Taken very early in the morning, the occupants of the camper got out to greet me as I was composing the photo. The man, a bit older than me, was of Japanese origins and had spent his early childhood imprisoned at Minidoka after his family had been "relocated" from the Puget Sound area. It was truly fascinating, horrifying might be a better term, to learn of the experiences of his family during and after WW II. He and his wife spent a week each autumn greeting visitors to the rather remote site and relating tales of his childhood to the few out-of-season visitors who stopped to examine the barren area where most of the Japanese origin people from the Seattle-Tacoma vicinity were incarcerated . The Visitor Center was closed for the season.

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Nobody with a functioning conscience says you should tell the truth in this situation. But in refusing, you've already conceded everything: honesty is not a value. It is a tool. And like any tool, its worth depends entirely on what it builds or destroys. The rule "be honest" contains no wisdom it is a shortcut that works in ordinary circumstances and catastrophically fails when circumstances stop being ordinary. Honesty is situational, we apply it depending on social profitability.

It Is A No Better Than A Concentration Camp

No one knew that she’s so beautiful No one knew that she’s so beautiful No one knew that she’s so beautiful.

Just finished reading Life After Manzanar, a book following some of the various inmates of the concentration camp after they were released. In a small part it is "feel good," as some, notably the younger inmates, went on to lead fulfilling and productive lives. Others, especially the older inmates, had their lives destroyed, not a few of them dying not long after their release. Most of the incarcerated were long-term residents in the places where they had been arrested although almost none had criminal records, and many were citizens. On release, some went back to hostile, or at best indifferent, communities where they had once lived. Others staked out lives in new places. Wherever they went after 1945, their human and legal rights had been violated, all of the former inmates had been traumatized, and they had been robbed of a significant part of their lives. They had only one characteristic in common, all were members of a despised ethinic group. It is a grim tale but one which proves "it can happen here."