Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Threat of Warships on an "Island of World Peace"

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Threat of Warships on an "Island of World Peace"

Click here to access article by Noam Chomsky from Truthout.

In these troubled waters, the Jeju base would host up to 20 American and South Korean warships, including submarines, aircraft carriers and destroyers, several of which would be fitted with the Aegis ballistic-missile defense system.

For the United States, the base’s purpose is to project force toward China – and to provide a forward operating installation in the event of a military conflict. The last thing the world needs is brinksmanship between the U.S. and China.

You won't see any news of this in US ruling class media. While our schools, welfare, and community programs are being slashed to the bone, guess where all the money is going? More military bases to insure that the Empire's ruling class can rule supreme!

After the conclusion of WWII in the Pacific, the Korean people who suffered so much under Japanese colonial rule desperately wanted total independence. Instead, what they got was US hegemony who used former Japanese political operatives and their Korean collaborators to serve US imperial interests. That was what the Korean War was all about. If you wish to know more about this little understood war, I highly recommend that you read at least volume one of the two volumes entitled, The Origins of the Korean War by Bruce Cumings.