Seriously, I'm done in with all these tributes. I have plans to spend quality time with my new Kindle reading books that have sat on my wish list for years. Most of the verbiage I've read, or podcasts I've listened to, read or sound like grudging duty - and that's just the Hitchens stuff. I get the distinct impression, most pundits are arriving at their Kim Jong-il quotas knowing full well no one knows what's happening, so why not load up on the rhetoric. But, stick around until the end for what I think is my favorite editorial.<!--more-->
A great deal now depends on what happens inside North Korea. The New York Times quotes an unnamed American military source:
Anyone who tells you they understand what is going to happen is either lying or deceiving himself.
I would be deceiving myself. So I won’t try to tell you I understand what is going to happen. Things to watch for? Whether calm prevails for the next week or so, whether the funeral comes off on December 28 without signs of tension in or with the army, whether the succession to Kim Jong-un is orderly, whether food prices remain more or less stable, whether there are military maneuvers against the South. So far, the announcements out of the North suggest things are under control.
If, that is, you want stability. For those neocons looking for the flimsiest excuse, to go off on a crusade against communism and evil, I give you red meat.
What I think Stanton misses is, that there is no grand ideological set battle, just a very sordid brawl of interest groups. And, Korea has no dog in the pit. There are plenty of ugly human rights embarrassments occurring right now that have no advocate. But, North Koreans have Joshua Stanton.
It's so refreshing to see a Korean man vs. a Korean woman in a contest of arguments, and not have it involve a domestic dispute or a bottle of soju.
So, in a nutshell, it’s a closed country, so we don’t have much information about what’s happening inside North Korea. But what we know is the situation is extremely dire. And we see this sudden change in North Korea, of the death of a leader and the coming of a new leader, as an opportunity for North Koreans themselves, as well as the international community, as well, to see how they both can work together to uplift the people from famine and other abuses.
It's important not to take sides in the Korean struggle for sovereignty, just as it's crucial not to accept this rigid framing between Ahn and Moon. North Korea is no different than a Haiti or a South Sudan. It just doesn't have any friends with money who disagree with the Kim regime.
Spencer Ackerman doesn't buy the KCNA propaganda, or all that "General' crap.
Nicolas Hamisevicz wants you to watch these 10 North Koreans, and figure out for yourself what's happening.
What you can learn from a funeral committee.
Ampontan on the demonstrativeness of the Korean psyche, expressed in the untranslatable term, han. I would add, that, as I regularly participate in family memorial services that seem utterly purposeless and are a complete hassle for the women in the family, ceremonies and public demonstration are very important in South Korean society. Simply put, if it's not seen, it didn't happen.
Doug Bandow has a hard job - just keep arguing to stay out of Korea. The U.S. Secretary of State proved that sometimes a few words mean more than actions.
If you can watch all of this (video) sober, you have more stamina than me.
The Marmot has posted a LOT of (rightie) links here and here (but, be forewarned about the comments sections).
Christina Patterson has some pointed words for the far left:
The people around the world, in London, and New York, and Italy, and Spain, who have been waving placards saying capitalism has failed, might want to remember that the only alternative to capitalism that has so far been developed hasn't done all that well. It hasn't been all that good for people's stomachs, and it hasn't (but it depends on your point of view) been all that good for their minds. And it certainly hasn't been all that good for people who want to pitch tents on other people's property.
Capitalism is certainly in crisis. It certainly needs some serious work to make sure that gaps between rich and poor in the Western world don't keep getting bigger. It needs some hard thinking on financial services, and specialist manufacturing, and tax. But capitalist democracies have, for all their failings, brought their citizens a standard of living most people in the world can only dream of.
It was, of course, a revolution that led to the "socialist" experiment in Russia, and the one in Cuba, and the one in China, before they let the markets in. Perhaps all those people who want to wipe the slate clean should be just a little bit careful what they wish for.
Now, I want to read my Kindle and write some book reviews. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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