The recent death of Kim Jong Il, dictator of North Korea since the death of his own father Kim Il Sung, sees the transition of political power into the hands of his son, Kim Jong Un. In the months leading up to the death of North Korea's "Dear Leader", Un had been slowly handed over the reigns of government through a series of small military promotions. Consistent with his family legacy, very little is known about Kim Jong Un. Even the year of his birth remains a mystery to outside governments, whose few insights into the pariah that is North Korea comes from either heavily skewed state reports or a handful of political defectors who manage to cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.
There is unlikely to be much of a change in the way the country operates under it's new leader. One of the most isolated nations in the world, North Korea has practiced it's ideology of juch'e, or self-reliance, ever since the communist regime took control of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The result has been one of the worst humanitarian crises of the modern era. What little subsistence the North Korean people rely on is trickled down from foreign aid. The average NK child is 5 inches shorter than his Southern cousins. Illegal trade and black market operations make up a substantial part of the economy. The rest is handled by a corrupt government concerned only with it's own survival.
And yet, through all this, the North Korean people hold nothing but the utmost adoration for their Dear Leader. Jong was credited with keeping the nation protected from the dangerous influnences of foreign nations and with preserving the North Korean way of life. The most isolated nation in the world, North Koreans do not have access to information about the outside world. For them, North Korea is an oasis in a world of chaos.
Historically, this is a nation that has come from a a desperate situation. The people of the Korean peninsula have been exploited throughout their history by both the Chinese dynasties and the incredibly powerful Japanese empire. When the Japanese lost control of the peninsula after the Second World War, the people were divided into two parts along the 38th parallel. The South fell under then protection of the United States; the North into the Soviet sphere. When the Cold War turned hot on the peninsula during the 1950's, it was permanently established that the South would remain under the influence of the liberal Western democracies and the North under the supervision of China and the Soviet Union. The two cultures, though one ethnicity, were split entirely in two.
Despite their corruption and brutality, the North Korean leaders are very skilled politicians. They have made themselves impossible to ignore on the global stage with their acquisition of nuclear arms (though limited in number) and their aggressive maneuvers against the Japanese and South Koreans. The bombing of the Yongoyong Islands in late 2010, in which several South Koreans lost their lives, shows the lengths to which the North will go in it's game of political brinkmanship to secure it's demands from Western powers. Unwilling to provoke China and conscious of the terrible cost of outright war on the North Korea people, the US has had no choice but to talk tough and do very little.
The Kim regime, though boisterous, is still very young and relatively weak. As China rises on the global stage, it will come to see North Korea as more of a burden than a protectorate. As the inevitable trickle of outside media comes to the nation, the inexperienced Un regime may find itself with a "Korean Spring" on it's hands. China may come to it's aid as a fellow authoritarian power, or it may allow the regime to collapse from within. In order to affect China's decisions (as they will surely be worried about the influx of refugees into their northern territories), the US should cooperate with China on opening a dialogue about Korean issues. The Six Party Talks, in which China was allowed to take the lead in negotiation, was a step in the right direction towards a US-China agreed Korean policy. By allowing China maneuverability while simultaneously strengthening our commitment to Japan and South Korea, the US may be able to cut off all aid from North Korea and allow the regime to collapse from within. When this happens, a partnership of Asian nations, along with the US, will be able to assist the North Koreans in a transition to a representative government and stabilizing a very dangerous part of the world.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Societal Imperative for LGBT Rights
When people talk about LGBT rights around the world they have a tendency to frame the debate in emotional, moral, or religious terms. However, think of society as a large multi-functioning organism where each of us is an individual cell.
If 5% percent of the population is not allowed to function as a fully accepted part of society its just bad for the system as a whole. Anti-gay violence and homophobic rhetoric is keeping intelligent, productive members of society from functioning at full capacity and contributing to the progress of the human species for no reason other than personal prejudice. Anti-gay bullying in schools is causing low grades and high rates of depression among intelligent young people. And in many extreme cases, LGBT young people are kicked out of their houses for coming out to their parents.
Homophobia is like a cancer on our society in the most literal sense of the word. It marginalizes people who are fully capable of becoming smart, productive members of our society. It also dismisses the multifaceted nature of every human being and discounts variety of the human experience across every spectrum. There are homosexual people in our society, and it is a phenomena that is not going to disappear. Homosexuals are simply another genetic variety of the human species; one that is fully capable of adapting, surviving, producing, and reproducing. If homophobia is allowed to rage unfettered in human society we will lose a large pool of brilliant, capable people from which to draw.
