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Imbricated Chaos

Emanuel approaches current events in Asia from multiple perspectives, considering the impact of culture, history, politics, economics and geography.

Imbricated Chaos

In defense of Donald John Trump

Former U.S. President Donald Trump / AFPBy Emanuel PastreichThe lawyers employed by Donald Trump have amassed an impressive pile of arguments to defend him against charges that he incited a mob of his supporters to stage an armed insurrection in the Capitol and to murder people in an effort to stop the selection of his democratically elected opponent. It is not popular in the fickle fairyland of Washington D.C. to defend Donald Trump, let alone to praise him. But at this sad hour in our nation's history, that is precisely what must be done. Sadly, the impeachment trial scheduled for February 9th is unlikely to touch on either the true violations of the Constitution and of Federal law by the Trump administration, nor on Donald Trump's significant accomplishments in office. Like the last impeachment trial of Donald Trump, which focused on ambiguous and amorphous Russian collusion, and left untouched the criminality of the entire executive branch (over which Trump had little control), this trial has one clear purpose: warning all American politicians that the system is ready to tar and

Feb 9, 2021By Emanuel Pastreich
In defense of Donald John Trump
Imbricated Chaos

The nightmare born when technology took the place of science

How the cult of technology murdered science By Emanuel Pastreich Even small children are starting to sense that we live in an age when literally none of the information provided is reliable or believable. Information on a global scale is subject increasingly to Gresham's Law: low-quality information spreads everywhere and the truth is hoarded. What went wrong, and how? Perhaps the original sin was the confusion of science, the philosophical pursuit of the truth through the most accurate processes that man can produce, with technology, the tools, and the systems based on tools, that serve to create an effect or complete a task. Technology is not science. These days the internet and supercomputers that lurk behind it are employed by the rich and powerful to create a virtual reality for us with the intention of deceiving us into believing that technological effects are the truth.If we want to find a way out of this nightmare world, we must first recognize that technology has become the complete opposite of science. Before we develop a smartphone, a satellite system or a supercomputer,

Jan 13, 2021By Emanuel Pastreich
The nightmare born when technology took the place of science
Imbricated Chaos

'Silhak' tradition as a solution to the current geopolitical crisis

By Emanuel Pastreich South Koreans are having tremendous trouble grasping how familiar political and academic institutions in the United States have ceased to function as they once did. Koreans are confused to see Harvard professors promote nonsensical arguments about COVID-19 or to see politicians in Washington D.C. at the highest levels engage in the basest and the most venal games. Most Korean opinion leaders remember fondly the intellectual communities that they joined when they studied at America's best universities back in the 1980s and 1990s. They still have fond conversations with their former professors, who now retired.This intellectual class in Korea, however, must increasingly bend over backwards to avoid seeing the cultural collapse in America that is gaining speed. They read material taken from the New York Times and Washington Post, material then regurgitated in the Korean press and they must control their immediate negative response as they glace on the ridiculous statements by the Americans they once had such respect for. A culture of nostalgia and denial has swept o

Dec 27, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
'Silhak' tradition as a solution to the current geopolitical crisis
Imbricated Chaos

How investment banks encourage America's hidden addiction to petroleum

By Emanuel PastreichI have watched the sad sight of high school students led by Greta Thunberg and other climate activists demanding of political leaders that they change their policies and receiving sorrowful apologies and inspiring promises only to discover, to their surprise, that absolutely nothing has changed in six months, or in a year. This "tragicomedy" is no accident; it is the result of a systematic strategy of misinforming the public through the media and through educational materials as to how policy decisions are made and why we are paralyzed in the face of climate disaster. The truth is that all important decisions are made by banks and corporations, and not by nation states and their governments. The leaders who appear on television have no more impact regarding economic policy than Bozo the clown has over the acts in the three rings at the circus. Let us start with the basics: The global economy has been taken over by a small group of investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, and, above all, the super-rich. The direction of United States policy (and that of other coun

Nov 29, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
How investment banks encourage America's hidden addiction to petroleum
Imbricated Chaos

'I love a good puppet show': My review of US presidential election

This combination of pictures created on Nov. 4 shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., during an election night speech. AFPBy Emanuel PastreichI am not sure what word best describes the events of this week, but the word “election” is most certainly not one of them. Personally, I love a good puppet show, especially one that projects into your living room, whether you want it or not, any number of lies and distortions ― now to such a degree that you cannot trust any of the authority figures. Terms like “progressive” or “conservative” have degenerated into marketing terms that have little or no philosophical or moral basis. And the truth, well the truth is not much of a priority these days. We call it a “good cop, bad cop” routine. It is a standard strategy used to manipulate the target. You, the prisoner, are introduced, in turn, to a good police officer, one who shows sympathy for you, and then to a bad police officer, one who is abusive and hostile. Yo

