A ruling coalition task force agreed Wednesday on a bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education after a compromise was reached on the definition of patriotism.
The bill defines patriotism as "an attitude which respects tradition and culture, loves the nation and homeland that have fostered them, and contributes to international peace and development."
The definition, proposed by Tadamori Oshima, head of the panel tasked with drafting revisions to the law, is a compromise between his Liberal Democratic Party and coalition ally New Komeito.
That is a quote from the Japan Times Online link here (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060413a6.html )
At first blush on reading this I was struck with the controlling attitude of the Government of Japan in its bald faced dictates in teaching this stuff in the public school system, then I re read it and thought on it some more and have decided that the evidence of the cultural cohesiveness in Japan along with its low crime rates and advancements in industry etc might make some sense in exploring it more. Perhaps we in the west could adopt some of these mores in our society, yes, I am aware that we have a much more racially diverse population and yes we have language barriers within our county to overcome but the underlying factor of teaching love of nation over love of self is perhaps not a bad one to emulate even in a small way.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
What do you think?
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