国際教養学部AO入試 news, issues, and points 2014 w/sample answers

Read the news or issues below and write a one-paragraph essay on the following questions using some of the points given.

1.    NEWS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed Tuesday that the government will raise the consumption tax rate from the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April 2014.

QUESTIONS

a.    Do you think this tax raise proper?

POINTS： tax rates in other countries, no tax on foods in the countries with high consumption tax rates, progressive taxation, public welfare, economic slowdown, corporate tax cuts

SAMPLE ANSWER： There still seem to be areas from which financial resources can be drawn without raising consumption tax. First, cutting corporation taxes would worsen our economy. The reason for the cut is to prevent corporations from leaving this country, but the US government, which has kept cutting corporate taxes to almost zero, has also had very high unemployment rate, it would be possible for our government to lose a huge part of the revenue without improvement of the whole economy. Next, the progressive taxation, the highest tax rate of the progressive taxation in Japan now is less than half of that of the 70’s. Since the system is now working to syphon money from the bottom to the upper scale at a great degree, sending back an appropriate ratio of the rich to the bottom, meaning raising the highest income tax rate at least for a while, would make the economy livelier. Lastly, leaving the tax rate on food untouched would help the poor make ends meet and would get this country revitalized in the long run, since this would lessen precariousness in the life of the young.

b.    What are the problems of the capitalist democracy?

POINTS： plutocracy, bailouts, deregulations, short-term interest pursuit, reduction of research and development, income inequality, neglect on the protection of the environment

SAMPLE ANSWER： Those who have the money own huge corporations, including the media, and the government in the capitalist democracy. They take advantage of the system to gather more money. They pay to lobby and direct politicians to promote deregulations of the laws protecting public good and the environment. Many of those who are not super rich but smart tend to pursue short-term profits by virtually criminal means to make their life comfortable and retire early ignoring those who will be affected, not to speak of the impact on the long-term profit for the whole system. In this system, the ordinary citizens, and of course the poor, are powerless except in elections and referendums, which can be easily manipulated by the media. As a result, the gap between the haves and have-nots keeps widening and nature exhausted.

2.    NEWS: The Nobel Prize Committee has officially nominated war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

QUESTIONS

a. Do you think this nomination proper?

POINTS： soft power, today’s political climate, terrorism, development aid, domestic issues

Unfortunately, Article 9 did not get the Nobel Peace Prize but I strongly think the nomination was proper. It is the only article in the world declaring that this country will never resort to force to solve problems with other countries and for this it has long been praised all over the world. It presents a good vision of the world free from conflicts and wars. Also, giving the article the prize at this time would be significant because the Japanese government is getting ready for more active involvement in the use of weapons in foreign affairs. The nomination attracted some attention to the decision of the wider interpretation of the collective self-defense and the debate over the amendment of Article 9. Sadly, the nomination seems to have put little pressure on the government.

b.    Is this award technically meaningful?

POINTS： questionable laureates and nominees in the past, public appeal

Although I am not qualified to say who should be chosen to be the one that contributed to the building of the better world, I remember questions on this prize expressed in some cases especially those of politicians. The most recent two examples are Russian president Vladimir Putin and the US President Barak Obama. Putin was nominated for the prize this year for facilitating the prevention of the US attack on Syria with regard to its use of chemical weapons, but the country is well-known for human rights abuse and violations of sovereignty of other counties. Obama got the prize for declaring the realization of the world without nuclear weapons when he had just won the presidency, but disarmament has not been in progress and America’s wars have become bigger and uglier. Some even say he should return the prize for too many “collateral death” of innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the past, a Vietnamese laureate rejected the prize arguing that the peace has not yet come to the country while Henry Kissinger, a co-recipient of his, got the prize despite the flaws in his political life. These facts tempt me to regard Nobel Peace Prize as the Peace-of-Mind-of-the-Rich-World Prize.

3.    NEWS: The historic change in security policy that will let the Japanese military use force under the right to collective self-defense has been approved by the cabinet.

