Politicians in Japan have consistently failed to offer a compelling or realistic vision for their country’s future or provided the means for sustaining economic growth.

yes/no : YES.

I see!

However, what about America and the spiral of debt and it is China and Japan which owes much of this debt.

I guess the bail out of banks in America and other financial institutions is deemed to be a role model and the same applies to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Kosovo, and other great ventures of chaos and destruction.

Look in the mirror and high crime rates and the ethnic bomb in parts of the south is ticking and you have a narcotics war in Mexico because of drug consumption in America.

But they've very much succeeded in making themselves richer, so it's all OK.

Look, you only have to (involuntarily) listen to J-politician's "hustings" (My name is ____, thank you!) to realise that they really don't have a plan. Somehow they still get elected.

KAMINARIOYAJI - Japan is a corporate state so the political situation is not infringing on the mega-companies which is where the real power is.

I agree with you that Japanese politicians do not have any clear direction; this is obvious because they do not stay in power long enough.

However, I fail to see the direction in America apart from more debt and of course it is China and Japan which holds much of this debt and Japan says little about America manipulating the dollar.

At the same time Hispanic immigration is changing the map and sooner or later traditional power bases are going to clash and the two party system is not helping because of limited diversity.

The narcotic wars in Mexico is because of the high rate of drug usage in America and Europe is beset with many problems also.

I'm amused by people saying the changing demographics in the United States are such a massive problem. I would much rather have a growing population than what Europe, Japan, South Korea, and yes, even China, will be facing in a decade or two when the problems associated with a shrinking population really become apparent.

Being that AEI functions, like Fox News, as de facto propagandists for the GOP, they're very familiar with incompetent politicians.

clive1Jun. 13, 2011 - 11:45PM JST KAMINARIOYAJI I agree with you that Japanese politicians do not have any clear direction; this is obvious because they do not stay in power long enough.

I think you mean to say the most PMs don't hold office long enough to get anything done. While that's certainly debatable, many lower house seats are "inherited" by the children of career politicians, particularly from the LDP.