Japanese workers volunteer for 'suicide mission'

[Bandito]

THE families of heroic workers battling to save Japan from a nuclear catastrophe have told of their terror.
As brave teams battle to avoid a meltdown at the stricken Fukushima power station, one daughter pleaded: "Please, daddy, come back alive."
The devastated girl joined a nation in rallying behind the brave men and women who have accepted a "suicide mission" to rescue the plant.
The 180 plant workers - dubbed the Fukushima 50 because they work in teams of 50 - know their lives could end in terrible agony from exposure to radiation levels.
Radiology expert Keiichi Nakagawa, at University of Tokyo Hospital, said: "I don't know any other way to say it, but this is like suicide fighters in a war."


Link (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/03/18/brave-japanese-workers-volunteer-for-suicide-mission-to-save-nuclear-station-from-meltdown-86908-22997936/)

While there is a strong indication that this is really an act of extraordinary heroism, there is a slight possibility that they didn't volunteer for this. Which certainly cannot be ignored.

Japanese laws about press and media coverage are very rigid and don't allow a single media attack on the industry. It is considered immoral and you will rarely or never see an article about workers oppression in Japan. That's a fact that makes me a little suspicious about this one.

I would be praising these people if I wasn't concerned this is the case. However, if it is, screw my opinion, and praise the brave workers!

[Omsk]

Well,you might be right,but i simply must praise the brave workers who are willingly or not,possibly going into doom.
The Japanese are truly magnificent people,the fact that they are not living in a socialist country,changes nothing,these men are heroes,and all political issues should be ignored,for they are risking their life for the safety of all of us,and the future generations!
Truly a heroic deed!

[Tim Finnegan]

Truly admirable. Perhaps this will help a few more people realise that it is workers like these, and not the "wealth-creators" they so admire, who sustain and protect us.

[pranabjyoti]

Link (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/03/18/brave-japanese-workers-volunteer-for-suicide-mission-to-save-nuclear-station-from-meltdown-86908-22997936/)

While there is a strong indication that this is really an act of extraordinary heroism, there is a slight possibility that they didn't volunteer for this. Which certainly cannot be ignored.

Japanese laws about press and media coverage are very rigid and don't allow a single media attack on the industry. It is considered immoral and you will rarely or never see an article about workers oppression in Japan. That's a fact that makes me a little suspicious about this one.

I would be praising these people if I wasn't concerned this is the case. However, if it is, screw my opinion, and praise the brave workers!
Still this website is full of "leftists(!)" who can not see brainwashing propaganda and personality cult beyond DPRK. If DPRK is a hellhole (as per some of user), then what Japan is?

[The Vegan Marxist]

Still this website is full of "leftists(!)" who can not see brainwashing propaganda and personality cult beyond DPRK. If DPRK is a hellhole (as per some of user), then what Japan is?

As a supporter of the DPRK, I would say that this is quite irrelevant. This thread has nothing to do with Japan, except for the fact that it's in terrible danger. The thread is about pointing out the brave heroism behind the Japanese workers, risking their lives for everyone else. If workers of the DPRK were to have done this, I'm sure all of us, despite what one's view of the DPRK itself is, would be praising the brave heroism of the DPRK workers as well.

So, please, let's not turn this thread into another DPRK "pro vs. anti" debate again. There's far too many. We're split in half on that issue. So let's leave it be and keep the conversations relevant to that of the OP's article.

[Crux]

Still this website is full of "leftists(!)" who can not see brainwashing propaganda and personality cult beyond DPRK. If DPRK is a hellhole (as per some of user), then what Japan is?
Are you trying to say you support the Japanese state?

[pranabjyoti]

Are you trying to say you support the Japanese state?
I just want to point out that the legacy of feudalism is so strong in Asia that even advanced capitalist countries like Japan still can not be able to overcome that. The so-called "personality cult" culture is so strong in Asia due to the long and strong feudal legacy of it and it takes much longer time to overcome and abolish this.

[Robocommie]

I just want to point out that the legacy of feudalism is so strong in Asia that even advanced capitalist countries like Japan still can not be able to overcome that. The so-called "personality cult" culture is so strong in Asia due to the long and strong feudal legacy of it and it takes much longer time to overcome and abolish this.

Yeah, these guys are selflessly working to prevent a horrendous disaster at a nuclear reactor... just like medieval peasants would have done...

:confused:

[Crux]

I just want to point out that the legacy of feudalism is so strong in Asia that even advanced capitalist countries like Japan still can not be able to overcome that. The so-called "personality cult" culture is so strong in Asia due to the long and strong feudal legacy of it and it takes much longer time to overcome and abolish this.
No.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Still this website is full of "leftists(!)" who can not see brainwashing propaganda and personality cult beyond DPRK. If DPRK is a hellhole (as per some of user), then what Japan is?

Why the fuck are you bringing the DPRK into this?

Some of us have lives and interests beyond a red flag and the mention of Socialism.

Why don't you try and make comments relevant to the enormous suffering that many people in Japan are suffering and, if the OP is anything to go by, will suffer in the near future?

You seem not to care about suffering that isn't inflicted by the bourgeoisie. I'm sorry that mother nature isn't a leading member of the bourgeoisie and isn't trying to invade one of your beloved 'anti-imperial' dictatorships.

Have a sense of fucking perspective and stop trying to use grave tragedies like this to score cheap political points. No wonder you can't raise class consciousness amongst anything more than a man and a dog.

[Artemis3]

Maybe this article could help a little?

Japan’s TEPCO: a history of nuclear disaster cover-ups (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/tepc-m17.shtml)

The way japanese culture works... hmmm if you go against the company, your life is ruined. Something similar to the politicians as well?

[MarxSchmarx]

The japenese daily newspapers are terrible. They are basically glorified stenographers. The television news shows are a little better, but they tend to go after low hanging fruit like taxi cab drivers who rig meters.

But the weekly magazines (akin to Time, e.g.) are staffed with pretty left-leaning independent minded journalists who dropped out of elite schools. There is also a communist party daily newspaper that has decent circulation. If there was any coercion involved, it will come out. Maybe not right now, but as in any first world liberal democracy, they simply won't be able to keep it a secret forever.