Work or Die

In Japan, opposition parties like Democratic Party and Communist Party often use the term, "working poor" or "poor difference". "Kakusa", or "poor difference", seems to have been an only slogan which opposition parties can use as a countermeasure to the ruling party. If you stand at the station square in Tokyo for only ten minutes in the morning, you might hear "Kakusa" more than a hundred times. It's nothing but an incantation.
However, you can hardly find "poor difference" in Japan. Although the temporary workers who call themselves "working poor" insist that companies exploit them, most of them earn more than 20 thousand dollars a year. Who is of "working poor"?
If they want to work, it is not so hard to find jobs. Fortunately unlike China or North Korea, there are few people of privileged class who can live on only an unearned income in our country. I know few countries where the difference between poverty and wealth is smaller than Japan. We live in the utopia even communists could never have realized.
Of course I know some people who can afford Ferrari and a super high-end apartment. But they are rare "winners" who have aggressive spirits to make harder efforts than anyone. Harder work makes more money. That's all.
Passive persons have no right to complain about their low income and we, diligent workers, have no obligation to feed them. It is almost equal to re-building a useless nation such as former Soviet Union to support sluggard like NEET.
Work or die. It's quite natural in the world of capitalism. Japan is not an outdated communist state.

Catch the Wind

Unexpected troubles might disturb your pace. The more stable your life is, external pressure might have a bigger influence for it.
However, if a stability of your life brings you a sense of imprisonment to you, you would better catch the wind and take opportunity of it to break mannerism.
Staying where you are is not necessary the safest choice. You always bear a risk of being staggered by unpredictable factors. No matter if what's visible now is favorable or not, you would better move from there.
If you set up your sail, you would advance front, back, or aside. Even if the direction was not the best, you can control a sail and a rudder.

Even Bush Not Eat?

At a dinner party of President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the main dinner was reported roast duck. Aithough some members of the Diet aiming at complete opening of Japanese meat market requested the Whitehouse to let the prime minister eat U.S. beef steak, their demand seems to have been ignored.
It might show us the fact that U.S. Government executive officers know how terrible U.S. beef is. Even President Bush does not eat it.