Why can't Japan cope with poverty?

While the Japanese government is preoccupied with such lofty issues as patriotism, defense and individual loyalty to the state, the society it supposedly nurtures is spiraling down in a cycle of class deprivation.

On May 18, the Lower House of the Diet passed legislation requiring schools to teach patriotism. Let us hope that patriotic blusterers and the jingoes of pride will not drown out calls for an equitable and just society.