Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Impossible State

North Korea, Past and Future

By Victor Cha

This was an incredibly good exploration into the modern North Korean state. Cha worked in the Bush administration as a diplomat to North Korea so he comes with an incredible depth of knowledge and hands on experience. With the on-going "problems" that North Korea poses to the modern world it is of great importance that we understand what is going on there. Cha does wonderful job exploring the history of South and North Korea, the role that other countries (Japan, China, Russia, US) play with their competing interests in this region, the history of the Kim family and North Korea's own self perception as it has been shaped by the Kim family. This book helped me to make sense of the on-going saga that is North Korea. 

"The cold war era was North Korea's heyday. But if adherence to juche ideology during the cold war was considered a successful practice, the rise of neojuche conservatism today is an act of desperation. It represents a last-gasp effort to define a new legitimacy for the state that has failed miserably in fulfilling its end of the social contract. For reasons discussed in the ensuing pages, North Korea has become a prisoner of its own ideology and its own Cold War successes. Its hope to return to the 'good old days' is severely misplaced. Juche was possible then because of massive inputs from the Soviet Union and China. Even with continued Chinese assistance, it is not possible to sustain today. And yet, the regime knows of no other way to try to justify its continued hold on power. This is an unsustainable situation." Pg 63

"A North Korean propaganda expert B.R. Myers attests, over the course of the past sixty years, through state propaganda, the people of North Korea have been led to believe that they 'are too pure-blooded, and so too virtuous, to survive in this evil world without a great parental leader.'" Pg 73

"This combination of strenuous, unrelenting labor and the meager portions of food prisoners subsist on results in what North Korean human rights expert David Hawk calls 'permanent situations of deliberately contrived semi-starvation.'" Pg. 173

"One can say without prejudice that the Bush administration did more to take on the human rights problems in North Korea than any other administration. . . .His concern for the plight of the people was about as genuine as any human being could have had. His conviction on this issue was deep, as he told Woodward, 'Either you believe in freedom, and want to - and worry about the human condition, or you don't.'" Page 205

"The most significant conventional deterrent is the North's artillery arrayed along the DMZ." Page 219

"All key buildings and palaces are linked with a deep underground network to allow for quick escape if attacked. . . Beneath Kim Il-sung Square reportedly lies a bunker command post large enough to accommodate a hundred thousand men with a fresh-water and ventilation  system, and a thirty-kilometer (19 mi) tunnel that leads out of the cities into nearby mountains." Pg 222

"Pyongyang's devotion of massive amounts of very scarce resources to such projects suggests it actually wants to acquire these capabilities and be accepted by the world as a nuclear weapons state. It is unlikely to be willing to trade them away in return for international acceptance and a peace treaty with the United States." Page 300

"The fourth basic fact is perhaps the most significant and disappointing: despite China's frustration with its poor and pathetic neighbor, it will never abandon it. . . And as the only patron supporting the decrepit regime today, it is, ironically, more powerless than it is omnipotent  because the regime's livelihood is entirely in Chinese hands. It must, therefore, countenance bad DPRK behavior, because any punishment could stabilize the regime. Pyongyang knows this, and deftly leverages its own vulnerability and risk-taking behavior to get sustenance, diplomatic support, and protection from its ambivalent big brother against the South Korean and American 'aggressors.'" Page 317

"Despite making all of the wrong economic decisions throughout its history, the country eked out an existence. Despite propagating and ideology that provides luxury to the Kim family and very little to the rest of the population, the people, even defectors, retain affection for the dynasty. Despite engaging in the most threatening behavior in East Asia, including military attacks and building nuclear weapons, the regime has yet to suffer punishment in the form of retaliation or preemptive strike. In each case the regime has survived, though not through extraordinary shrewd statecraft or policy making  On the contrary, historians will remember North Korea for all the ways not to run a country." Page 429

Book 11

Monday, March 4, 2013

Nexus

By Ramez Naam

Holy mary mother of god. This was quite a book. And a perfect read to finish over a few days and half the world away (I started reading it in San Mateo and finished it in Munich). And I read Nexus on my Nexus.

