The Moral Vision
An Economic Pearl Harbour
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exchange reserves totalling 74 billion dollars in
1984. (
The Times of India,
13-14 June 1985).
How did Japan turn its military defeat into an
economic victory? By encouraging patience and
perseverance and avoiding provocation, it
concentrated its energies on peaceful (and, of
course, remunerative) fields, rather than indulge in
retaliatory violence. It initially accepted the military
and political supremacy of other nations, quickly
adapting itself to new scales of values, then set
about the economic rehabilitation of the country
without wasting a single moment on bewailing lost
opportunities, blaming others for its misfortunes or
on pointless nostalgia. Rather than make further
mistakes—Pearl Harbour having been the worst—it
concentrated all of its attention on seizing existing
opportunities. In short, Japan accepted the blame
for its own destruction, and, once having done so,
was able seriously to launch itself on its own
economic uplift.
We must never lose sight of the fact that we are not
lone travellers on this earth. There are always others
who are trying to race ahead of us in this world of
