Darling Column
I had some problems with this one, just because of the way his uncle talks. I think the end of my translation is better than the beginning, as I came to better grips with the tone of speech being used, but I can't be bothered to go back and fix it. The very first part of the translation, in particular, might be kind of dodgy.
People who want to make rules
I'm finally introducing my uncle.
You might wonder, while he's talking,
what exactly his problem is with, but
he says he doesn't mind.
-
So, some people want to make rules,
and they're going to make them.
Sometimes you make 'em 'cause you need 'em,
It's not like I don't get that.
But if you make something a rule, will people follow it?
That's the important part.
Even if it's a rule, there are people who won't, right?
You can say that they're bad people, I guess.
People who can't follow it - not much you can do, you can say.
How can you make people follow the rules?
There are punishments, right?
Punish rule-breakers, make them an example.
Then it's scary to break a rule.
And there are some people who will obey because they're afraid,
So if you want to make people obey,
Maybe that's a success.
But if there's a rule that everybody breaks,
then you'd have to punish everybody, right?
Go and arrest everybody, and penalize them.
You might say it's pretty extreme,
that you won't have anybody to arrest people.
In that case, you have to suspect the rules, too.
For these people who can't or won't follow them,
there have to be some rules they can consent to.
I've heard that after the war [WWII], there was a public prosecutor
with a strong sense of justice who rejected rice
because it was from the black market, and starved.
It might be a rumor, or maybe it's true.
Whether it was an impressive and moving story,
or an urban myth cum black humor,
at the time, I can't say.
Maybe he didn't have anybody who could stop him.
I wish there had been somebody to teach him some common sense.
As for me, I can't say that it's a good story.
If you think something like this is wonderful,
then it's "something that everybody should do," right?
"My foot," is what I think of that.
I think the origin of rules
Are people who want to make them, no matter what.
Just one, even a small one.
Schools, society, even countries,
are really better off with just a few, I think.
Well, the very root of rules,
rules that never existed before,
is when they're broken in advance.
If there were no murders in all of human history,
We won't have a rule against it.
That's clear. I know that.
These days,
When there's some kind of problem,
People go back and forth talking about it.
Anyway, somebody makes an opinion,
They start finding faults in this and that,
and after that, we wind up with a rule.
Ancient Egypt left behind the pyramids.
Under emperor Shinshi [?], thousands of miles of the Great Wall were built.
The Eiffel Tower was built for the world fair.
Some people might think there's nothing to be done about it,
but that's what they left behind.
These days, we leave behind rules and manuals.
Anyway, we make all these laws and rules.
And then to make people follow them, or catch people,
it takes mountains of money and people.
"We can solve this problem by making a rule."
There must really be a lot of people who believe that, huh?
What stopped people from peeing outside -
It wasn't because rules were spread,
and It wasn't because people got arrested.
It was because our cities got cleaner,
and there were public bathrooms people could use.
These rules, they set a 'crime,'
and an opposing 'punishment'
on the people who break them.
Where you have these punishments,
there's 'force,' or rather, violence.
And as you add to your rules,
you add to the violence at the same time.
It's true - give it some thought.
Good rules and bad rules,
they both create crimes and punishments.
And once you decide a crime,
to to carry out a punishment, you need power;
power to make people afraid (violence).
I don't wanna say it, but
good rules increase violence, too.
I don't really get it.
I think that only a person with a passive attitude
should be in a place to use and make rules.
Feeling like "we're better off without,"
and working for a day we won't have rules,
is the only way to make them.
That's what I think.
Hm? "You'd have trouble if we didn't have rules"?
Well, maybe I would.
But I bet a lot of my troubles would go away, too.
People who want to make rules
I'm finally introducing my uncle.
You might wonder, while he's talking,
what exactly his problem is with, but
he says he doesn't mind.
-
So, some people want to make rules,
and they're going to make them.
Sometimes you make 'em 'cause you need 'em,
It's not like I don't get that.
But if you make something a rule, will people follow it?
That's the important part.
Even if it's a rule, there are people who won't, right?
You can say that they're bad people, I guess.
People who can't follow it - not much you can do, you can say.
How can you make people follow the rules?
There are punishments, right?
Punish rule-breakers, make them an example.
Then it's scary to break a rule.
And there are some people who will obey because they're afraid,
So if you want to make people obey,
Maybe that's a success.
But if there's a rule that everybody breaks,
then you'd have to punish everybody, right?
Go and arrest everybody, and penalize them.
You might say it's pretty extreme,
that you won't have anybody to arrest people.
In that case, you have to suspect the rules, too.
For these people who can't or won't follow them,
there have to be some rules they can consent to.
I've heard that after the war [WWII], there was a public prosecutor
with a strong sense of justice who rejected rice
because it was from the black market, and starved.
It might be a rumor, or maybe it's true.
Whether it was an impressive and moving story,
or an urban myth cum black humor,
at the time, I can't say.
Maybe he didn't have anybody who could stop him.
I wish there had been somebody to teach him some common sense.
As for me, I can't say that it's a good story.
If you think something like this is wonderful,
then it's "something that everybody should do," right?
"My foot," is what I think of that.
I think the origin of rules
Are people who want to make them, no matter what.
Just one, even a small one.
Schools, society, even countries,
are really better off with just a few, I think.
Well, the very root of rules,
rules that never existed before,
is when they're broken in advance.
If there were no murders in all of human history,
We won't have a rule against it.
That's clear. I know that.
These days,
When there's some kind of problem,
People go back and forth talking about it.
Anyway, somebody makes an opinion,
They start finding faults in this and that,
and after that, we wind up with a rule.
Ancient Egypt left behind the pyramids.
Under emperor Shinshi [?], thousands of miles of the Great Wall were built.
The Eiffel Tower was built for the world fair.
Some people might think there's nothing to be done about it,
but that's what they left behind.
These days, we leave behind rules and manuals.
Anyway, we make all these laws and rules.
And then to make people follow them, or catch people,
it takes mountains of money and people.
"We can solve this problem by making a rule."
There must really be a lot of people who believe that, huh?
What stopped people from peeing outside -
It wasn't because rules were spread,
and It wasn't because people got arrested.
It was because our cities got cleaner,
and there were public bathrooms people could use.
These rules, they set a 'crime,'
and an opposing 'punishment'
on the people who break them.
Where you have these punishments,
there's 'force,' or rather, violence.
And as you add to your rules,
you add to the violence at the same time.
It's true - give it some thought.
Good rules and bad rules,
they both create crimes and punishments.
And once you decide a crime,
to to carry out a punishment, you need power;
power to make people afraid (violence).
I don't wanna say it, but
good rules increase violence, too.
I don't really get it.
I think that only a person with a passive attitude
should be in a place to use and make rules.
Feeling like "we're better off without,"
and working for a day we won't have rules,
is the only way to make them.
That's what I think.
Hm? "You'd have trouble if we didn't have rules"?
Well, maybe I would.
But I bet a lot of my troubles would go away, too.