Category: International

Graveyard of Empires- Part III

In my last column Graveyard of Empires- Part II, I wrote “I’d wager heavily on the American supported Afghan government collapsing followed by a period of turmoil and infighting.”  I was right on the money although the speed of the collapse was surprising. 

The Afghanistan Governments fall in 2021 was eerily reminiscent of The Taliban’s fall in 2001 but it is simply the way Afghanistan is- huge swings in momentum are the norm .  What’s important to remember about Afghanistan- is that there are so many factions and ethnic groups which are constantly pulling together and ripping apart in a constant kaleidoscope of changing alliances depending on evolving circumstances.  There is no such thing as strange bedfellows in Afghan politics.   

After 9/11, all the warlords, tribal chiefs, and players of note knew the hammer was going to drop.  Support for the Taliban ebbed away as the various power brokers defected in the face of American money, airpower and fury.  It was a no brainer for most.  Momentum swung decisively behind the American backed Northern Alliance. The diehard Taliban fought and died and those who survived fled to their home turf in Southern Afghanistan to regroup and await the ebb tide.  

But the Americans overstayed their welcome and if anything can unite the disparate peoples of Afghanistan, it’s an outsider.  It took 20 years of constant low level warfare for that tide to turn but as it did, The Taliban surged forward.  There was no sense of Afghanistan as a nation and hence no motivation for the average soldier in the Afghan National Army to fight.  Plus, The Taliban were offering money to join or go home.

What happens next?  Well, I suspect the Taliban gorged and will be quite busy trying to consolidate their territory and power.  Do they call a traditional Jirga, an assembly of representatives of tribes and people, in an attempt to forge some kind of permanent peace deal with autonomy for the various groups or do The Taliban try to purge all the collaborators who can’t escape, rollback women’s rights, and continue the persecution of minority sects and people?  

If they go the first route, then there’s a chance a peaceful equilibrium to develop organically from within Afghanistan.  There are signs of hope that this may be the case.  When they took over in 1996, they seized the former Communist Leader of Afghanistan from a UN compound, tortured him, castrated him and then dragged his body through the city.  In contrast, former President Karazai recently met with Taliban officials for political talks.  Also, The Taliban executed the leader of ISIS in Afghanistan but as far as I know, no other high profile figures. 

If they go the second route, then their quick takeover will come to bite them in the ass.  The Afghan National Army deserted, it was not destroyed and all those men remain potential fighters. They may not have fought for the idea of Afghanistan, but I’d wager they’d fight for their village, home, sect or ethnic group.  The tighter The Taliban clench their fist and centralize control, the more resistance they will create opening up options for President Biden.

 
Anti-Taliban elements are already regrouping in the areas which had been the domains of The Northern Alliance while in the cities, there are protests in cities against the uncouth rule of The Taliban.  If the Taliban are going to be replaced militarily or changed politically, its going to come from a home grown movement such as these.  This plays into one of America’s traditional strengths- throwing money behind different players to advance it’s agenda.    

The one silver lining in the whole Afghanistan debacle was the introduction of girls education.  After two decades of American influence, the genie is out of the bottle and may play a moderating influence in the near future but we must nurture that seed. To that end must open dialogue with more moderate factions of The Taliban.  Who are The Taliban more likely to listen to- Al Qaeda extremists from abroad who broke the law of Pashtuli, causing The Taliban to lose power and 20 years of war or their wives, daughters and mothers?  Let us not forget the 19th amendment was passed in the USA because a mother told her son in the Tennessee state legislature to vote for ratification.  

What matters now is the new facts on the ground and having a working relationship with The Taliban.  Traditionally, most of the killing starts when the routing occurs.  I haven’t heard or seen wide scale killing and looking at the airport, there is chaos from people fleeing but not chaos from The Taliban going in to butcher everyone.  The recent attack on the airport highlights this, it was an ISIS attack, not a Taliban attack.  The lack of Taliban attacks is a signal to America- let’s keep dialogue open and hopefully a sign of Taliban moderation.  Or it could just be a ploy to get the Americans out before the bloodletting begins.   

It’s important to remember the ancient Indian idea of Rajamandala.  It holds that bordering states are most likely to be hostile while states with no shared border are friendly states.  Afghanistan is in a rough neighborhood with stronger powers pushing their own agendas while America, being so far away, has the most minimal of interests in Central Asia, namely don’t attack us again.  It took twenty years for America and Vietnam to establish relations following The Fall of Saigon but in Afghan politics, there are no strange bedfellows.

Aircraft Carrier- Korea’s White Elephant

In previous centuries, white elephants were a status symbol in Southeast Asia. Monarchs were keen on possessing white elephants because they symbolized the power and justness of his rule while also signaling that the lands were blessed with peace and prosperity.

Eventually, white elephants began to be given by monarchs to sideline their potential rivals. The elephant served as a mark of the monarch’s favor but at the same time, the upkeep costs and time dedicated to maintaining the elephant meant the recipient had little time or money left for political maneuvering and scheming.

In more modern times, the term white elephant has come to mean an expensive project which fails to deliver or becomes very expensive to maintain.