If 5% percent of the population is not allowed to function as a fully accepted part of society its just bad for the system as a whole. Anti-gay violence and homophobic rhetoric is keeping intelligent, productive members of society from functioning at full capacity and contributing to the progress of the human species for no reason other than personal prejudice. Anti-gay bullying in schools is causing low grades and high rates of depression among intelligent young people. And in many extreme cases, LGBT young people are kicked out of their houses for coming out to their parents.
Homophobia is like a cancer on our society in the most literal sense of the word. It marginalizes people who are fully capable of becoming smart, productive members of our society. It also dismisses the multifaceted nature of every human being and discounts variety of the human experience across every spectrum. There are homosexual people in our society, and it is a phenomena that is not going to disappear. Homosexuals are simply another genetic variety of the human species; one that is fully capable of adapting, surviving, producing, and reproducing. If homophobia is allowed to rage unfettered in human society we will lose a large pool of brilliant, capable people from which to draw.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
What America could learn from China
The rise of China is a controversial issue in the United States, often played upon by American politicians for their own political gains. What is often ignored in all the China fear-mongering, however, is the lessons that the relatively young government of the United States could learn from the resilience of the over 2000 year old Chinese civilization.
What is it exactly that makes America so strong? A popular answer to this question is that America's system of democratic republicanism is inherently so legitimate that it is inevitable that it will lead to a great and powerful nation. A number of factors, however, have allowed America to grow and develop in a way almost completely protected from the woes that plague the rest of the world.
America is protected on both sides by two large oceans. Its closest neighbors are the relatively weak states of Canada and Mexico, both of whose economies depend on continued trade with the United States. There are very few natural barriers to population growth in the continental United States. Most of the country is vast, fertile plains and river valleys; by far the most inhabitable region of North America.
Culturally, America is dominated by a single language and ethnic group. There is little resistance from the lower classes of society because of the incentive of democracy and the promise of the American dream.
China, on the other hand, is surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides. It borders Russia to the north (once the powerful Soviet Union), India to the southwest, the steppes of Mongolia to the west, and most importantly the most powerful Asian empire in history, Japan, by only a small strait to the east. For all of its long history, China has been troubled by ethnic strife and intense regional conflict.
Surprisingly though, China has not only endured for all of these centuries but thrived. Of all civilizations that existed in ancient times (Egypt, Rome, Babylon), China is the only one that remains in modernity. All of this is because of one simple fact: China is one of the most dynamic civilizations in the world. Repeatedly, the Chinese have demonstrated that when a regime does not work to create an ideal society for them, it is overthrown and replaced. Chinese civilizations is undergoing constant renewal and adaptation to the needs of its current situation.
In 1915, Chinese rebels overthrew the corrupt Qing Dynasty. Four decades later, they replaced the Kuomintang government with the Communist Party. And when the doctrine of Mao no longer suited the needs of the people, Deng Xiaopeng instituted a large number of reforms that moved China towards a more capitalistic society. Now, China is set to come back from nearly a century of underperformance to retake its position as one of the most powerful countries in the world.
America is a relatively young nation but is already seeing signs of decline relative to other nations. If America is to survive movements like Occupy Wall Street and the overextension of its military through almost 4 wars in the last decade, it needs to learn to be dynamic and listen to the will of its people. Democracy will only be considered legitimate in the United States as long as it continues to produce results for the majority of the population instead of simply supporting the wellbeing of the very most elite. If the American government does not learn to be dynamic in response to the needs of its citizens, it may very well follow the path of the Qing Dynasty and be written off as merely a footnote in the long record of human history.
What is it exactly that makes America so strong? A popular answer to this question is that America's system of democratic republicanism is inherently so legitimate that it is inevitable that it will lead to a great and powerful nation. A number of factors, however, have allowed America to grow and develop in a way almost completely protected from the woes that plague the rest of the world.
America is protected on both sides by two large oceans. Its closest neighbors are the relatively weak states of Canada and Mexico, both of whose economies depend on continued trade with the United States. There are very few natural barriers to population growth in the continental United States. Most of the country is vast, fertile plains and river valleys; by far the most inhabitable region of North America.
Culturally, America is dominated by a single language and ethnic group. There is little resistance from the lower classes of society because of the incentive of democracy and the promise of the American dream.
