JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

When I was researching some legal information, I ran into a site that provides an outlet for persons wanting to release some of the frustrations associated with the political environment on Okinawa. It is good to have such an outlet, but if you read the posts all one sees are the same old issues being tossed back and forth in varying degrees of anger. If I have learned anything in all my years on Okinawa, it’s there will always be one group against another. This isn’t because it’s Okinawa, but because that is the nature of groups. Being in an interracial/intercultural marriage for thirty years has put my husband and me in the situation of not really fitting into any specific group. We are okay with that, but the groups aren’t. There is always some group trying to force their belief system on us, trying to put one label or another on us. On occasion the differences in cultural backgrounds and/or gender cause disagreement on how a situation should be handled. I can tell you right now, there is nothing that an opposing group finds more satisfying than causing dissention in an adversary. If the adversary is busy arguing amongst themselves, then the focus is taken off of the opposing group.

What we have found over the years is that both sides of a politically based argument usually have legitimate reasons for their positions, and this can lead to nothing more than an ongoing standoff. We tend to throw away the cultural social formalities, since they are equally legitimate, and focus on the belief that brought and kept us together. The belief is that one human being should treat other human beings as such. A person doesn’t impose on others, but at the same time doesn’t allow others to walk all over them.