So let me explain why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don't personally have a kid in school. It's because I don't like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people. Best wishes, John Green. In Japan, nationalism meant modernization, largely inspired by and in competition with the West. So the Meiji government established a functioning tax system. They built public infrastructure like harbors and telegraph lines, invested heavily in railroads, and created a uniform national currency. But the dark side of nationalism began to appear early on.