China, on the other hand, is surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides. It borders Russia to the north (once the powerful Soviet Union), India to the southwest, the steppes of Mongolia to the west, and most importantly the most powerful Asian empire in history, Japan, by only a small strait to the east. For all of its long history, China has been troubled by ethnic strife and intense regional conflict.
Surprisingly though, China has not only endured for all of these centuries but thrived. Of all civilizations that existed in ancient times (Egypt, Rome, Babylon), China is the only one that remains in modernity. All of this is because of one simple fact: China is one of the most dynamic civilizations in the world. Repeatedly, the Chinese have demonstrated that when a regime does not work to create an ideal society for them, it is overthrown and replaced. Chinese civilizations is undergoing constant renewal and adaptation to the needs of its current situation.
In 1915, Chinese rebels overthrew the corrupt Qing Dynasty. Four decades later, they replaced the Kuomintang government with the Communist Party. And when the doctrine of Mao no longer suited the needs of the people, Deng Xiaopeng instituted a large number of reforms that moved China towards a more capitalistic society. Now, China is set to come back from nearly a century of underperformance to retake its position as one of the most powerful countries in the world.
America is a relatively young nation but is already seeing signs of decline relative to other nations. If America is to survive movements like Occupy Wall Street and the overextension of its military through almost 4 wars in the last decade, it needs to learn to be dynamic and listen to the will of its people. Democracy will only be considered legitimate in the United States as long as it continues to produce results for the majority of the population instead of simply supporting the wellbeing of the very most elite. If the American government does not learn to be dynamic in response to the needs of its citizens, it may very well follow the path of the Qing Dynasty and be written off as merely a footnote in the long record of human history.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Who's missing at Occupy Wall Street?
The protests occurring in the Wall Street financial district have received a surprising amount of media coverage and have undoubtabley left a mark on the political and social psyche of the United States with their outcry against what they see as the excess of the richest one percent of America. The question that is not on the mind of most Americans, however, is who is missing from these protests.
The images brought to mind of those suffering from the financial collapses of the last few years are mostly blue-collar and middle class American workers who saw their savings and mortgages go up in smoke. This view, however, ignores the hundreds of millions around the world who have lost multiple times what middle class America has had to give up at the hands of wall street greed.
The global financial institutions of the world have, since their inception, failed to meet the needs of developing countries who have just begun to be exposed to the raging wave of globalization. Many of these institutions ( the IMF, WTO, and World Bank being the most prominent) are made up of the same people now sitting in Wall Street offices. These men and women have ripped open emerging markets through removal of tariffs, destroyed the livelihood of millions through unfair trade of artificially cheap subsidized foreign imports, and destroyed infrastructure through a series of preconditioned loans that halt development of roads and schools in favor of industrial production.
Only the nascent super-economies of East Asia have been able to escape the cycle through their aggressive refusal of Western interference in internal affairs. The rest of the world, however, has fallen into a sort of pseudo-imperialism in which the richest elements of Western society are profiting exponentially off the unimaginable poverty of millions. Given it's history of colonial exploitation and the continuing way in which foreign interests are manipulating internal affairs, the chaos in Africa should not come as a surprise so much as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extreme excess in advanced industrial nations.
The missing faces amongst the protesters on Wall Street are the impoverished Sri Lankan factory workers, the poor and repressed of Eastern Europe, and the children dying of AIDS in Uganda. In order to understand the revolutionary fervor that has swept the world thirty years after the process of globalization started accelerating, we need to understand the impact that the one percent have had not only on our own countr, but in every corner of the globe.
The images brought to mind of those suffering from the financial collapses of the last few years are mostly blue-collar and middle class American workers who saw their savings and mortgages go up in smoke. This view, however, ignores the hundreds of millions around the world who have lost multiple times what middle class America has had to give up at the hands of wall street greed.
The global financial institutions of the world have, since their inception, failed to meet the needs of developing countries who have just begun to be exposed to the raging wave of globalization. Many of these institutions ( the IMF, WTO, and World Bank being the most prominent) are made up of the same people now sitting in Wall Street offices. These men and women have ripped open emerging markets through removal of tariffs, destroyed the livelihood of millions through unfair trade of artificially cheap subsidized foreign imports, and destroyed infrastructure through a series of preconditioned loans that halt development of roads and schools in favor of industrial production.
