From the article of 'Petrel'
No.821 / May 13, 2001

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Koizumi Is Advocating Nationalism Under the Veil of False "Reform"
"Financial Reconstruction" of Koizumi Is Empty Word
He Justified Yasukuni Shrine Worship by Dirty Sophism


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Koizumi made the general policy speech on May 7, and the basic line and policy of this government, "the approval rating" of which was abnormally high, became clear. Though this speech was wrapped up by insubstantial flattering compliments, but, the concrete policy contents were only dwarfish and poor things, that is, let both sexes do work and children rearing hand in hand, he will change all the official cars of government to low pollution car. The rest are only that he will carry out the financial "balance" (it is never the "rebuilding") by stepping "two stages" (in other words, he succeeds the expansion scattering route of Obuchi = Mori for the time being) and will establish "a national strategy conference" under his control. Because he says that it is as if the main contents for the financial balance to demand tax increase to senior citizens, we can know the bottom of his "reform." And just the thing that makes us to confirm the reactionary significance of Koizumi appearance is the uproar of extremely "LDP-like", such as the constitution revision (the "legalization" of the Self Defense Force), justification of the right of collective self-defense, the legal framework for war contingencies, the official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, etc. Is this the true intention of Koizumi "reform"? We will discuss about his fiscal reform of "two stages" and the maneuver of nationalistic "reform" for the present.
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"There is no economic recovery without the structural reformation" ?

A fixed expression of Koizumi is "there is no economic recovery without structural reformation".

It was a slogan of which Koizumi hammered out against Hashimoto, S.Kamei and Asou who insisted to give top priority to "economic recovery" in the presidential election, and which pushed up Koizumi to the Prime Minister.

However, can Koizumi accomplish this "original intention", does he have the courage and the executive ability?

What he wants to say by this slogan will be that the economic stagnation for ten years after the asset-inflated economy not to be able to be a true economic rise without sweeping away and exterminating the "unhealthy" elements which expanded by the asset-inflated economy, which is symbolized by the large amount of nonperforming loan estimated to be 100 or 150 trillions yen that is tormenting banks and companies yet.

In other words, if we let the viewpoint of Koizumi be consistent logically, it will be rather to accomplish a policy of deflation, such as to stop the all company relief policies and inflationary policies by the nation in the future, to shrink national trust and to retrench finance.

We can say it as accomplishment of free competition instead of national conservation.

Accordingly, Koizumi naturally emphasizes the postal privatization and bawls out the "reformation of fiscal structure".

However, as for the privatization, there is not a clear prospect yet (he cheat us by saying to make a advisory council), and the "reformation of fiscal structure" is of "tepidity" one as "I will compress the new issuance of national bonds within 30 trillions yen a year." Besides, Koizumi already retreats from "the pledge" in presidential election and begins to talk the less-than 30 trillions yen as "an effort aim".

It will be clear that such a "reformation of fiscal structure" does not deserve the name of "reform" and rather degenerates to even the present ratification in the deficit financing turned extremely bad as present.

Actually, it is such one as even Miyazawa who led Japan to bankruptcy with irresponsible and sloppy fiscal policy accepts it as an possible prospects, that is, it is non-reform.

If he will try to make a sortie into fiscal reform seriously, he should say at least that he will dispose of the financial deficit and will come back to "the balanced budget" till the half in 1960's.

Then we may recognize the "revolutionary" significance.

However, Koizumi says that it is a present policy to keep down the national debt within less than 30 trillions yen, and promises us to go along to the second step following it and to resume the fiscal balance.

However, this balance theory will be a deceitful talk.

Because he merely says that he "does not rely on new borrowing except repayment of the principal and interest of past borrowing in annual expenditure".

In other words, he still says to rely on borrowing for repayment of conventional borrowing (the national debt) and payment of interest, so he merely declares the continuation of the debt financing instead of the conquest.

To see the budget of this year, the issuance of national bonds (borrowing) occupies 28.3 trillions yen in the annual revenue budget of 82.6 trillions yen, and on the other hand, the repayment of the principal and interest costs of national debt is 17.2 trillions yen in the annual expenditure.

It is what Koizumi says to reduce the difference, 11 trillions yen.

In other words, the national debt will be still issued approximately 17 trillions yen, too.

There is no change in the large borrowing budget.

Besides, the payment of national debt interest is restrained in low level because of the extreme low interest rate, but the money that this country must pay may increase at an unbelievable rate if an interest rate will rise by a little.

Because there have accumulated a large amount of national debt of 400 trillions yen anyway, and Koizumi says not to reduce it as 1 cent.

It is the "financial balance" idea of Koizumi style that borrowing will increase surely at least in the part of the interest of borrowing.

Such a policy does not deserve the name of "financial reconstruction" instead of serious thing at all.

This is a classic "diagram" of failing finance that repeats borrowing in order to pay "high interest". (Because it is an amount of money to reach annually 10 or 20 trillions yen.)

Besides, the bourgeois public opinion is thrown into a panic as they must reduce the budget by 2 trillions yen annually in order to achieve in five years the financial balance of Koizumi style, but "even it is difficult problems".

They think.

How do we execute such a reduced budget on earth?

Great increase of taxation (they must raise the consumption tax in 10%, 20%) or the reduction of national outgo (it is a large rationalization of national mechanism which seems not to be inferior to what the prewar Hamaguchi cabinet had done!).

Deepening of deflation is not avoided anyway.

If they would do such a thing now, the recession would go farther more, the bankruptcy of company succeeds one another, the unemployed increase remarkably, and it might fall in a pale imitation of the "misgovernment" of Hashimoto.

Thus, it is again revealed by the Koizumi's policy that to execute "financial reconstruction" by the government of the Liberal Democratic Party (in other words, the contemporary power of capital) is completely impossible, and that it is empty word.