QUESTIONS

a. Do you think it proper for the cabinet having approved the change?

POINTS： democracy, involvement in wars not directly related to Japanese affairs especially American issues, conscription, reduction of Japanese soft power, terrorism, development aid, domestic issues

I do not think the approval proper. Deciding the controversial issue on the use of the force without asking the will of the citizens is undemocratic first of all. The decision was made in an exceptionally quick move without much discussion. We are now an active ally of Americans in the eye of terrorists. By this new interpretation, Japan could be directly involved in the wars or operations against terrorists which are related to the interest of the rich countries. This means that it is possible for our tax money to be used to directly kill those who are fighting for what is not directly or hardly related to us and innocent civilians in poor countries. In the eye of the neighboring countries, Japan is a small but violent country which is again trying to flex its muscles. Some countries have expressed concern over Japanese militarization, which is understandable considering our warlike past. We are following the steps of the US, which has lost its soft power by waging wars without enough civil efforts.

b.    In what way do you think Japan should play a role in today’s world?

POINTS： development aid, humanitarian aid, domestic issues, nuclear disarmament, cultural exchanges,  the environment

Although minding our own business in a good way to recover from the blows in terms of economy and disaster in recent years seems to be the best policy before minding other countries’ business, but we have to be obliged to help the disadvantaged as the situation in Japan is still relatively better compared to those of poor countries. Japan can still pay and dispatch specialists for development or humanitarian aids. Also, as the only country on which the atomic bombs were dropped, we should keep working for the nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, with the tradition of prioritizing the harmony between the civilization and the environment, this country can take initiative to protect the environment and mitigate the impact of the global warming.

4.    NEWS: In July, the UN’s human-rights committee demanded that Japan add hate speech to legislation banning racial discrimination.

QUESTIONS:

a.    Do you think this is a fair demand or not. Why?

POINTS: long history of discrimination against non-naturalized Koreans, xenophobia, globalization, bullying, war-time sex slaves (comfort women) issue, violence, freedom of expression

1) I think the demand fair, even overdue because Japan has a long history of discrimination and abuse against some minorities. Above all, non-naturalized Koreans have seen the darkest side of Japanese society and its individuals. Hate speech related to them, including comments on the Internet, graffiti and literatures, do not go without noticed every day. Harassment and violence, including those inflicted to innocent school girls, are also often reported. Unreported heinous activities could be countless. Some might think that hate speech is different from other acts of discrimination, but words are as painful as physical harm and words also nurture in those who use, hear, see, or read them prejudice, aggression, and sadism against the targeted people. This problem should be monitored and addressed on a daily basis.

2) It is strange that we Japanese are relatively tolerant to some minorities like gays and those who have abortions while cold to foreigners like Koreans or Chinese as well as aboriginal people like Ainu people or Okinawans. Some might say that gays and those with pro-choice idea have been in our tradition, but Koreans and Chinese have existed throughout our history too and many of them have contributed to our society and culture. They are not given proper respect no matter how long they have lived with us. Naturalization is not the key factor as is clear in the case of the Ainu and Okinawan. Also, many Japanese know that they themselves would not naturalize were they to be in the same situation in a foreign country. Giving up one’s nationality is largely a matter of identity. It is different from having a membership of a society, and each member of a society should be paid the same respect to that the other members are paid to. The issue of coexistence with people with different backgrounds should be dealt with in view of building a peaceful and productive living environment for each member. A society whose members hate each other calls for its own demise. Our deep-rooted xenophobia needs some intervention. The demand from the biggest international organization to ban hate-speech would therefore help change the situation for the better.

b.    Are people in Japan losing their moral values?