I can’t help but feel South Korea’s decision to obtain an aircraft carrier will prove to be a modern day example of a white elephant. Before I delve into that, let’s take a brief look in history for other examples.

Prior to World War I, there was a revolution in naval warfare with the advent of the Dreadnought class battleships in 1906. They became the mark of great powers and if you didn’t have them, then you were “falling behind.”

Well, sure enough, Austria-Hungary, a nation which was falling from the rank of great powers, spent heavily on Dreadnoughts to maintain appearances. During WWI, the Dreadnoughts accomplished naught for Austria-Hungary despite the enormous resources dedicated to building and maintaining the ships.

By World War II in 1939, Dreadnoughts, which required huge investments in technology, money, labor and men, were obsolete thanks to the advent of the aircraft carrier although battleships were still being built. At Pearl Harbor, the weakness of battleships was demonstrated because carrier-based planes could cripple much of the American Fleet while the Japanese carriers were hundreds of miles away.

Let’s move on to the aftermath of WWII. Following the war, Great Britain emerged from the war battered but still standing. However, the resources devoted to defeating Nazi Germany meant that Great Britain was a “great power” only because the USSR and the U.S. treated it as such. In reality, its best days were behind it.

A British government document from the 1950s explained that without nuclear weapons “… we would sacrifice immediately and in perpetuity our position as a first-class power … have to rely on the whim of the United States for the effectiveness of the whole basis of our strategy.”

The decision to obtain nuclear weapons was made and by 1952 the British possessed a nuclear capability, ostensibly giving it the freedom to act independently of the United States. However, the weapons did not prove as useful as anticipated as would soon be seen.

In 1956, Britain, acting in conjunction with Israel and France, seized the Suez Canal from Egypt. The British and French were forced to withdraw by American and Soviet pressure despite Britain being in possession of nuclear weapons.

I can’t help but feel as if Korea’s desire to obtain an aircraft carrier is more the result of a desire for national prestige rather than any overriding need. Specifically, with Japan commissioning two aircraft carriers in 2015 and 2017 while China has also been on a carrier building spree. Korea feels that without this symbol of national prestige, it will look weak.

However, this is not a race Korea should be entering. Simply looking at the size of Japan and China’s economy and population when compared to South Korea should give it pause from entering the race. It’s not an expense South Korea can bear as easily nor is it crucial to national survival.

Simply looking at geography should highlight the limited use of an aircraft carrier for Korea. Aircraft carriers are mainly used for force projection and are best used in the wide open expanses of the ocean where they can hide in the vastness. Korea has China to one side and Japan to the other ― these constricted waters are far from ideal for an aircraft carrier to operate in.

Furthermore, it’s widely held that three carriers are needed for a viable carrier force. One to be cruising the oceans, one preparing to cruise the oceans and a third undergoing maintenance and repairs after its voyage.

Does Korea really want to expend resources on two more carriers which will have a limited usefulness when the primary threat South Korea faces is a land invasion from North Korea?

From my readings on the issue, it appears the intended role is for the carrier to provide a mobile platform in case of a surprise attack on South Korean air force bases by North Korea. To me, that seems a pretty weak reason. North Korea’s economy can’t support a long drawn-out war let alone knock out South Korea with a surprise attack.

Korea itself is essentially an unsinkable aircraft carrier. If Korea wants to ensure that its planes aren’t knocked out at its known airbases, then it should look to utilize its mountainous terrain and take a page from the North Korean playbook on autarky.

North Korea has recognized its weakness and used complex tunnel networks in its mountains to protect its armed forces from bombing. A South Korean network of secret tunnels for its planes might not be a glamorous symbol of national prestige like an aircraft carrier but it’s much more practical for South Korea.

When I studied in South Korea at Sungkyunkwan a decade ago, one of my professors introduced the Korean saying “when the whales fight, the shrimp suffers” to me. Korea should recognize its limitations and plan accordingly rather than attempting to swim with the whales.

An aircraft carrier might be a symbol of national pride but with the advent of anti-ship missile technology, the usefulness of aircraft carriers has diminished like the battleships of a previous era. I can’t help but feel that South Korea should seriously re-evaluate its decision to acquire an aircraft carrier.

An Unholy Abomination

By Alex Gratzek

One technological issue facing America and the world at large today is the threat posed by algorithms. These algorithms, when coupled with Facebook and YouTube, pose a threat to public civil discourse in America and by extension, to democracy itself.

Platforms such as these are eager to keep users online and engaged as long as possible. Being corporations, their motive is to maximize profits, with any thought of public service a distant second at best. To this end, they use algorithms to promote similar but slightly more extreme videos or conspiracy theories, aiding in the delusions of those who go down that rabbit hole. Once down that rabbit hole, it’s hard to escape from it.

Algorithms need to be tweaked to present a more balanced and nuanced view of topics. If one were to end up watching a video exploring the supposed merits of the Flat Earth Theory, then the next video should point out every inane aspect of the Flat Earth Theory instead of promoting more flat earth videos.

These algorithms send the viewer into the rabbit hole of more conspiracy theories. Here, in the most delusional recesses of the internet, an unholy abomination has been born. It reminds me of the alien-monster in the 1982 John Carpenter classic “The Thing.” In the movie, an alien life form is able to absorb and imitate other life forms, becoming an abominable amalgamation of multiple animals.

