Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Long, Dirty History of U.S. Warmongering against North Korea

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

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The Long, Dirty History of U.S. Warmongering against North Korea

Click here to access article by Christine Hong from The Progressive.

As the latest North Korea crisis unfolded, and Donald Trump swapped campaign plowshares for post-inauguration swords, Americans took to the streets demanding that the President release his tax returns and then marched for science. There were no mass protests for peace.

Although the substance of Trump’s foreign policy remains opaque, he had campaigned on an “America First” critique of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s liberal interventionism in Libya and, to his own party’s mortification, blasted George W. Bush’s neoconservative adventurism in Iraq.

Once in the White House, though, Trump announced he would boost the U.S. military budget by a staggering $54 billion and cut back on diplomacy, while pushing the United States to the brink of active conflict with North Korea. None of this provoked a major backlash.

From my observations and experience with my fellow Americans, I think the ruling class has been very successful in their campaign to "gaslight" the American public. They have been so bamboozled by the manipulative reports spewed by corporate media about foreign affairs that they no longer pay attention to events happening outside our national boundaries. As a result they are distracted by ongoing coverage by corporate media about Trump's health care bill, efforts to $15/hr minimum wage in various states, or the latest incident involving the police.

I notice that the author made brief reference to Bruce Cumings by quoting a statement from one of his books about the Korean War. I read both volumes of his important study entitled The Origins of the Korean War, and I strongly recommend them. But if you don't have time to read at least volume 1, then I recommend that you view at least the first of a two part interview with him regarding the war that was posted on YouTube in 2011.