I will start with the obvious. This is an action packed book from cover to cover. The fight scenes practically leap from the book and smack you on the face. Many of them were so enjoyable, so jaw dropping I had to read them twice. Admittedly, sometimes even three times (just for the cheap thrill). 

The second obvious point is WOW. Where can I get some Nexus? And Nexus with the Buddhist monks? Terribly mind blowing and compelling. And equally scary in the wrong hands. But isn't that just like life? Blow my mind.

On top of these two overwhelming points, Naam writes cleanly, without a lot of extra words, honing in on what he is saying with clarity and precision. I can't believe this is his first work of fiction, but then again he was busy building interfaces with the internet and writing books about biological enhancements so he hasn't really had a lot of time on his hand for pleasure writing.

I hope he also gets credit for introducing sci-fi to transhumans. 

"The sound of the bell was the sound of everything she'd ever tried to communicate." Pg 25

"The Aryan Rising incident (2030) was an attempt to wipe out the bulk of humanity, paving the way for the repopulation of the world by a race of genetically engineered neo-Nazi transhumans." Pg 55

"We must all walk the path ourselves. We must all choose our own karma. We must all allow others to choose their own karma as well." Pg 119

"I would become no better than our masters, and no more effective. No. We're most capable as autonomous beings who choose to come together. Our associations must be voluntary." Pg 141

"Briefing: The Chandler Act (aka the Emerging Technological Threats Act of 2032) is the opening salvo in a new War on Science. To understand the future course of this war, one need only look at the history of the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. Like those two manufactured "wars", this one will be never-ending freedom-destroying, counterproductive and ultimately understood to have caused far more damage than the supposed threat it was aimed at ever could have. Free the Future, 2032" Pg. 147

"Briefing: We find that the Constitution guarantees protections only to human persons. Non-human persons such as those created by the combination of non-human genes with human genes, by the integration of technology that affords non-human abilities, or by any significant deviation from the existing spectrum of human characteristics, are afforded no special protections. As such, Congress and the states may legislate the status of nonhuman persons without regard to the Constitutional protections afforded to humans. Dyson v Department of Homeland Security, Supreme Court of the United States 2036" Page 201

"This court has committed a great crime today. To assert that a living thinking being, of any sort, is deserving of no rights is to ignore the lessons of two hundred and sixty hears of democracy. We invite tyranny, atrocity, and slavery with this judgement." Justice Elena Martinez, Dissent in Dyson v Department of Homeland Security 2036" Pg. 201

"'Imagine a world where it took most of a lifetime to learn to speak, to learn to read or write, where many never even reached that point.' 
Kade closed his eyes, tried to picture it.
'Imagine that you could show people a faster way,' Ananda continued. ' That in a year or two you could show them the basics of language, of literacy.'
Kade imagined.
'Would you do it?' Ananda asked.
'Yes.' Kade replied.
'Even though it would surely be used at times for profanity or vile speech?' 
'Yes.'
'Even though fools might read dangerous things written by bigger fools, might follow their instructions and hurts themselves or others?'
'Yes.' Kade replied
'Even though writing might be used to describe weapons that could be used to kill others?' Ananda asked.
'Yes.' Kade said.
'Even though charasmatic fascists might use the power of speech to stir people up, to incite violence, to stoke hatred, to create war?'
Kade swallowed. 'Yes.?'
'Why?'
'Because I think people would use it for more good than harm.'
'Is that the only reason?'
'And because I think its just good.'" Page 269

"This is the same logic of inhumanity that's been applied in the past to slaves, to women, to Jews, to members of any group which those in power with to persecute. Every attempt through history to limit the definition of humanity has been a prelude to the subjugation, degradation and slaughter of innocents. Every one." Page 308

Book 10