The abomination is the new conspiracy theory group Q-Anon. Some of its adherents are running for office and they make the fringe 2010 Tea Party look sane by comparison. One can only hope that all the Q-Anon linked candidates get crushed in the election to prevent the “none-sense” from becoming established in mainstream American political discourse.

However, as much as I can hope, I won’t hold my breath. The sad part is, the promise of all the world’s information and knowledge at one’s fingertips has not played out as expected. The advent of so much information has made it nearly impossible to find “the truth.”

Every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane can make a YouTube video espousing views that the coronavirus is linked to 5G, that Obama was born in Kenya, that the world is secretly controlled by lizard people ― or that the world is really controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles who are lizard people ― that Bill Gates is trying to control us via microchips implanted in us by an as of yet uncreated vaccine, that George Soros is secretly financing Antifa to overthrow the government and subordinate America to the U.N. or that Goya Beans are the best bean product on the market today or other utter nonsense.

Sending people down these rabbit holes brings them into contact with other like-minded individuals who are prone to conspiracy theories, so you have the confluence of flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, 5G and corona conspiracy theorists leading to the bastard abomination of a conspiracy theory represented by Q-Anon. It hasn’t yet met a conspiracy theory it can’t co-opt into its grand pantheon of nonsense.

In the olden days, the crazies would stereotypically be dirty hobos or homeless people eating cans of beans while carrying around cardboard signs proclaiming the imminent demise of the world. People would steer clear.

Now, every person who spouts conspiracy theories can find other like-minded people on the internet who, other than their fervent excuses for conspiracy theories, appear to be normal, making these conspiracy theories more palatable to the main stream.

To successfully battle this would likely mean less clicks, likes, views, ratings, an uproar about “muzzling free speech” and by extension a hit on profits, but it will keep the foundations of society on solid ground.

This should be paramount to tech companies as a strong societal foundation will ensure future profits, but the problem with the American version of capitalism is its emphasis on immediate monetary gain above all else. Companies should be free to pursue profits but not at the expense of societies’ health

As an example, Facebook has rightly been under close scrutiny for its role in running deliberately misleading or outright false political ads. When a legitimate company like Facebook runs blatantly misleading or false ads, it only serves to legitimize “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” and may I dare add delusional, which has become increasingly prevalent in America.

The fact that Facebook is running such ads is horrifying. During World War II, Goebbels, Hitler’s chief of propaganda, said “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” With Facebook incessantly bombarding its users with false or misleading information, the threat of lies becoming truth to many increases. Many already are taking these conspiracy theories as truth.

Instead of tackling real issues, time is being spent and wasted on birtherism, face masks and other rubbish. Algorithms need to be redesigned to ensure contrasting views are exposed to people instead of other conspiracies or similar but increasingly extreme like-minded videos.

Coming Collapse: Part 2

In my first Coming Collapse piece which was published in The Korea Times, I wrote how the coming of man was the harbinger of death for megafauna around the world in prehistoric times.  As man’s technological prowess has improved, so has his ability to wrought destruction on the finely tuned planet we call home, Earth.

Over the last few decades, the size of fish caught off of Florida and around the world has shrunk.  Why?  Because man has overexploited fisheries to such an extent that we are causing natural selection at an accelerated rate.  Big fish make good trophies for the wall or a hearty dinner while smaller fish are thrown back to pass on their DNA.  

The same goes for lobsters.  It used to be common to catch specimens which weighed several pounds.  Now, lobsters are caught as soon as they come of age and are no longer protected by regulations.  1 pound lobsters are the new norm while in olden times they would be considered runts.  

New technologies have allowed for the oceans to be over conquered exploited.  Knowing man’s insatiable desire for protein, it isn’t inconceivable to think that oceanic ecosystems will be affected.  The acidification of ocean water is already underway due to the use of fossil fuels and this will inevitably distort the status quo if not outright causing oceanic ecosystems to collapse while microplastics and plastics are increasingly abundant.  

As human kind destroys the Earth, there is a growing chorus calling for man to spread to the stars and colonize other planets like Mars.  One such voice is Elon Musk of the Company Space X.  Also, in a similar vein, Senator Rand Paul called for the terraforming of Mars in order to make it eventually suitable for human habitation.  This is crazy talk.

On Earth, where 7 billion plus humans live, Senator Rand Paul denies that climate change is an issue or could be caused by humans yet he calls for man made climate change on alien planets.  He is so close but yet completely unaware of his hypocrisy and absurdity.

In the early 90’s, man tried to create an artificial enclosed Earth in an attempt to experiment with the practicality of living in small enclosed areas in space.  The experiment was the biodome project.  The project tried to mimic Earth’s various ecosystems to replicate Earth in an enclosed environment with different ecosystems represented.  

However, the experiment failed.  As mentioned, Earth took billions of years to evolve to its current state.  To think man can imitate such a complex wonder is a testament to man’s hubris and delusions of grandeur.  

