May I Quit Being Her Son?

Yesterday was the last day of a 3-day customer-service training session for a cosmetics company. For the last few hours, I was crying for more oxygen. Exhausted, I came out of the venue only to be wholly covered with an unbearable level of humidity. Even more tired though, I walked to T.B. through my old neighborhood of Beo Crescent to take MRT to go home.
After two small cans of beer, I decided to fix a simple pasta dinner. When the pasta was almost al dente by my standard, a call came from Japan. Oh no, it depressed me. Though I have been extra careful for using this word, the story was worse than dismaying. I may have to appreciate her honesty, but it was too much. I don’t understand what sort of mind she has in expressing her deep prejudice. Does she think I should agree with her? I must not agree. It profoundly troubled me to find such a prejudice was still alive in the mind of a person to whom I am supposed to feel strong affection. May I quit being her son? And an established pattern is that she changes her heart and mind drastically to disassociate herself from people and organizations that she originally seems to have had favored. “Soka” is an example I will never forget.

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政府は普天間米軍基地の移設問題をどうするつもりなのか。日本全国に米軍基地、さらに自衛隊基地を居住地域に歓迎する人が何人いるのだろうか。米軍の世界展開に関する戦略や事情にまで考えが及ぶ人が何人いるだろうか。戦後60数年、金儲けに勤しんで、国の安全保障に対する教育や学習を怠ってきたひとつの結果が現状なのではないだろうか。今後も沖縄県の負担軽減という背景から、普天間問題に類似する事態は起こり得るというのに、安保条約と他国軍駐留の是非を問おうという姿勢は、共産党を除いて見ることができない。すっかり解決済みのように扱われている自衛隊の存在とその法的位置についても同様のようだ。一時、高まったようだった９条改正論議はどうなったのか？現政権で言うなら、その一部となっている社民党の主張が政権内野党のようで特に醜い。潔く、共産党のように、他国軍駐留の義務や負担など必要ないと言ってみろ！安保政策への影響力は限りなくゼロに近かったが、石橋、飛鳥田という両社会党委員長がなつかしいと思わせる。