> I think that would be great too--far better than the current
> situation. I can't for the life of me imagine why anybody on the left
> thinks of Japan in even modestly-utopian ways.
Any culture which features some of the highest real wages in the world/ intelligent industrial policies/world-class mass-transit systems/the lowest gap between the rich and poor of any industrialized country/universal health insurance/collective solidarity and assistance can't be all bad.
Plus, they actually bother to count the votes in their elections, unlike some ex-superpowers we could name.
-- Dennis