To point out one problem, the trees in the biodome would not grow.  Why not?  To grow upright and strong, trees need wind.  Without wind, they grow weak and droopy.  Despite all of man’s technological prowess, we can’t grow trees in an enclosed environment and we can’t grow wood in a lab.  There are some things man will never master.

Now people are acting like parasites on the Earth.  We have conquered nature, throwing off the natural order of things, upsetting the finely tuned equilibrium of Earth.  As we change the Earth’s equilibrium, we have no idea what the new equilibrium will be but as a betting man, I’d wager it wouldn’t be as conducive to human kind as it is now.  The point I am trying to make is we have a finely tuned planet that supports us. Instead of looking to space for a new home, we should take care of the one we have now which is perfectly suited for us.

Only when mankind can live in harmony with the Earth should we look towards outer space for future colonies.  Until then, anything established is likely doomed to failure.  Let’s turn to the colonization of the Americas for a historical perspective.

The Norse colonized Iceland successfully and then unsuccessfully attempted the colonization of Greenland along with forays to North America.  The colony on Iceland succeeded but the ones in Greenland failed while the forays to North America were never intended as permanent settlements.  Why?

Iceland, Denmark and Norway lacked the population base and resources to support Greenland Colonies let alone even more remote colonies in North America.  They were simply too far, isolated and the colonizers were bringing European ways with them which were unsuited to the new ecosystems to which they found themselves.  They survived for a while but eventually withered on the vine and went extinct as the Earth’s climate cooled during the so-called Little Ice Age.

If colonies were established on Mars, they’d need massive support and supplies from Earth to become established and continued support thereafter.  If we destroy Earth’s ability to sustain us, which looks increasingly likely, any colony on Mars would wither and die.  It’s best for humans to focus on taking care of our current home rather than looking dreamily towards the stars for our species salvation.  

Political Progression

By Alex Gratzek- Originally published in The Korea Times.

Over the centuries, a positive development among international relations and domestic politics has been the increased respect of the sanctity of diplomats and political opponents from harm.

In ancient times, diplomats were sometimes harmed or molested, but not always. During the Persian-Greek Wars, the Spartans threw two Persian diplomats down a well as depicted in the movie “300.”

Later, having ascribed their bad luck to these misdeeds, the Spartans sent two of their elder statesmen to the Persian shah as a kind of sacrificial lamb in order to wipe away their “bad juju.” The shah sent them back to Sparta as he did not want the bad juju associated with killing diplomats.

In medieval times, the great khan of the Mongols, Ghenghis Khan, sent diplomatic and trade envoys to the Khwarezm Empire. They were killed by a local governor. The great khan sent another envoy demanding the ruler of the empire punish the responsible governor and make amends.

The emperor chopped off two of their heads and sent the third envoy to report the tale. The Khwarezm Empire and the emperor were both soon ended by the scourge of god for the violation of diplomatic sanctity.

In the times of the Roman Empire, political struggles usually ended in the slaughter of the opponent and his supporters. Think of the first triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. It ended in bloodshed.

The second triumvirate of Augustus Caesar, Marc Antony and Leipidus also ended in bloodshed with Antony and Cleopatra dead. The junior partner in the trimuarative, Lepidus, eventually died of old age.

When his death was announced, it took Romans by surprise that he had not been killed in civil strife decades before. Leipidus’s survival till old age was an exception to the rule of slaughtering your enemies and crucifying your opponents.

Even in more modern times, the sparing of political opponents hasn’t always been the norm. In czarist Russian times, one claimant to the throne during the Time of Troubles was lucky to escape with his life to political exile in the desolate frigid wastes of Archangel. Other losers of political struggles were broken on the wheel, tortured, strangled or met other horrible fates.

During the time of Stalin, millions of citizens were sent to the gulags but Stalin also destroyed every possible opponent in the Soviet hierarchy multiple times over. He moved on the leftists under Trotsky and then the rightists under Bukharin, eliminating them by using the precursor to the KGB, the NKVD. At the time of his death in 1953, Stalin was preparing yet another purge against his supposed enemies.

However, his death interrupted the planned purge and his successor was Kruschev. Following the debacle and loss of face during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kruschev’s opponents in the Politburo organized a coup and forced him from power into a comfortable exile into a country dacha rather than the wholesale indiscriminate purges as in Stalin’s times.

That new reality, that “Now everything is different. The fear is gone, and we can talk as equals” was perhaps one of his greatest contributions to the Soviet system.

However, since then Russia has regressed. During the Cold War, spying was a natural part of the game. Spies would be captured and later traded away for spies captured from the other side. Now, President Vladimir Putin is steadily sending FSB agents, the successor to the KGB abroad in order to kill opponents in violation of the unwritten rules.

In North Korea, political opponents are still killed as was seen with the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. While in China, political opponents of President Xi Jinping have been driven from the party and imprisoned.

On the flipside, you have seen a great political progression in South Korea. In previous decades, it seemed as if street fighting was the only form of political protest which would be heeded. However, South Korea has shown itself to be a well-developed, mature and established democracy following the peaceful protests that led to Park Geun-hye’s removal from office and her eventual imprisonment for corruption.

In America, it seems that politics are regressing. President Donald Trump has threatened to imprison his enemies, made a statement which could be interpretated as asking for the second amendment people to take care of Hillary Clinton and has used the power of his office to harass his political opponents.

