Monday, November 27, 2006
Siege and Seizure in Korea
No more a left of center liberal? Cindy Sheehan is starting to sound like she is radicalized with a correct understanding of inperialism. We had a local protest in support of the Korean farmers in Daechuri not long ago.
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2 comments:
The irony of what Sheehan did is that she only enjoys the freedom to protest in Korea thanks to the protection given to her (and all of South Korea) by the United States Forces Korea!
I fail to see irony in this at all. Is she somehow "privileged" in that she is allowed to protest empire and occupation by virtue of being a citizen of the empire? Having served in the empire's military myself am I supposed to expect a debt of gratitude from all those exploited under this economic system for having contributed to securing their exploitation?
I suppose to a young person in the U.K. following Korean affairs, but seemingly slavishly devoted to capital and U.S. militarism, it might seem easy to dismiss the Korean peoples' right to self determination. However, just as the repressive Maoist system in the North is a hinderance to the Korean people achieving self emancipation, so is the occupation insuring ongoing vicious neoliberal policies in the South. On your blog you point out examples of prosperity in the South, but where is the mention of all the exploited workers who created that prosperity?
Even the (numerous) Korean television series they show here in Los Angeles are more balanced in terms of the ideologies of North versus South. Unlike the unabashed jingoism and imperial apologetics we see in Stop while you're behind, Sheehan!, they show both sides for what they really are. Unlike any reactionary English U.S. news station, KTV Los Angeles spent days covering the worker protests in the ROK against the recently enacted "Free Trade Agreement" (read neoliberal exploitation), the U.S. recently imposed on them.
I'll chalk it up to your youth, where you insinuate Sheehan's actions are somehow tantamount to supporting Kim Jong-il. Sheehan's standing against empire is admirable, as is her budding, though vulgar, analysis of empire. While you criticize Sheehan's reading list you might want to add one work to your own for a concise understanding of the U.S.: Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
After all you must be a somewhat cool since you read megatokyo.
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