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https://worldlife.jp/archives/19374
Hi!
This is Jiro.
Japan’s new prime minister has a very high approval rate: 71%. This number worries me.
I recently read a book by Hannah Arendt, a German philosopher. She wrote about the trial of Adolf Eichmann. He was one of the main people who killed 4.5 to 6 million Jews during World War II.
Her book first made me feel sad. She talked about “the banality of evil.” This means that you don’t need to be a special person to do terrible things. Criminals are often ordinary people, just like you and me. Eichmann was an ordinary man. (Arendt says you must be great to do good things, but not to do bad things.)
This means anyone can do evil acts. This made me feel hopeless.
But Arendt also gave me hope. She wrote about people who fought against dictators. She said, “One man will always be left alive to tell the story.”
Many people helped Jews survive during World War II. In Denmark and Italy, government workers refused to follow orders from Berlin. Some worked very slowly. Some gave secret information to Jewish people. Because of this, tens of thousands of Jews survived.
Why am I worried about the high approval rate? Because dictatorships can start easily. This can happen even when political leaders seem like good people. We must always remember this danger.
Reading English books opens a window to the world and to history. You can learn about different ideas while sitting at home in Japan.
So please continue learning English (and other languages). I hope you will read English books someday! Happy learning!
私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。
アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員