Hopefully this proves to be a temporary aberration, just a Trumpian phenomenon which will not take root in the American political system. I would hate to see America on the same level as North Korea, China and Russia when it comes to the treatment of diplomatic and political opponents. God willing, America can keep it together a few more months and the trajectory to a shit hole nation can be arrested.

Reformation 2.0

America has traditionally been a very religious country.  In recent time however, the religiosity of Americans has been declining.  The last twenty years has seen a drop in Church attendance and only 50% of Americans now belong to a Mosque, Temple or Church according to a 2018 Gallup poll.  Despite this decrease in regular attendance, 77% of American still identify with some religion but are not affiliated with or attending specific houses of worship.  

On the other end, Clergymen are graying as the calling to serve religious orders has not been heeded by the younger generations in American society when compared to those who came before.  Being a Priest or Pastor is simply becoming less and less attractive as a career option.  This is especially true of Catholics.  This article will initially deal with an issue facing The Catholic Church before turning towards an issue which affect all religions across the board.  

These two issues, declining attendance and a graying of religious figures pose a threat to Religious institutions within America.  As American’s attend religious services more sparingly, the risk becomes that Shepherds will not have a flock to tend or there will be a flock but not enough shepherds to cater to their spiritual needs.  

Americans are increasingly having no religious preference and this is reflected in the declining rate of Americans who regularly attend religious services.  This points to the declining importance and influence of religious institutions in America. 

In short, Americans are becoming less religious, attending religious services less regularly, increasingly less affiliated with Houses of Worship and all this translates into an decreasing relevance in modern society.  In order to stay pertinent in society, there is a need for a reformation of religious institutions to make them more relevant to today’s society.  The two are not completely incompatible but they can be at odds. 

Before I delve into some of the issues confronting Churches today, I think it’s necessary to look at issues through a historical lens.  Christianity is one of the defining features upon which Western Civilization was built.  However, as Western Society advanced and the importance of science increased, there was a corresponding decline in the relevance of the Church.

The Catholic Church forbids its priests and other clergy from marrying.  This is a Church tradition, not actual Dogma, which precludes priests from having a spouse.  The First Pope, Peter, was married while it remains disputed what the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus was.

Historically, there was no issue with Priests marrying.  The Eastern Orthodox Church allows its clergy members to marry while the Roman Catholic Church denies its clergy this opportunity.  The split between the two occurred in 1054.  It is time for this to change in order for the Catholic Church to stay relevant in society.

One of the historical reasons for the forced abstinence of Priests was the poverty of The Church.  Europe was a very poor area, it’s priests were not supported by the Pope in Rome but rather by the tithings of local villagers.  The poverty meant that there was a push against Priests having wives and the accompanying kids as this would simply increase the burden placed on locals.  It was also feared that a Priest might be inclined to leave property to his children.  

This ban on marriage only arose around the 1000’s so it’s quite evident that this was not a teaching of Jesus but something which arose much later.  Recently, the Catholic Church allowed for Priests to marry in remote areas of the Amazon because of the dearth of priests in the area.  

The celibacy of Priests meet it often attracted gay men.  Gay men, confused about their sexuality, were drawn to the Church as many believed that they would find guidance from God. One survey amongst priests found “While there’s a glut of homoerotic writings from priests going back to the Middle Ages, obtaining an accurate count is tough. But most surveys (which, due to the sensitivity of the subject, admiittedly suffer from limited samples and other design issues) find between 15 percent and 50 percent of U.S. priests are gay, which is much greater than the 3.8 percent of people who identify as LGBTQ in the general population.”

Likewise, the Catholic Church also attracted its fair share of pedophiles as the Priests were in a position of authority and had a great opportunity to groom altar boys for their own devious desires.  It goes without saying that this is not a blanket assessment of all priests but to dismiss it out of hand is an attempt to squelch a needed conversation.

With the legalization of Gay Marriage, the stigma which has long plagued them is coming to an end.  Society is moving towards the acceptance of gays and The Church needs to move along with the mainstream of society.  If Gay men want to serve as priests with their husbands or men in traditional unions want to serve, The Catholic Church should welcome them or enjoy it’s continual slide into irrelevance.   

By allowing for Priests to marry, it will open the doors to a number of people who might otherwise consider joining the priesthood but decline because of their sexual desires.  Afterall, celibacy does not come naturally to the human species nor is it reflected in the original teachings of Jesus nor in the sexual conduct of celibate priests.  The Roman Catholic Church is slowly dying; either it will continue to do so or change and evolve.  This need to evolve to stay in touch with the times is applicable to all religious institutions 

In today’s society, the younger generation is increasingly focused on social justice issues and the development of more equitable societies.  This harkens back to the earliest teachings of Jesus which churches of all denominations need to adapt to this new focus.  This is especially important because older Americans are the ones who are more likely to regularly attend Church.  As they die off, younger Americans are not replacing them in the Pews because they find that the Church is not relevant to their lives.

Churches should not measure their success by the contributions collected, how packed services are or other traditional parameters but instead return to their root work, helping the disadvantaged, poor, sick and those at the margins of society.  This should be the yardstick by which Churches are judged.

