May 21, 2012
Nearly 800 young people took part in Japanese Communist Party Shii Kazuo’s question-and-answer session on May 20 in Osaka City.
A junior high school student who said he has a developmental disorder asked Shii a question regarding a draft of a home education support ordinance which linked developmental disorders to a lack of parental love. The draft’s proposer, Osaka’s local party “Ishin-no-Kai” led by Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru, withdrew it after facing strong criticism from parents and doctors.
“To support disabled people to reach their potential leads to a society which is kind to everyone,” said Shii, adding that education should not be based on competition or maintaining order but should provide an opportunity to guarantee every child’s right to learn.
Asked by a high school student what he wants to do if taking power, Shii said that he wants to improve social security programs without relying on the consumption tax and to create a peaceful Japan without relying on military power.
In answer to a participant who raised concerns over difficulties in finding jobs, Shii raised the following four tasks necessary for better working conditions: turn non-regular jobs into regular jobs; create 1 million to 5 million jobs by eradicating excessively-long working hours and unpaid overtime work; prevent cuts in the number of public servants and their wages; and help develop new growth industries such as in the areas of welfare and renewable energy.
Shii in conclusion said that the classics of scientific socialism written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels provide insightful analyses of capitalism that are relevant to understanding present social conditions. He encouraged young people to read the “intellectual heritage of humanity” and thus broaden their perspectives.
A junior high school student who said he has a developmental disorder asked Shii a question regarding a draft of a home education support ordinance which linked developmental disorders to a lack of parental love. The draft’s proposer, Osaka’s local party “Ishin-no-Kai” led by Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru, withdrew it after facing strong criticism from parents and doctors.
“To support disabled people to reach their potential leads to a society which is kind to everyone,” said Shii, adding that education should not be based on competition or maintaining order but should provide an opportunity to guarantee every child’s right to learn.
Asked by a high school student what he wants to do if taking power, Shii said that he wants to improve social security programs without relying on the consumption tax and to create a peaceful Japan without relying on military power.
In answer to a participant who raised concerns over difficulties in finding jobs, Shii raised the following four tasks necessary for better working conditions: turn non-regular jobs into regular jobs; create 1 million to 5 million jobs by eradicating excessively-long working hours and unpaid overtime work; prevent cuts in the number of public servants and their wages; and help develop new growth industries such as in the areas of welfare and renewable energy.
Shii in conclusion said that the classics of scientific socialism written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels provide insightful analyses of capitalism that are relevant to understanding present social conditions. He encouraged young people to read the “intellectual heritage of humanity” and thus broaden their perspectives.