Nov 5, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
'I love a good puppet show': My review of US presidential election
Imbricated Chaos

Creating a sacred unity of peoples, cultures and nature for the Americas

An American flag flies outside the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C. ReutersBy Emanuel PastreichThe United States of America is a term that contains in it all the hope and all the contradictions of our country, and of the Americas. That hope dates far back in the past, to the inspiring words of the Declaration of Independence that articulated a form of governance that was, at least in terms of its potential, unprecedented.The enslavement of Africans and the attacks on the native nations belied those powerful words "all men are created equal." But the power of those words transcended the limitations of the men who wrote them and echoed around the world. America's contradictions, which we have buried out of shame, continue to hold us back from realizing our potential to be great in word and deed. If we were at last "united" as "states" we could achieve our destiny and find strength in unity. That would require us to recognize not only the shadows that have accompanied the bright light of hope, but also the tremendous wisdom left to us by the original peoples of the Americas. They

Sep 19, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
Creating a sacred unity of peoples, cultures and nature for the Americas
Imbricated Chaos

'We have to think straight and think fast'

By Emanuel PastreichEmanuel PastreichSeventy-five years ago, Japan announced its decision to surrender its armies in East Asia to the United States and the Soviet Union unconditionally and to open up negotiations that would lead to a formal treaty of surrender signed on September 2, 1945, on the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. It was the end of a terrible war and many in the region hoped that some greater order of peace could be established rapidly, one that would fulfill the fervent dreams of those who had battled against imperialism and fascism for so long in every country, including within Japan. But the rays of hope for a new day were mingled with memories of the rays of the rising sun of the Japanese imperial army's battle flag. Much of that negative spirit of militarism was never fully dismantled, but rather was redirected toward industrialization and the worst of that specter simply burrowed into the Japanese system of things. And those rays of hope also overlapped with the bright flash of the atomic bombs the United States dropped on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki, rays of radiation

Aug 15, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
'We have to think straight and think fast'
Imbricated Chaos

The future of the US-South Korea and US-Japan alliances

U.S. President Donald Trump, center, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before a Northeast Asia Security dinner at the U.S. Consulate General in Hamburg. APBy Emanuel PastreichThe recent declaration by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that engagement with China is dead and that cooperation with China has ended in just about every field marks a historic shift. We can already see a massive campaign unfolding to promote suspicion about any interaction with China and a call has gone out for so-called “decoupling” for the United States, but also for its traditional partners in Northeast Asia South Korea and Japan.This campaign must be seen in the context of President Obama's signing of the bill HR 4310 in 2012 that authorizes the use of propaganda against U.S. citizens, thereby ending the restrictions imposed by the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. The recent statements of Secretary Pompeo take this propaganda to a new high, and the wave is entirely bipartisan. Secretary Pompeo said, “If we want to have a free 21st century, t

Aug 9, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
The future of the US-South Korea and US-Japan alliances
Imbricated Chaos

Tear down the DMZ

Emanuel Pastreich stands at Imjingak's Pyeonghwa-Nuri Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, June 25, 2020. Courtesy of Emanuel PastreichBy Emanuel PastreichExactly 70 years ago, the Korean People's Army crossed over from up there and set out to invade, or (as those in the North thought) to liberate, the southern part of Korea. The division into North and South was artificial, a product of the geopolitical struggles between the United States and the Soviet Union that emerged as the consensus on the need for a new international approach to governance that had powered the struggle against fascism faded into the background. The United States and the Soviet Union had worked together as allies against the ruthless fascist push to destroy wide swaths of humanity in the pursuit of profit and against an agenda of eugenics that assumed much of humanity had no rights at all, not even the right to exist. This invasion of the South was not the start of the conflict, but it transformed it. Getting right the historical and cultural significance of what happened 70 years ago is critical to the future of

Jul 26, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
Tear down the DMZ
Imbricated Chaos

'Take a step toward democracy': Why a special election is absolutely necessary

People walk beside the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, with the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument seen behind, in Washington, DC, July 10, 2020. EPABy Emanuel PastreichFew indeed are politicians who start their frequent tributes to our country without a few words about democracy. They do not bat an eye, they do not even fidget, when they praise democracy, even though democracy lies crumpled and bleeding at their feet. Democracy has been constant struggle from the beginning in United States. There most certainly have been moments of democratic brilliance that were inspiring to the world, and an equal number of tragic setbacks. Moreover, many who visited the United States in the past were able to learn something of our practices that helped them back in their own countries. We played a valuable role. Those days are long over. The United States must be the most humble student now, eager to learn from other nations, from thoughtful people around the world about what democracy can be and what it should be. What democracy means in the United States remains an open question. The questi

Jul 12, 2020By Emanuel Pastreich
'Take a step toward democracy': Why a special election is absolutely necessary
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