POINTS： education, competition, corruption, breakdown of the community, family relations, materialism, public manners, religion, the Internet

Seeing long-belated ban on the possession of child pornography was realized, quoting “finally after repeated demand from other G7 countries as globalization in progress”, in October this year almost ten years after its ban on the production of it, I doubt whether we still have room to be more evil. We might still have a heart, as we sympathize for those unfortunate and cheer for those trying to overcome difficulties like any other people, but when it comes to moral values, it is not clear if we had them before we lost much of them. Indeed we seem to follow the Confucius philosophy, respecting our parents, but relations in families and communities seem to be weaker while everyone is focused on surviving in the competition, where the survival means promise in materialistic success. Many even do not seem to feel any qualms about taking a morally wrong means to win the race. Using the rule of the survival of the fittest as an excuse to do whatever we want to do, taking advantage of the weak like helpless children and teenagers or those neglected or exploited in poor countries, we might be forgetting that we are human, not animals.

5.    NEWS: Heirs to the Rockefeller family, which made its vast fortune from oil, are to sell investments in fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy.

QUESTIONS:

a.    Do you think this move is significant?

POINTS: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment report, obligation of rich countries, Kyoto protocol

I think the news is fairly significant in terms of softening the impact of global warming. The latest IPCC report seems to indicate that it is too late to stop devastating changes in our lives from happening in the next three decades and yet governments and corporations plan to keep digging fossil fuels. The competition in world economy prevents governments from working together to tackle the problem. Ordinary people are concerned but can do little other than saving and recycling resources in their lives. In this circumstance, powerful people like the Rockefellers deciding to say farewell to the fossil fuels will directly help reduce CO2 emissions and may affect the policy of other entities with potential influence on global warming mitigation.

b.    What else is necessary to help impact the mitigation of the global warming other than huge funds directed to sustainable energies?

POINTS: international cooperation, ongoing oil mining projects, emerging economies, population growth, consumerism, recycling

Inter-governmental cooperation is necessary to solve such a huge and complex problem as global warming. The developing countries should make efforts to reduce emissions while developed countries should assist them using their money and technology. It would be a great improvement if the slated oil productions are cancelled and the money is used to increase sustainable energy sources. More efforts should be made on public education on this issue. As well as promoting reduction, reuse and recycling, it is important to focus on the problem of consumerism, where a lot of oil is used to produce needless products. People cannot change production but can change their consumption. Without demand, companies cannot sell oil-based products.

6.    NEWS: Farmers from across Japan staged a protest in Tokyo on Tuesday over signs that the Japanese government will soon sign on to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership "free-trade" agreement with the U.S. and other nations.

POINTS: democracy, free trade, protectionism, Korean FTA and NAFTA, domestic producers, self-sufficiency, regulations, financial meltdown, social welfare, environment, copy-rights, investor-state disputes (ISD)

QUESTIONS:

a. Who do you think would benefit most from TPP?

Huge international corporations would be the ones that benefit most from TPP. Since the US is the country most of those corporations exist, we could also say the rich people in the US would get the lion’s share. Free trade has been going on between the US and Japan since Admiral Perry ended our national isolation with warships about 150 years ago, but we have been allowed to protect some of our industries and to run our economy in our own patriarchal way, protecting the public good fairly well. TPP can disrupt this system. It could make American insurance companies sue our government for having the universal healthcare system or allowing the same kind of mutual helping funds, taking tax money as compensations and ending good welfare programs. It can force strict piracy laws to protect corporate interests. All in all, corporations with power to sue what are in their way to make profits will benefit at the expense of those without resources under TPP.

b. Would Japanese society drastically change due to the TPP?

The way the TPP negotiation goes seems to symbolize the society after the TPP in place. The TPP has been prepared behind closed doors by the government officials and corporate lawyers, showing that the government and corporations openly ignore democracy. If this attitude is reflected in this so-called agreement, ordinary people in the signatories around the Pacific, including those in the US, would be shamelessly taken advantage of. Mexico has become much poorer and more violent under the same kind of agreement, NAFTA. South Korea call their FTA (Free Trade Agreement) slave trade agreement. Not only farmers who would lose their jobs when cheap imports get rid of their produce from the market but also many people would have the substantial part of their lives changed due to the TPP.

QUESTIONS AND POINTS ON OTHER ISSUES

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