Death Reveals Harsh Side of a (Welfare) ‘Model’ in Japan

[RamboLiberal]

In a thin notebook discovered along with a man’s partly mummified corpse this summer was a detailed account of his last days, recording his hunger pangs, his drop in weight and, above all, his dream of eating a rice ball, a snack sold for about $1 in convenience stores across the country.

“3 a.m. This human being hasn’t eaten in 10 days but is still alive,” he wrote. “I want to eat rice. I want to eat a rice ball.”

These were not the last words of a hiker lost in the wilderness, but those of a 52-year-old urban welfare recipient whose benefits had been cut off. And his case was not the first here.

One man has died in each of the last three years in this city in western Japan, apparently of starvation, after his welfare application was refused or his benefits cut off. Unable to buy food, all three men wasted away for months inside their homes, where their bodies were eventually found.

Only the most recent death drew nationwide attention, however, because of the diary, which has embarrassed city officials who initially defended their handling of the case and even described it as “model.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/asia/12japan.html?hp

[kurth]

1. "Those in need are not citizens. Only those who pay taxes are citizens.”

WTF.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Some of these Japanese officials would make good Republicans n/t

[iamjoy]

3. It's A Model For Republicans

and a warning for Democrats who would play along.

They would say the lazy old bum should have worked harder to buy his own rice ball.