cross-posted at mechavomit's revenge
The recent suicides of Shinzo Abe's minister of agriculture and the the head of an administrative company over a bid-rigging scandal deserves a little more attention in the media on our side of the pond. In our political culture where organized bribery is essentially legal, and the public shrugs off billions in no-bid contracts to industrial megacorporations like Halliburton, it's almost shocking that somewhere in the world honor and integrity is taken so seriously that Mr. Matsuoka was driven to kill himself rather than suffer the public shame of facing charges of corruption. In a somewhat bizarre mirror to American politics, Prime Minister Abe had stubbornly stuck by Mr. Matsuoka, his nominee to the post, despite damaging allegations of wrongdoing.
Now, let me throw a little cold water on myself here: my intent is in no way to advocate suicide. Japan has the world's second-highest suicide rate, second only to vodka-fueled and economically-depressed Russia, and in one year in the late 90's more than 30,000 Japanese men, many if not most executives in their 50's, killed themselves when Japan's economy began to slide. Suicide in Japan is a big social problem, and the country could do with a big dose of self-analysis and social honesty in dealing with it. Honor and pride are in perhaps too abundant a supply, especially among people in positions of power, in a direct antithesis to our own society.
That said, this is one area in which our society, our leaders especially, could learn a lot from the Japanese. Our leaders don't seem to ever feel shame, or regret, and labels of honor and integrity too often go to those who are able to shout them loudly enough, or who can dig up more dirt on his opponent than has been dug up on him.
In another story, China has recently sentenced to death the head of their version of the FDA, for accepting bribes to approve medicines for distribution in the country. Speaking of things we could learn from other countries...