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WotD: Pork barrel politics
People, Japanese and visitors to Japan, often ask me why I chose to live in the countryside, especially Wakayama.
My answer is dependent on pork barrel politics.
Pork barrel politics is government spending intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support. In the extreme, it’s politicians openly buying votes.
You see, pretty much since the US returned control of Japan to the Japanese after WWII, the same party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has been in power.
Traditionally they have been very strong in countryside areas with many farmers and fishers.
To keep these people happy and voting for the LDP, elected members make sure there is much spending on large publically funded projects to maintain the voters’ happiness and voting for the LDP.
Wakayama prefecture has traditionally been an LDP stronghold.
When you think about countryside areas in North America, you may think of poverty, public services in poor condition, roads with potholes and bridges that have not been appropriately maintained.
Not in Wakayama!
The roads are immaculate, the tunnels are beautiful, the services are abundant, and the people are happy.
Needless to say the people vote for the LDP and are rewarded every year with new projects.
The prefecture of Wakayama does not have a tax base to support such spending, but the people vote for the LDP, so we get pork barrel politics.
For example, Setagaya ward in Tokyo is 58 km² and has a population of 939,099.
Wakayama prefecture is 4,725 km² and has a population of 944,320.
Thanks to pork barrel politics, I can live in Wakayama, take advantage of the excellent infrastructure and go for a 10 km walk but only meet two people.
Crowding is not a problem.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 9th-grade education (age 15).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 54.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.
