これはＮＨＫで昨日放送していた番組のキャプチャ画像です。
今回の衆議院総選挙を前にした、ＮＨＫの世論調査結果だそうです。
This is a picture captured from NHK yesterday which shows the results of an NHK opinion poll conducted just before the election.
「重視する政策は？」という質問に対する回答は以下の通り。
Responses to the question “Which issues are the most important to you?” are as follows:
景気対策 Economic issues 31％
社会保障制度の見直し Reform of social security 27％
財政再建 Government fiscal policies 12%
原発への対応 Handling of nuclear reactors 9%
外交・安全保障 Foreign affairs and national security 7%
震災復興 Earthquake reconstruction 4%
やはり上位３つを経済問題が占めています。アメリカで同じ世論調査をやっても、恐らく似たような結果になると思います。いくら重要性が高くても、面倒でよく分からない問題を「大衆」は重視しません。目先の損得勘定に左右されるのが人間の本能ですからね。
As expected, the top three issues are economic. If the same poll were taken in America, I think it would probably yield the same results. No matter how actually important an issue is, if the general population finds it troublesome or hard to understand, then it is not rated highly. People instinctively are influenced by perceived short-term loss or gain.
しかし、もし他国に侵略されてしまったら、景気、社会保障、財政再建など何の意味もありません。現在の生活の全ての前提が破壊されるからです。だから目先の損得よりも、安全保障の方がはるかに重要ですよね？
But if the country were invaded by another country, the economy, social security, and government fiscal conditions would be meaningless. Our present lives would be completely destroyed. Therefore, wouldn’t you agree that national security is actually far more important than perceived short-term loss or gain?
それでも大衆は目先の損得で動きます。だからこそ日本や米国のような民主主義国家は、大衆の多数決で政策を決める「直接民主主義」を採用しないのです。様々な問題の重要性や優先順位を総合的に考えられるプロを、選挙を通じて選択し、彼らに政治を任せる「間接民主主義」を採用するわけです。
Nevertheless, the general population is swayed by short-term loss or gain. It is for precisely this reason that democratic countries like Japan and the United States do not carry out “direct democracy” where all policies are decided directly by a general vote of the population. Instead, we practice “representative democracy” or “indirect democracy” where we elect professionals who can sort out and prioritize the various issues to represent us, and then we leave it up to those professionals to create the best policies.
早く無責任な「大衆」から卒業し、「外交・安全保障」の重要性に気付く人がもっと増えて欲しいです。今月の衆議院選挙では、皆様の賢明な選択に期待しております。
Still, I would like to see a substantial increase in the number of people who can progress from irresponsibility to a good understanding of this importance of foreign affairs and national security. I sincerely hope that you will all make wise choices in the national lower house election to be held this month.