As the world changes, Churches need to change with it in order to stay relevant.  The Catholic Church has survived since the Fall of the Roman Empire by constantly evolving.  As society evolves at an ever quickening pace, it becomes paramount for The Church to adapt itself to new realities.

Although young people are increasingly secular and atheist in outlook, their values are coming to promote social justice and equality which are the underlying teachings of Jesus.  Churches should work in tandem with like minded young people, even if they aren’t religiously inclined because of the good which can arise from servicing marginalized communities.  Doing good might just be enough to put fresh butts in the pews.  

Soured:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/04/how-the-catholic-priesthood-became-a-haven-for-many-gay-men.html

The Impossible Task

Alex Gratzek June 3, 2020

Looking around America today, you see a nation in disarray.  You see an inept governmental response to Covid.  When I was in jail, all my Chinese cellmates were to a degree nationalistic and would proclaim China numba 1.  When it came to Covid, they were happy to see America as number 1 in regards to Covid.  

You got Covid spreading across America leading to a quarantine, a loss of work accompanied by hard economic times, then you throw on the continual killing of black men by Police and you have the recipe for the protests we see.  I see the catalyst as the killing of George Floyd but the underlying kindling had been accumulating for decades.  

After the 1967/1968 riots, a government report recommended pursuing socio-economic reforms, basically to give everyone a larger stake in society but these recommendations were half heartedly pursued before being left bereft of funding.  One initiative which remains is the Head Start Program.  This was covered in the New York Times on June 2, 2020.  

The current protests are just the continuation of realizing the impossible task as laid out by The Founding Fathers, the creation of a more perfect union.  When the constitution was created, it was evident that the underlying issue would be slavery and in order to create the Union, slavery was infamously compromised over in order to bridge the chasm between the free Northern States and the slave owning Southern States. 

The contradiction between The Constitution proclaiming we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and the 3/5 ‘s compromise were stark and unbridgeable.   Maybe it was their genius, or maybe it was simply all they could do, but the founding fathers seemingly left a loophole with the pursuit of a more perfect union.

The original sin of America will stain our nation’s history forever like Stalins Gulags, the rape of Nanking by the Japanese, the Holocaust in Germany but the difference is those were seemingly one time events while ours is a continuing presence.  The issue of America’s creation has always been how to achieve the ideal which in practical terms remains so elusive.  The creation of a free equal society where justice and opportunity are blind while racism and bigotry is exiled.  

Looking around the world, many of our allies are just disappointed as evidenced by the struggling of Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to articulate his thoughts on what’s going on in the United States.  Allied leaders of the G-7 are reluctant to attend Trump’s meeting in DC while the Chinese are having a field day mocking the USA for its treatment of protesters.  They flipped the tables on the US which had been criticizing China for the same actions aimed at protesters in Hong Kong who are seeking increased democracy.  

The wounds stemming from slavery, lingering institutional racism, lack of economic opportunities and other woes plaguing our country are eagerly being exploited by Russia, China and used by less dictatorships and authoritarian leaders around the world to justify their actions.  China and Russia know that sitting dominating the Western Hemisphere, America is in an unassailable position rendering it invulnerable to conventional invasion.  Knowing this, they seek to attack the one place they can, the soft underbelly of American society, its societal cohesion, by exploiting its internal divisions in order to weaken us in order to have a free hand to pursue their own devious machinations, see Hong Kong.  

After all, Russian influence in the 2016 election was disproportionately aimed at African-Americans in order to dampen enthusiasm for voting and create a lower turn out.  It’s a card they have been playing since the Cold War but this time the resources Russia devoted to interfering in America’s 2016 election are paying off handsomely.

America has a whole series of underlying issues it needs to address.  The creation of a more perfect union is an impossible task but that doesn’t mean we should give up in despair.  Ever so slowly things are changing in America and after seeing the ugliness emanating from the White House, most American’s agree Trump’s vision of a more perfect union is a dystopian future of hell on Earth.  

I hope American can hold on until November to get this bloated babbling bastard out of the White House.  Only then will America begin to repair the damage done by President Trump and continue on it’s Sisyphean task of creating a more perfect Union.  I hope one day America will achieve it’s elusive dream but for now, I just hope American can hold it together. 

Death knell of Trump’s Re-election

In late May, America surpassed the 100,000 mark of confirmed Corona cases.  Over 30 million Americans have found themselves out of work as a result of the pandemic and the stock market has remained relatively buoyant all things considered.  This is of paramount importance to President Trump as the economy and the stock market were to serve as the winning issue for his re-election campaign.  

Despite all the issues confronting the nation, President Trump has remained extremely popular with his base and with the fanataical support of his base, the possibility of squeaking out an electoral college victory remains.

However, whatever chances he has for re-election will be going to the wind in the near future as the reality of Corona sets in.  His base has decried the threat posed by Corona as being overly hyped up or even dismissed it as a democratic hoax to undermine the President’s re-election campaign.  Simply put, the full effects of it have yet to be felt in rural America.  

