Are we becoming more intolerant?

Then came the great opening that some dogmatic zealots did not hesitate to term as the end of history. The shallow dream they were dreaming throughout the period of Cold War had an unhappy impact on such high-flying proponents of an era of total dominance, as with the end of the Cold War they started to see everything wrong in the value of others. More then a decade on, we can now see few signs of the end of that history as the wheels of progress in a number of very important issues were turned backward to start a new journey towards old practices discarded earlier as being incompatible to a modern world. We saw the return of colonialism in the name of imposing democracy in some parts of the world and a threat to others of embracing the same fate if they fail to abide by the dictates of the powerful.

The great roll back in the name of ending history was not only confined in international politics. In social arenas too, the progress made in a number of fields during the second half of twentieth century was compelled to make compromise with the new situation. No longer there is a growing voice of discontent about the widespread abuse by business and financial oligarchies that in the West took a corporate structure to disguise the faces of those who are in real control. Even in the media world, voice of intolerance is finding its firm footing as more and more news media are coming under direct control of few so called giants having other business interests as well.

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There is no doubt that in terms of material advancement the twenty-first century has already offered many openings that were unthinkable if Cold War had to continue. The unprecedented advancement in communications resulting in the abandoned flow of knowledge and information through the Internet is one such aspect. But how far we are using that knowledge for our self-development remains doubtful. This becomes obvious when we look closely to some aspects and trends in modern societies. Our desire for much more material gain is probably making us more intolerant compared to the generation that formulated most of the common values of the last century. The issue of death penalty is a very interesting barometer to judge that.

I've already mentioned at the beginning that in the second half of the last century many western nations abolished the long held policy of sending people to the gallows for crimes seen in the eyes of others as extremely objectionable. The idea behind abolishing death penalty was derived from a new outlook about the purpose of judgment. If the idea behind judgment is to inflict pain to an offender for doing something seen wrong by the society, then there is nothing wrong in chopping hands, legs or fingers or sending offenders to the scaffold even for minor crimes. But if the purpose of judgment is to provide offenders with the opportunity to correct them by imposing certain restrictions, then there can be no justification in closing the door for that chance by killing offenders in the name of law. A strong public opinion based on such teachings created pressure on respective governments of the western nations, and a number of countries in Europe abolished death penalty during the second half of the last century.

In Japan the idea of sending serious offenders to gallows is still in practice and there are occasional announcements made by the government that come as a reminder that in this particular aspect the country is yet to achieve what many western nations have achieved. But a very important ally of Japan in this field being the most powerful country of the present day world, things might not move straight for those in Japan who are involved in relentless campaign to get rid of the most inhuman of all practice in the name of law. The government of Japan is maintaining a policy of continuation and there is no sign that campaigner could make any significant breakthrough despite winning isolated support even from the very high-ranking officials of the main ruling party.

Despite government's firm standing over the issue of death penalty, popular movement against the practice had made significant progress in Japan in the recent past. For example, a poll conducted by the government in 1975 had shown that 57 percent of those who participated said they were in favor of death penalty. Though the figure was relatively higher, it was still considered to be a gain as almost 40 percent said they opposed the idea. But strangely for Japan and to the dismay of campaigners for the abolishment of death penalty, the figure for those in favor of death penalty had since then shown a continuous rise, reaching 81 percent by the end of last month.

Japan's Cabinet office conducted the last survey in December and the result announced recently had shown a sharp rise in the rank of supporters of death penalty. The 81 percent figure of those favouring death penalty is up two percentage points from a survey five years ago. The result comes as a sad reminder that Japan would probably never reach the stage of European standard as more and more people are joining the other side of the campaign. In the latest survey those who said capital punishment should be abolished stood at a pathetic six-percentage point.

It might be a matter of insignificance to many. But the survey result in Japan reflects a common trend worldwide, as more and more people are becoming intolerant of things happening around them and expressing openly their desire to see an end, in whatever way possible, to the worsening situation that they face. We in this regard stand a few steps higher, as we do not hide our jubilation in seeing people being murdered cold bloodedly for the sake of ensuring safety of others. The people of Japan, at least, have not descended to that level yet.