Only the nascent super-economies of East Asia have been able to escape the cycle through their aggressive refusal of Western interference in internal affairs. The rest of the world, however, has fallen into a sort of pseudo-imperialism in which the richest elements of Western society are profiting exponentially off the unimaginable poverty of millions. Given it's history of colonial exploitation and the continuing way in which foreign interests are manipulating internal affairs, the chaos in Africa should not come as a surprise so much as a cautionary tale against the dangers of extreme excess in advanced industrial nations.
The missing faces amongst the protesters on Wall Street are the impoverished Sri Lankan factory workers, the poor and repressed of Eastern Europe, and the children dying of AIDS in Uganda. In order to understand the revolutionary fervor that has swept the world thirty years after the process of globalization started accelerating, we need to understand the impact that the one percent have had not only on our own countr, but in every corner of the globe.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Pixelated Revolution
From a historical perspective, the Arab Spring draws many parallels with the wave of republicanism that swept Europe in the late 18th century. The flames that started last year in Tunisia have quickly engulfed a region notorious for its autocratic legacy and history of disunity and repression.
No where has this hysterical wave of democratization been more evident that in the North African country of Libya. While Tunisia is about to hold its first democratic election this month, Libya's bloody revolution has ended in the public execution of Col. Muammar Qaddafi and the repudiation of a decade long dictatorship.
The most striking part of the final coda of the Libyan revolution is the way in which the video footage depicting the violent death of the former dictator found its way onto the public domain of the internet within mere hours. The graphic footage depicts the leader being led through the streets of his hometown by his hair while being subjected to ridicule and taunt.
In contrast to the refusal to allow the pictures of bin Laden's body in the media, the video of Muammar Qaddafi's execution has been viewed by millions around the world. The Arab Spring was begun, organized, and executed by the brilliant use of media and social networking. It is only fitting that its most violent episode should be broadcast for all the world to see.
Is it that we are living in a world were it will be impossible to control the images and sounds that citizens view? Has technology become the seed that gives birth to democratic revolution around the world? This trend will pose serious challenges in the future for authoritarian regimes in China and North Korea. The flames that have engulfed the Arab world may well spread to the entire world.
No where has this hysterical wave of democratization been more evident that in the North African country of Libya. While Tunisia is about to hold its first democratic election this month, Libya's bloody revolution has ended in the public execution of Col. Muammar Qaddafi and the repudiation of a decade long dictatorship.
The most striking part of the final coda of the Libyan revolution is the way in which the video footage depicting the violent death of the former dictator found its way onto the public domain of the internet within mere hours. The graphic footage depicts the leader being led through the streets of his hometown by his hair while being subjected to ridicule and taunt.
In contrast to the refusal to allow the pictures of bin Laden's body in the media, the video of Muammar Qaddafi's execution has been viewed by millions around the world. The Arab Spring was begun, organized, and executed by the brilliant use of media and social networking. It is only fitting that its most violent episode should be broadcast for all the world to see.
Is it that we are living in a world were it will be impossible to control the images and sounds that citizens view? Has technology become the seed that gives birth to democratic revolution around the world? This trend will pose serious challenges in the future for authoritarian regimes in China and North Korea. The flames that have engulfed the Arab world may well spread to the entire world.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Crisis in Japan
The sun appears to be setting, not rising, in Japan these days. Yoshihiko Noda, the new Japanese Premier, has inherited a government that has largely lost the faith of its people. Were it not bad enough that the small island nation suffered a massive earthquake in March and a subsequent nuclear crisis, the country's finances, even prior to the earthquake, are spiraling into out of control debt.
Japan's hegemony in the East Asian region is fast disappearing. With China christening its first aircraft carrier and growing at an impressive sustained rate, Japan, a country with no military and an aging population, has no hard power in the region. Only its ties to the United States and its cultural influence around the world are keeping Japan as a major player in international affairs.
Japan will need to pursue a more demure, austere public policy in the coming decades in order to keep their state afloat. Environmental degradation, crippling debt, and continued reconstruction in the wake of a disaster will require a new direction. Never again will Japan rise to the heights it once held; the Empire of the Rising Sun is soon to be eclipsed by China's sleeping dragon.
Japan's hegemony in the East Asian region is fast disappearing. With China christening its first aircraft carrier and growing at an impressive sustained rate, Japan, a country with no military and an aging population, has no hard power in the region. Only its ties to the United States and its cultural influence around the world are keeping Japan as a major player in international affairs.