In Medieval Times, The Bubonic Plague spread from the steppes of Asia westwards.  The plague was carried by fleas on rats which spread to countries along the Mediterranean Seaboard via merchant vessels.  After reaching port cities, the plague was spread inland by the rats.  

In modern times, viruses and plagues aren’t spread by merchant vessels anymore but instead by international travelers.  The virus naturally entered America through large cities such as New York and Los Angeles.  From there, the Corona Virus is spreading outwards.  

The nature of America’s citizens will help spread the virus.  America is a very individualistic country, distrust of the government is a quintessential American trait and cars are ubiquitous.  All of these components, when coupled with the low rate of testing in America, likely means the virus will incubate and explode again in hot spots around the country.  

Social distancing guidelines, mask wearing and quarantining were all encouraged and as a result Corona cases in New York have been falling.  However, the lifting of restrictions before the virus was fully contained means it will spread throughout the rest of the country leading to Corona breakouts hitting parts of the nation that are more inclined to support President Trump.

Trump country is characterized by being rural areas.  This should provide a natural defense against the transmission of the Corona virus due to the low population densities but the disregard of basic precautions will help to undermine this benefit.

Trump country, as I noted, have been dismissive of the CoronaVirus.  Social distancing is frowned upon, wearing masks has been met with ridicule, and other basic precautions have been dismissed as the response to Corona has turned into a flashpoint in the cultural wars.  

When further outbreaks occur, the rural areas which support Trump will be among the hardest hit.  Their disregard for basic precautions means it will spread fast and when the reality sets in, it will be too late.  Rural hospitals have been shutting down in recent years due to budgetary concerns and those hospitals which remain do not have the specialization and resources of their brethren located in population dense areas.  

The thing with Corona is that it is an open ended crises which will dominate the news and our reality for the indefinite future.  The Mueller investigation and Trump’s Impeachment were both affairs which ultimately had an ending.  This is not the case with Corona.  The ‘hoax’ that is Corona will be exposed as a reality, the economy will take further hits as the country opens up per-maturely and the inept government response will be put on full display.  It is not something which can be outlasted, ignored or simply blustered over as has been Trump’s modus operandi.

Initially, when it was affecting Blue States, it was ‘the other’ who was being affected but red states will increasingly be affected.  Over Memorial Day weekend, there was video of a massive pool party in Arkansas with nobody wearing masks.  That is the exact behavior which will spread the virus among the innards of America, AKA Trump Country.  As Trump’s election campaign begins in earnest, his and his supporters’ denial of Corona will cause it to spread like wildfire once he starts holding his massive re-election rallies in which basic prevention behaviors are ignored.

As the virus spreads, deaths will increase and the reality of CoronaVirus will hit home.  Older voters, traditionally a strong bastion of support for Trump,  will die at higher rates.  The ineptness of the government response will be shown and I suspect this will lead to a lack of enthusiasm amongst Trump’s base at a minimum or an outright defection to the democrats.

Trump’s low approval rating, the inept government response along with the realization that the CoronaVirus is no hoax is going to lead to a walloping come November 2020.  As a betting man, I am actually putting my money where my mouth is.

A Wasted Crises

A common refrain in politics is so never let a good crisis go to waste.  As a Political neophyte, President Trump can be excused from being aware of this saying and attempting to ensure some good emerges from the aftermath of the Corona Debacle.  

The problem with Trump and the Republicans is that they have nothing to offer as far as new ideas for America.  It has become the party of NO and the only thing they push for is increased tax cuts and deregulation- neither of which is in the interest of the majority of Americans let alone at this point in time.  

On Health care, the Republican idea is to destroy Obamacare.  On the environment, deregulation to allow polluters to poison America’s land, water and air.  For social security, cuts.  Taxes?  Cuts for the wealthy.  

Instead of using the Pandemic as a means to draw Americans together in order to overcome the obstacle, President Trump has continued to play politics laying blame on President Obama and stoking divisiveness.  When former President Bush spoke in generic terms on the need for America unity, President Trump lashed out at him as if it were a personal attack instead of a call for unity.

After 9/11, President Bush took the time to unify Americans against the threat posed by Islamic extremists.  During the Great Recession, he took efforts to minimize effects stemming from its ripple effects via the bailout.   

FDR dealt with the double whammy of the Great Depression and The Second World War- from these crises came the modern American social safety net along with American economic and military preeminence following the conclusion of The Second World War.  

President Truman picked up when FDR died and found America and The Soviet Union eyeing each other warily.  President Truman used the threat of Soviet domination as a rallying cry to wring more funds from Congress in order to finance America’s efforts to contain the Soviet Union.

Furtherback, Abraham Lincoln used the secession of the South to abolish slavery, create a stronger and more unified Union, oversaw the economic expansion of the United States and generally leave America stronger than when he took over.

Instead of learning from his predecessors, President Trump has so far only sought to use Corona as a means to divide America by stoking the culture wars which have plagued America for the last few decades.  Instead of encouraging people to continue quarantining and wearing masks and taking other basic steps to battle Corona, President Trump has been fanning the cultural wars by encouraging people to demand that their states be reopened, to hell with Corona and the dangers it poses.  

