In my other life in another country, I've heard a phrase when I was very young which made me wonder about its veracity for the next 40+ years. At that time, we very much admired the Japanese and considered them the model we should emulate to make our lives better. It was commonly said among us that "Individually, we were just as smart as the Japanese. The problem is, together, they are united and we are not."
Is that really true ? Could we really get much better just by uniting together ? Uniting to do what ? What can someone say or do that makes everybody else agree ? Other than a war for the sake of survival as a country, it's hard for everybody to agree on anything. And the few things that the vast majority of the populace agree on, like there should be no corruption, are almost never practiced, even among those who regularly and honestly criticize corruption.
So what's the real problem ? What makes us destroy each others and, therefore, cannot get ahead ?
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