you know the consequences of this radiation will be felt in 15 - 20 years time - not now.
Oh - and Fukushima - it's not a weather event - it was man made. I'm not surprised you tried to turn this into an 'act of God' which means you don't have to look at man's stupidity for the cause.