Abe, ruling bloc agree to keep Yanagisawa

Hmm, last time I checked, woman WERE birth giving machines. Just a sad attempt at trying to demonize the government and people. Much ado about nothing, move on people. Glad Mr. Yanagisawa is sticking to his guns.

 

You have a very strange view of the world. I for one am not a "factory robot". I don't work in a factory environment. I am not a machine programmed to do a single task. I have free will and can choose how I earn a living and how I spend my free time. Some women might actually like to choose what to do with their lives, also, don't you think? This is why people have an issue with being called machines. It de-humanises them and implies a removal of rights. Why don't you have a think about that for a while...

 

another touchy "PC" over-sensitive reaction. ever studied biology? the human body is essentially a complicated biological "machine". we have cells that serve one purpose, cells that serve other purposes, and they all work together to serve another purpose. so yes, we are all "machines" in a sense. getting all worked up over terminology hinders progress, makes much ado about nothing, and hints at that sensitive person's self-esteem - or lack thereof.

 

CRAP! youre are wrong. i can asure you that as a confident adult man, theres nothing wrong with my self esteem and that of many other who object to this man's statement. the main problem with his terminology is that it was expressed in the backdrop of an extremely mysoginistic society. if you dont live here, youll never know the extent to which japan hates women.

harvard educated princess instead of havig an illustrious career in international affairs, which was her deep desire, was relegated to BABY MAKING MACHINE. and to make matters worse, she was being pressured to deliver a boy, when everyone in the modern world knows that its the sperm thats responsible for the sex of the child. so what happened? naturally this brilliant woman has been suffering an extensive nervous break down.

so thats the real issue, the mysoginy in this country.

 

”ever studied biology? the human body is essentially a complicated biological "machine". we have cells that serve one purpose, cells that serve other purposes, and they all work together to serve another purpose. so yes, we are all "machines" in a sense."

Studied biology and did very well, thank you. I also learned that in addition to the cells you mentioned human beings have what's known as a cerebral cortex, and it is in that, as opposed to... say... the reptilian brain, which gives us consciousness and the ability to distinguish right and wrong. If yours were working correctly, you would see that the issue here is that of an old Japanese man who believes women are inferior, and should be relegated to merely collecting his spunk and having his offspring. That is wrong, my friend, particularly coming from someone who is supposed to be the Health, Labour, and Welfare minister.

And hey, can robots really have self-esteem?

 

..I think his implication that this is their main or only purpose in life is something like 100 years out of date, though

 

The Japanese government at work. That is how we pay our taxpayers money? To have politicians shoot off their mouths before even thinking of the ramifications. Seems like a lot of that is going around nowadays and not with just this particular incident. The Abe govt`s IQ is reaching a whole new level. Into the minuses. Who elected and chosen these officials anyways? Are they trying to get away by saying the masses are idiots.

 

You continue to take one word out Yanagisawa's quote and play your little game of semantics with it. Try stepping past the word "machine", and start looking at the whole quote. Yanagisawa is saying that women are a specific type of machine, meaning they exist for one purpose only. Tell me, what's the difference between a human being and a machine of metal and plastic as implied by Yanagisawa's quote? Why can to be charged with murder for killing someone, but not for turning off a machine and throwing it away? Why is it a person can choose what they do with their lives, but a machine simply follows it's programming? Answer those questions, then ask yourself why women might get offended at being placed in the second group, and not the first. If you still cannot see why, then there is nothing more that can be said.

 

...referred to the average citizen as "koma" (pawns)....

Those fat cat public servants calling me a pawn - that they can move around at their will - no thanks

What would you rather be reffered to as: a pawn or a machine?

 

No one's demonizing the government or the people because of what Yanagisawa said. Clearly you missed the point, but it's the Japanese people and the government who are demonizing Yanagisawa. Get your facts straight before you ride, silver horn a'ringing, to the rescue of the Japanese people who neither need nor likely want your patronizing assistance.

Yanagisawa's is a relic of outdated thinking and desperately needs to be put out to pasture, much like the rest of the geriatric never-say-die a-holes who still hold the reigns of power in the out-of-touch LDP, a point amply demonstrated by how baffled he was to see so many of his peers in the Diet , as well as his constituents, i.e., the Japanese people, calling for his job.

It amuses me that some posters here would whip out their trusty handbook of things to say when they can't really think of anything witty or thought provoking, and call the people who are angry with Yanagisawa, wait for it... "PC." Gads! Could you be more uninventive or dull if you tried?

C'mon, guys. Stretch yourselves a bit. Don't be scared to take a stand where you have to actually rationalize and explain your position. Failing that, at the very least, do try to make an effort to come up with your own one-size-fits-all label, rather than relying on one cooked up by some other equally unimaginative poser... err... I mean, "poster."

Please recall, before you get too carried away berating the "Liberals," "Lefties," and "Political Correctness-Nazis," that the people who are calling for Yanagisawa's head on a platter the loudest are his peers. The rest of us are just enjoying the ride.

 

I can't believe they are still wasting our taxes on this issue.
For once I actually agree with the LDP.

 

this may be a good time to cue up the Styx classic hit, "Doomo Arigato, Mr. Roboto". It seems relevant to health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa's comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZpyunfy0-M&search=mr.%20roboto

 

"the issue here is that of an old Japanese man who believes women are inferior, and should be relegated to merely collecting his spunk and having his offspring"

No, I think the issue is that some have decided that this man believes that, whether he actually thinks it or not.

In my opinion he made a methaphore to make his point clear. Let's not forget that he himself immediately added in his speech that it is of course not proper to call women "baby making machines".

This issue is blown totally out of proportion, for political reasons.

 

Even if they keep him at the post, I think the damage has done.
No matter how many "policies" the government can come up with regards to "shoushika" , or the declining birthrate, I still cannot trust a person who has officially regarded women as "birth giving machines".
He may have said that he didn't mean it, but many women felt he meant it.

Even if he didn't mean it, the metaphor was absolutely inappropriate and disgusting.

 

Yanigisawa, and Abe also, should be forced to resign. They are a disgrace to Japan and its people. They are racist, sexcist and arrogant. It was a sad day for Japan and for the world when Abe became Prime Minister and chose this arrogant old man to be his Health Minister. As for those of you apologists for the Japanese Government - shame on you, too.