Fukushima's nuclear reactors became Japan's perpetually burning tire-yard fire, they have laid bare the fundamental flaw of Japan's "nanny state": the assumption that "father knows best" and that the public are children incapable of dealing with potentially dangerous situations.

In fact they show the exact opposite. What the phrase "nanny state" is supposed to evoke is the government meddling in things that are none of its business.

But the health of the entire nation and surrounding region ARE its business, and in this instance it was in dereliction of duty by allowing a private corporation to self-regulate and fuck things up without any public accountability.

This is another in a long string of PRIVATE ENTERPRISE catastrophes = Minamata, Bhopal, thalidomide, Eraldin, SMON, the Spanish cooking oil disaster, BSE in humans - which could have been prevented by governments being more effective nannies and just saying STOP to companies that were after a quick buck.