Comments on the first half of 2009

It's been a week since my last update. Rather shameful, I think.

Anyways, it's time to rant. This is an interesting time in my life, and coincidentally, human history. After the decadent 90s, and the brainless, apathetic first 8 years of the 00's, this economic crisis has shaken society to its foundations- I like to think of it as an 'economic hangover'.

Danger lies ahead. Of course, since Obama was elected, we're supposed to be hopeful for the future, expecting change, but it's interesting to see how quickly his popularity has sank in the first couple of months of his presidency.

On the other hand, the situation in the rest of the world looks shady, with things looking as if they could either lead to human emancipation or annihilation. I'm just going to run down the list of areas in which the inter-imperialist or counter-imperialist struggles are intensifying.

- The Afghanistan/Pakistani Conflict: I'm not exactly a huge fan of the Taliban, but anything is preferable to U.S. occupation. What is interesting, though, is how the conflict is gradually spilling out into the Pakistani countryside. With the Pakistani government looking fragile and largely unpopular amongst its' own citizens (probably because they can see it's nothing but a tool of western imperialism), things could get quite interesting.

In the event of a governmental collapse, it seems there are several ways things could play out- Of course, there's the possibility of a hardline Taliban government, which might garner a lot of support due to it's opposition to the great powers meddling in local politics, but at the same time, Pakistan is much more urbanized and industrialized than Afghanistan, meaning that the collective consciousness of the people is marginally more secular (industrialization gradually breaks down cultural conservatism).

On the other hand, there's also the possibility of a milder Islamic anti-imperialist or perhaps even a nationalist movement taking power. I myself prefer this option, seeing as such a government may not view more progressive organizations (socialists, communists) as their main enemy, due to their common goal of anti-imperialism, and therefore may make strategic alliances with them in order to completely expel U.S. influence from the area.

- The DPRK: I'm not excited about the situation in this region. I wholeheartedly support the DPRK, but I'm extremely worried; their closest allies, China and Russia, seem to have abandoned them, joining the western powers in voting for increased sanctions.

I want to slap the entire Chinese government in the face. 35 years ago, the PRC, even though it was pursuing a social-imperialist policy with regards to the third world, at least paid lip service to anti-imperial and colonial struggles. It looks like that's all gone out the window- they are indistinguishable from the western capitalists.

Well, actually, I'll give them some credit- as far as capitalist swine go, they are far better at what they do than Washington and Europe, probably because their political discourse isn't swamped with loonies who believe the best way to adapt to the conditions of the 21st century is to cling ever tighter to the ideals enshrined in a ancient document intended for 18th-century agrarian society.

But anyways, back on subject. I'm just crossing my fingers that the DPRK can hold on. I know that sooner or later, the U.S. is going to try to pick a fight with them, and the big question is what course of action Russia and China are going to take. If they join in, all I can say is that they're dishonorable bastards, even by imperialist standards- stooping to the level of the U.S. as far as betraying smaller states that used to be friendly with you goes (Iraq, anyone?).

If they don't join in, things become a lot more hopeful. The U.S. is a decaying empire, but still puffed up with hubris. Our media keeps echoing the same refrain- that the DPRK is militarily incompetent- using old equipment- that we'd crush them within weeks like Fall Weiss. I say that's a load of bullshit. If there's any military that is incompetent, it is the U.S. military, overstretched, overconfident, unable to win conflicts against ragtag militias in Iraq and Afghanistan. They haven't been involved in a full-scale conflict against a regular military in ages, whereas the DPRK has been on war footing constantlly since the end of the Korean War. The people of the United States are divided, cynical, and apathetic, whereas the North Koreans look to be as unified and imbued with revolutionary Songun spirit (to use their words) as always.

Of course I don't know for sure about any of this, because of the secretive nature of the DPRK (I can't say I blame them, considering the amount of pressure they're under), but I think this is another case of hubris getting the best of the U.S. After all, we told ourselves that the Vietnamese, Afghans, Iraqis... etc. would be pushovers, right?


I'm tired of writing, as of now, and I think I'm going to go for a jog. I suppose the next couple of entries will follow a similar format, with me giving my $0.02 on the various regions of the world where things look poised to intensify.