He justifies Yasukuni Shrine worship by sophism

The one more thing that is characteristic in the Koizumi government is the impulse of nationalism of the Liberal Democratic Party to be swelling by new power, and the reactionary group of the Liberal Democratic Party aims to force a reactionary maneuver all at once behind the "popularity" of the Koizumi cabinet.

And Koizumi oneself leads such a maneuver, so his malicious is considerable.

He knows well that it is the best means to strengthen power in the Liberal Democratic Party to spread nationalism and to behave the leader.

Koizumi spoke about the constitution and the official visit to the Yasukuni Shrine thoroughly standing on the opinion of the reactionary group of the Liberal Democratic Party on April 24 just after selected by the new Prime Minister.

As Koizumi who concluded "policy agreement" with Kamei group just before that and was able to get the seat of the prime minister thereby, might be necessary such a extreme remark of "the Liberal Democratic Party", but it was the true intention of Koizumi.

Koizumi declaring "reform" is thoroughly a person of "the Liberal Democratic Party" and completely agree to, go along with "making the independently-established constitution" (in other words, the worsen of the constitution) that is party principles of the Liberal Democratic Party, the compulsion of Japanese flag / the national anthem of Japan, and "the formal worship" to Yasukuni Shrine.

The reason he contrives to revise the constitution is he thinks that the situation that the Self Defense Force is "understood" as no armed forces by the constitution is not good.

In other words, he accepts that the Self Defense Force is not legal according to the existing constitution, therefore he contrives the worsen of the constitution.

So, does not the government of the Liberal Democratic Party have openly violated the constitution and have brought up the armed forces prohibited by the constitution till now?

In addition, what he is saying about Yasukuni Shrine worship is an argument of substitute itself that seem to reveal the odious true character of him.

"Because the current Japanese prosperity consists on the people who devoted the holy life at the war, is not natural to show the feeling on the day of war dead memorial service?" This is one part of what Koizumi said first after he became the Prime Minister, but we must say the lowest human nature of Koizumi if he can calmly speak such sophism of substitute.

The Japanese "prosperity" after the war -- to see the present stagnation and confusion, we cannot say unconditionally such a thing at all, but we do not bring up the thing now. -- is not the result of the war (the "15 years war" that began from "the Manchurian Incident" of 1931, and was over in 1945) and not by the "sacrifice" of young men of millions who became the victim of the war.

It is wrong from the root if we evaluate the "prosperity" after the war in such a way.

Actually, a huge production capacity such as factory, machinery, and young "work force" were lost by the war, so we can never say that the prosperity after the war was the results of the war if to think it is how big economic loss.

Will Koizumi want to say that Japan was "defended" in exchange for the life of young men, and we were able to sing in praise of prosperity as the result?

There might be persuasive power in this reason a bit if we won the war, but because we were defeated, we can never say that Japan was "defended" by the war.

Besides, we cannot say about the 15 years war that it was the war to "defend" Japan from any other country that attacked Japan.

Actually, it was the war for the profit of large capital, for the ambition of military authorities and fascists, the opposing will and fights of the peoples were repressed by power, they were believed false advertising, and was impelled to the war at last.

Actually, Japan was almost ruined and driven into demise by that "reckless" war done for the ambition of military authorities and fascist, and the profit of large capital (the financial cliques).

Fortunately the allies side was "generous", and Japan was able to come back to the independent country after "occupation" of a few several years, so it is not because Japan carried on war that it was not ruined.

Or will Koizumi shout that Japan cannot continue to exist without carry on war from now on? (As the military authorities and fascist did so in prewar days!)

It is clear that Japan should not be "ruined" without the reactionary war because Japan definitely continues to exist despite it do not carry on war for dozens of years after the war, too .

Though the right-wing spread persecution complex such as Japan broken into war because it "was driven" by America in prewar days, but, however, Japan changed Korea into a colony, tapped into China and made up Manchurian country, in addition, magnified aggression to the China whole land, and attacked to Southeast Asia, so it exacerbated the opposition with America.

It could be an opposition of imperialism, but it was different from having had to "defend" Japan because America attacked it.

In addition, if there would be the Japanese "prosperity" after the war, -- for example, "high economic growth" -- it was fundamentally because of the labor that was carried out strenuously every day by tens of millions of workers and direct producers (farmers), and is nothing to do with the people who died in war.

Rather it may be said if they did not lose their lives by the useless war or if we did not lose the huge production capacity by the war, we were able to gain prosperity more easily, too.

It will be definite that there was not the starvation time after the war, the terrible time as the whole nation went almost to death at least.

Why does not Koizumi say that the dire disaster of war brought just the starvation time after the war?

Bourgeois and the Liberal Democratic Party and right-wing have been bawling and squalling such a falsehood as "their death was not useless, they were sacrificed for Japanese nation and the prosperity" in order to evade the responsibility that they ever provoked America to war, and drove millions of young men to "useless" death.

Koizumi is completely faithful to this "tradition" and is not wrong in the name of reaction.

And he uses sophistry, says loudly whether the Japanese prosperity after the war is depend on the war and the people who fought the war, and thus justifies public worship of Yasukuni Shrine.

This is to try to join intentionally the completely unrelated two things together by sophism, and will be the deception hard to allow.

War is war, and is the huge waste and destruction of production capacity, genocide, and we can never say it is the causes of "prosperity" even though the contrary thing of "prosperity".

It will be a dirty logic of substitute that can be said only by the extreme fascist or militarist that it is prosperity or lead to prosperity.

It will be a thing to teach the reactionary character of Koizumi that he just took out such an assertion.

There is nothing to expect to Koizumi for the worker.

(Translated by Yoshi)