Japan will need to pursue a more demure, austere public policy in the coming decades in order to keep their state afloat. Environmental degradation, crippling debt, and continued reconstruction in the wake of a disaster will require a new direction. Never again will Japan rise to the heights it once held; the Empire of the Rising Sun is soon to be eclipsed by China's sleeping dragon.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Turkey: Paradise or Perdition?
Turkey in recent times has often been held up as the model standard of how an Islamic democracy should function. President Abdullah Gul enjoys very high approval ratings and the country's economy is amongst the strongest in the Islamic world.
Why then the attacks perpetrated tonight in the southeastern portion of the country, which the government claims to be the doing of a Kurdish terrorist group? Could it be that this country, so long acting as a stable military partner for the United States, has ethnic and religious tension of its own?
Turkey has been repeatedly denied membership into the European Union. Symbolically, these attacks, deemed Islamic extremist related, come during the holy month of Ramadan. Turkey obviously has some internal resolution ahead of it before it can be fully embraced by Western society.
Why then the attacks perpetrated tonight in the southeastern portion of the country, which the government claims to be the doing of a Kurdish terrorist group? Could it be that this country, so long acting as a stable military partner for the United States, has ethnic and religious tension of its own?
Turkey has been repeatedly denied membership into the European Union. Symbolically, these attacks, deemed Islamic extremist related, come during the holy month of Ramadan. Turkey obviously has some internal resolution ahead of it before it can be fully embraced by Western society.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Debt, Downgrade and Democracy
The stock market plunge of the last week belays the supposed compromise reached on the US debt ceiling but also highlights the instability of trust in US political and economic institutions. While a AA+ rating does not equate the the complete junking of US bonds, the real hit is in the value of confidence in American leadership.
Stark differences in government leadership were proven in the handling of two crises that occurred on opposite ends of the globe. The derailing of a high speed train in eastern China in late July was met head on by the government with a complete blackout of negative media coverage and swift retribution of lower level government transportation officers. The party itself, however, lost very little face; engaging in a relentlessly executed propaganda campaign to silence all dissent before it even had a chance to occur.
Enter the US Congress, where the media circled the party leaders like vultures to a carcass. The drama over the debt ceiling was played out like a family dinner with the parents on the brink of divorce. Several times, Boehner and Obama actually got up and left the discussion in attempts to up the ante in a dangerous poker game where the stakes were the American economy.
At the end of the game, who won the pot? The general consensus is that the American people were not the winners of this contest of political brinkmanship, and the consensus is right if unemployment figures and market values are any indicator. The compromise reached by Congress has nearly nothing to say about unemployment rates or entitlement spending, and the general lack of transparency in the deal will make it hard to scrutinize.
China and the US, the two lions in a room full of hyenas; the question is: which one gets the gazelle? Is China's system of authoritarianism, focus on manufacturing, and artificial manipulation of its currency the way to go? Or will America's freedom of press, democratic tradition, and capitalist leanings keep it at the top? Both systems are working the way they were intended, one with rigorous public debate, one with central planning and control of information. Only time will tell whether the American or Chinese dream will become the reality of the future.
Stark differences in government leadership were proven in the handling of two crises that occurred on opposite ends of the globe. The derailing of a high speed train in eastern China in late July was met head on by the government with a complete blackout of negative media coverage and swift retribution of lower level government transportation officers. The party itself, however, lost very little face; engaging in a relentlessly executed propaganda campaign to silence all dissent before it even had a chance to occur.
Enter the US Congress, where the media circled the party leaders like vultures to a carcass. The drama over the debt ceiling was played out like a family dinner with the parents on the brink of divorce. Several times, Boehner and Obama actually got up and left the discussion in attempts to up the ante in a dangerous poker game where the stakes were the American economy.
At the end of the game, who won the pot? The general consensus is that the American people were not the winners of this contest of political brinkmanship, and the consensus is right if unemployment figures and market values are any indicator. The compromise reached by Congress has nearly nothing to say about unemployment rates or entitlement spending, and the general lack of transparency in the deal will make it hard to scrutinize.
China and the US, the two lions in a room full of hyenas; the question is: which one gets the gazelle? Is China's system of authoritarianism, focus on manufacturing, and artificial manipulation of its currency the way to go? Or will America's freedom of press, democratic tradition, and capitalist leanings keep it at the top? Both systems are working the way they were intended, one with rigorous public debate, one with central planning and control of information. Only time will tell whether the American or Chinese dream will become the reality of the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)