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Monday, January 17, 2011

KILLING NATURE & A CULTURE


Cement is being poured on the rocky coastline in the Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea. They are building a pier to dock Navy ships, including the U.S. Aegis destroyers (built in Bath, Maine). I can't help but wonder if any of the workers in the photo above feel at all conflicted about burying the sea life that lives amongst the rocks?

Just offshore the soft corals abound (recognized by UNESCO as a vital global treasure) and will be severely impacted when they begin dredging in order to make it possible to bring the big nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and other warships into the port. The fishing and sea-diving by the old women of the village will obviously be harmed.

This Navy base, strategically located in the Yellow Sea, will be used by the U.S. Navy to widen its efforts to develop the capability to choke off China's shipping lanes.

The U.S. is simultaneously pushing South Korea and Japan to enter a military alliance that will also be aimed at China.

The whole plan reeks of killing. Not only the violence of war but also the violence that is done to nature and to the human culture. There is no vision here. There is no justice here. There is only the blind obedience to power and greed. The worst of humanity is crushing the best of humanity and nature.

I remain in awe of those in South Korea who continue to stand in resistance to this madness. It is their courage that gives hope and vision. They speak not only for themselves but for the rocks, the coral, the water, and the fish. They speak for the future generations.

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