活動レポート

On the financial blockade of Russia

The policy is justified as stemming from the idea that, in modern times, “the wisdom of preventing war is economic interdependence”, which was also stated by Immanuel Kant. In other words, it is what Professor Henry Farrell and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in the US call the ‘weaponisation of interdependence’.

However, we have experienced in the last war that the weaponisation of interdependence does not lead to the cessation of war. The economic sanctions imposed by the US, Britain and other countries before World War II were actually aimed at deterring war, but the result was a chain of enclosures, divisions that led to the War.

Russia will be unable to use its foreign exchange reserves of approximately 78 trillion yen, and will have difficulty finding buyers for the 130 billion dollars of gold it has set aside in advance.

The yuan, which accounts for only 3% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves, will also not help Russia. China will not take a policy of breaking the economic interdependence it has pledged for its 1.4 billion people. (The above is a quote from an article by Hiroyuki Nishimura in the Nikkei)

The resolution of international conflicts can only be hoped for by making the world’s peoples the aim, or rather the adulting, of humanity. Now is the time for everyone to put into practice the biblical account of Matthew’s love of God and love of neighbourhood.

Love God means to bring charity and justice to the world, and love your neighbour means to love your neighbour as yourself.

The ability to live in harmony with others (including our unpleasant neighbours) is the condition that makes us human, and it is only the ability to live in harmony with others that enables us to survive. (These are the words of Dr. T. Uchida)

Humanity needs to develop a rich physical sensibility and sensitivity in relation to nature and grow from childhood to adulthood as each person seeks the wisdom to connect with others through this relationship.

War is no stranger to us. It can only be solved by the maturation of each member of the human race.

Putin has no understanding of the two types of danger: predictable and calculable danger, i.e. risk, and unpredictable and uncalculable danger, i.e. dangers. He has not grown up.

War is the dangers’ and not something that can be controlled. People and towns on both sides suffer. We crave all mothers of the world with children send an email to Russia against the war.

A human being can only be a human being if there are others who share the community.

31 March 2022　　　　　

　Minoru Hirota