> Japan has not yet taken responsibility for it's aggression in WW2. What do
> you think Japan would need to do to take responsibility? do you think Japan
> needs to take action? explain why...

I question the whole process of "taking responsibility."  Those who dwell on
the mistakes of the past become morbid and self-destructive.  Individuals as
well as societies must move ahead in a postiive direction, not focus on past
injuries.  The best way to compensate for past mistakes is to arrange things
so that they will not happen again.  The best way for vicitims to deal
with past injuries is to put those injuries behind them and focus on a
postive approach to the future.  A healthy way to deal with past mistakes
might be to note what happened, but then to emphasize the social
institutions that have been installed to prevent those mistakes from
occurring again.  To punish oneself or others as compensation for the past
is really a way of keeping the past and its resentments alive.

> How productive can dialogue be in
> finding a resolution?

Probably not at all.  The path to resolution is forgiveness -- by victims of
their abusers, and by abusers of themselves.  To exact retribution only
keeps the abuse alive, and is really a form of "an eye for an eye."  And as
Gandhi said, An eye for an eye, and the whole world becomes blind.

> should the U.S. take responsibility for having enslaved
> African Americans by paying reparations to maje up for the oppressive
> conditions their forebears endured?

Absolutely not, for the reasons stated above.  The U. S. has already taken
responsibility for having enslaved hyphenated Americans by making it
impossible for that to happen again.  It is now time for hyphenated Americans to
drop the hyphen and assume their place as fully American.  Sometimes specific
compensation is justified for those individuals actually injured by
government action.  But to give compensation to later generations who are no
longer personally subject to the abuses their forebears endured is just a
way of extorting tribute from persons who were not personally responsible
for the abuses.

> what are some controversial issues that
> our society is facing today?

All issues resolve themselves into matters of fairness and justice.  But
defining fairness and justice is crucial.