Don’t Harm Yourself
Two years after the beginning of World War II, Japan, without having openly declared war, bombarded the huge American military base at Pearl Harbour, destroying it completely. As an immediate major naval victory, it was a matter for Japanese jubilation, but as a piece of military strategy, it was ill-conceived, because it had the effect of bringing the US directly into the war, whereas the latter’s involvement prior to this had been only indirect. America’s earlier contribution had been confined solely to the selling of arms and ammunition to Japan’s enemies. At this point America now formed a united front with Britain and the U.S.S.R., which came to be known as the Allied Powers. Matters came to a head in August 1945, when America dropped the first atom bombs in the history of mankind on the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, completely obliterating both these industrial centres, and bringing to an end the military power of Japan.
The bombing of Pearl Harbour was, without doubt, Japan’s greatest military blunder: it quite unnecessarily brought the U.S. into the war. But Japan, realizing how great a mistake this had been, refrained from committing another. A defeated, but still living nation, it opted for adjustment to the new set of circumstances rather than resistance to them. In this way Japan opened up for itself new and splendid possibilities. Finding no opportunities in the military field, the Japanese put all their effort into the fields of education and industry. In accepting America’s supremacy in political and military affairs, it was then free to divert all its attention to peaceful fields of activity. In consequence, within a period of thirty years, Japan became far more powerful than before. Of the original incident which set in motion this unexpected train of events, a commentator writes:
“That is a queer culmination of Pearl Harbour, but history has many contrived corridors and perhaps Pearl Harbour was one of them.” (Hindustan Times, November 30, 1981)
After every failure there exists the possibility of a new, and perhaps different kind of success for all human beings, provided they refrain from harbouring false pride, waste no time in futile lamentations and set about immediately adjusting themselves to the new set of circumstance. Above all, in beginning the struggle anew, they should rid themselves of all feelings of hatred. Of this negative sentiment, Dale Carnegie (famous for his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People) writes:
“When we hate our enemies, we give them power over us—power over our sleep, our appetites and our happiness. They would dance with joy, if they knew how much they were worrying us. Our hate is not hurting them at all, but it is turning our own days and nights into hellish turmoil.”
Hating others amounts to hating one’s own self; it is a way of injuring one’s own psyche. Loving others, on the contrary, does one nothing but good.