Former Presidents had a vision of the more perfect Union they wanted and worked towards it.  Trump only has the thought of the economy and his own re-election on his mind rather than Americans struggling now and the future well being of Americsa.

Despite surrounding himself with ‘the best people’ it looks like Trump will let this crisis pass with nothing to show for the many thousands of lives lost except for more American carnage and internal turmoil.  

At this point, Corona has killed more people than the VietCong in Vietnam.  However, the domestic social upheaval caused by the Vietnam War did result in badly needed social reforms.  

I would like to see some good come out of Corna such as a respect for labor and a strengthened working class, a green new deal, an expanded social safety net, or frankly anything which seeks to turn this tragedy into a positive.

A great leader would rise up to the challenge posed by Corona and leave America in a stronger position.  A passable leader would combat corona and maintain America’s status quo.  Instead we have Trump whose inept policies are threatening the foundation on which America’s greatness is built; namely its economic superiority, global leadership, moral high ground and social cohesion.

Capitalism: Dueling Legacies

Originally published in The Korea Times on January 19th, 2020.

One of the issues I have been writing about is the issue of capitalism in the modern world. Probably because it is the driving force in society. Whatever the answer, it’s a topic that deserves to be thought of and discussed.

The specific issue I want to address in this article is the excess wealth capitalism has created. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, received over $65 million in compensation for his work in 2018. This amount is 1,424 times the median pay of a Disney worker. In the 1950s, CEOs made an average of 20 times more than the average worker.

Capitalism, the system which basically runs our society, has done well for society. It has produced great winners and generally lifted the wellbeing of people all around the world. One of its side effects, which is becoming more pronounced, is the concentrated accumulation of wealth in the highest stratum of society.

The way I see it, there are dueling legacies concerning what to do with this wealth. For one, there are those like the Koch Brothers, the Walton family of Walmart, whose desire is to pass money down to their offspring and their vested interests. Their legacy would be limited to ensuring their descendants were comfortable rather than having a legacy which benefits mankind as a whole.

On the other hand are people like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Robert F. Smith, recent benefactor to the 2019 Graduating Class of Morehouse College. The legacy they aim to hand down is the legacy of their gratitude, monuments, donations for the betterment and benefit of society and leaving their name in a positive light as their legacy ― a la the Carnegies or Alfred Nobel.

In Carnegie’s case, his wealth helped the building, creation and financing of a number of institutions, buildings and schools. All bear his name and his contributions to his fellow man. His generosity and foundations continue to bear fruit for the benefit of humanity.

Nobel saw an obituary written for himself after his death was falsely reported. The obituary castigated him for being an agent of death and destruction because of his invention of TNT. This negative legacy prompted him to put the wealth he derived from TNT to finance the Nobel Prizes which continue on to this day.

Today’s capitalist winners face a different problem. Capitalism has produced great wealth but also resulted in the rumblings of discontent. Today’s uber-wealthy face two choices: spread the wealth to limit the excesses of capitalism or try to perpetuate their exalted status to their children.

The way I see it, there are two outcomes. A, we continue along our merry way as is, with average people getting more and more upset as the inequality gap widens, running the risk of social upheaval. Maybe the uber-rich, being secluded from the struggles of average people in their cocoons of wealth, think they can ride out any upheaval due to their privilege.

Or B, use some of the vast wealth created by capitalism to ensure a modicum of living standards for all.

What I find especially appealing is the route Gates and Buffet have taken with their fortunes, the Giving Pledge. In this pledge, uber-rich individuals pledge to give away over half of their money. I love it because it marries capitalism with the wellbeing of society.

These guys didn’t make their fortunes through blind luck or stupidity. They are incredibly intelligent individuals whose main concern is creating a better world. That means, these guys are not going to throw their money away in ineffectual pursuits. Rather, they will use their money wisely, see what works and what doesn’t and continue to use money in a wise manner rather than the government which can spend money in an inefficient manner.

As successful businessmen, they have more wealth than they know what to do with. They can look around the world and see which issues need to be addressed and pledge money to researching and solving or alleviating these issues. They will look at and attempt to solve but in a pragmatic fashion. The problem with governmental approaches is they are too slow to turn the ship around because there are so many vested interests.

On the other hand, you have uber-rich individuals whose main focus is to ensure their offspring retain an exalted status. It seems their idea is to perpetuate a permanent class of idle rich who have absolutely no relation to the struggles of regular people. Maybe they think the ills of society don’t affect their wellbeing because of the sheer amount of wealth.

However, if they think they can escape catastrophes such as plagues, famines, global warming or the increasing rate of species extinction around the world, then they have another thing coming. As the poet John Donne once said, “No man is an island.” The more the uber-rich attempt to escape their responsibility to society, which created the foundation for their wealth, the worse it will eventually be for all members of society.

One just needs to look at the development of the British political system compared to France before the French Revolution. The British elite gradually extended the right to vote and other benefits to all stratums of society while the French king and nobles attempted to keep benefits solely for themselves. One monarchy survives while the other lost their heads.

Sure the uber-rich could escape off the sinking boat of society to a life raft. However, they would just be stranded at sea alone with no recourse and no safe harbors. Society functions when all members work together, and depends on all members living and working together in a mutual fashion.