Stupid is what the conservatives have been doing for decades, namely leaning on their relationship with the US as an excuse to take a grotesque stance towards t

Stupid is what the conservatives have been doing for decades, namely leaning on their relationship with the US as an excuse to take a grotesque stance towards their own history. Japan, had it followed a similar course as Germany, could have reconciled themselves with the countries they tried to conquer and built a true economic union with Taiwan, Korea, and others in the region, which would have acted as a true check on a rising China. Instead, and admittedly with the encouragement of the US, they took a "temporarily embarrassed imperial" stance, cultivated an irrational and racist belief in their own inherent economic superiority, alienated their neighbors, and gave China an international relations scapegoat for anytime it was useful. The idea that they're some victim of Chinese circumstances with rising militarism as their only option ignores the decades of short-sighted conservative policy that put them in such a vulnerable position.