Young Writers Society

They tested a nuclear weapon, deep underground, and are claiming no radioactive contamination.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/korea.nuclear.test/index.html
And enter the Asian cold war....

I do not think this will be anything like the cold war.

China should act swift and precise, while NK is still only testing. They have a lot to lose these days.

Haha, if Iraq really did have the weapons and capability and willingness of using them (which they did not), we'd already be in a Middle-East cold war. Now we see as America pursues its imperialistic/capitalist goals in the Middle-East, the Far East prepares to pursue it's goals. The 49th parallel is an artificial line, and artificial things weren't made to last. These are scary times we're living in. And we, the people, are subject only to the political games, yes games, of those in the governments. I hate it. I hate the subversive mind-games these politicians play with us, I hate their policies, I hate them. If I had the ability right now, I'd make sure these subversive regimes were toppled by revolution, by the people for the people. Bah. We can only hope that the future is brighter, but with world events going as they are now, it seems bleak.

I'm with Bjorn. I can see all of this nonsense culminating in a nuclear world war. In my nightmares, anyway.

Let's move to one of Jupiter's moons and begin our own world, kay?

Ah, yes. A brief write-up.


Jacques Lacan starts his twentieth seminar on Feminine Sexuality by noting that everybody present was unified by a compelling desire to not know. Indeed, he noted that most all students and teachers are unified by an “I don’t want to know anything about it.” The question for Lacan was whether this was the same for the students and the teacher. To put it precisely, was the students’ “I don’t want to know anything about it” regarding the knowledge transmitted to them bit by bit what was at work also in Lacan? Lacan says it is not, and it is because of this (fantasized) idea that the teacher starts somewhere other than the students that they find themselves attached to him or her.

This is the elementary matrix through which we should view the North Korean nuclear tests. There is something at work in them which we can not see—there is something “just beyond” what we are told in the media, that makes us suspect there is something more…a type of paranoia. So, then, it would appear the North Koreans are now the teachers, while we are the unknowing but suspecting students drug along. This, if nothing else, proves the fundamental Lacanian thesis that “the King is a Thing.” Namely, that citizens do not treat a King because he is inherently in-himself a King, but because they treat him as such is he a King.

We extend this example to Law—in particular, for the dilemma Americans and the rest of the world now face. Where better could one look than to Law to see that language is not human? As a set of codes, Law makes it clear that language is an other, since it is constituted over the ages. Speaking beings, known as man, are something else altogether. How is it that speaking beings—for whom language operates both internally and externally—created language as such? Through Law, precisely. It is obvious that jouissance (roughly: ‘enjoyment’) is deeply connected to Law.

After US and other global sanctions on North Korea, it is not surprising that the greatest threat emerges from them. Usufruct—a legal notion—combines this jouissance with Law. Usufruct is defined as the difference between jouissance and utility. A good question: what purpose does utility serve? As speaking beings, we rely heavily upon language, upon conveyance, and because of this reliance, we have such incredible amounts of respect for means (instead of ends). Usufruct then means that you can enjoy your means, but you must not waste them. The usufruct of money received from a birthday, for instance, is that you can spend it on things you enjoy, as long as it is not too much. Jouissance is then easily defined, in this instance, as a purely negative thing. Jouissance, as it were, serves no purpose.

To end our tour of Lacanian theory, we lastly speak of this so-called jouissance—what is it? As one sees, people’s desire is informed by an Other: commercials, friends, professors, or whatever. Thus we speak of a “Jouissance of the Other”—that is, precisely, that jouissance is never our own; it is always-already controlled and dictated by an Other. This paranoiac revelation is, of course, nothing new. Satisfaction then does not come from the Self, but rather from some imagined origin. Think of how students rejoice at eating and being nourished at a restaurant as opposed to the university cafeteria; this is the precise way in which satisfaction is itself imaginary. That is, we only imagine being satisfied.

What, then, of North Korea? For history, Napoleon was finished after his first defeat at Waterloo. However, it was only after Napoleon’s second loss at Waterloo that HE realized he was finished. The same kind of logic applies to America and the rest of the world: despite all the peace talks, treaties and sanctions that have been made, they failed. This is obvious given that, if such things truly did work, the Middle East would be the safest place on earth. However, that is not the case, and the talks and negotiations towards North Korea have failed as well. The North Korean nuclear tests are America’s second Waterloo. Precisely because Law implies jouissance, the North Koreans receive a kind of giddy satisfaction out of defying agreements and treaties.

And this jouissance is the jouissance of the Other—who? It is the jouissance none other than of America. Every country desires to be America: the Law-maker. This is inescapable, and countries and people who claim to not desire to be America desire to see it fall, so that they may establish themselves as Law-maker. This is why Americans must be alarmed by the means taken to control an escalation of tensions in the world abroad. It is remarkably clear that organizations such as the European Union, the United Nations, or the Mercosour no more keep the world safe than a box of Kleenexes keep a person from sneezing. It is time true political decisions and actions were taken. America as it were has become impotent with its own power: the threat of American hegemony is far more powerful than actual hegemony. Until politics proper is revived, and Americans realize North Korea is that signal—the second Waterloo—that says we have done something wrong, then America can not viably compete in the emerging New World Order.

Regimes weren't made to last-a fact. Out of 6 billion people who may adhere to something, there will be at least ONE who does not. We see this many times over, including the Bible (Lucifer).

Bjorn,


"Regimes were not made to last-a fact." Perhaps, but that's only if you imply "last" to mean inifnite time; in which case, nothing lasts, except time itself. And honestly, does it matter if a regime lasts generations if one person lives/suffers/profits under it? I don't care if America is still standing in two thousand years--that doesn't mean it doesn't last.


Best,
Brad

Telf has posted a thread in the Debate forum to continue the debate. This is just to comment on the news.

However, by all means, move your debate to the appropiate forum

Because there is no military option for the Asian countries, or the US, this will only increase tensions with Korea, and will lead to an arms race. Japan could have a nuclear weapon in a few months, they already have the uranium. Until now a pacifist constituition has prevented them from building anything that was not for their own defense. Now its an option. South Korea especially will want to have something, and China, its closest ally, has grown pretty weary of NK's actions. This test was basically a slap in the face to every nation bordering them.

This is a duplicate thread. Locked.