Brian Reynolds Myers quotes

People tend to overlook the fact that North Korea's economy collapsed at about the same time as South Koreans lost faith in their own state. The late 1980s and early 1990s were a time when South Koreans were questioning the very legitimacy of their republic. (Brian Reynolds Myers)
If South Korea is going to survive, and keep the peace on the peninsula, its citizens need to start conveying support for their state. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
That's a mistake I think that a lot of Western observers make is to assume that Korean nationalism is hundreds if not thousands of years old. When in fact nationalism is incompatible with Korean Confucian tradition. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
The South Korean flag continues to function at least in South Korea, not as a symbol of the state but as a symbol of the race. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
What you have here in South Korea really is extreme nationalists. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Japan's racialized worldview equated virtue with strength, the North Koreans are taught that their virtue has rendered them as vulnerable as children in an evil world - unless they are protected by a great leader who keeps a watchful eye on military readiness. Unfortunately for the United States, there is no place in this for any improvement in relations between the two countries. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
The closest thing to criticism of the Blue House our government has issued in recent months has been the statement that inter-Korean relations mustn't get ahead of denuclearization. Clearly the relations are not in themselves problematic from America's perspective. This in turn implies approval of the many steps Moon has already undertaken to undermine the ROK's claim to exclusive legitimacy and its commitment to liberal democratic values. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
They have a much more positive view of the country than I do. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[T]he North's ideology glorifies the heart over the mind, instincts over consciousness, which makes rash decisions more likely to be made, even quite low down the military command structure. There is therefore a significant danger of some sort of limited clash at any time. But that has always been the case. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Let me highlight the fact, then, that a mistrust of outsiders – as manifested by and in states for thousands of years – is very different from an ideology asserting that one uniquely pure race is morally superior to all others. Such thinking was by no means the norm even in European fascism. It runs directly counter to Marx. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
North Korea cannot survive forever on the public perception of state legitimacy alone. The more it loses its economic distinctiveness vis-à-vis the rival state, the more the Kim regime must compensate with triumphs on the military and nuclear fronts. Another act of aggression against the Republic of Korea may well take place in the months ahead, not only to divert North Korean public attention from the failures of the consumer-oriented 'Strong and Prosperous Country' campaign, but also to strengthen the appeasement-minded South Korean opposition in the run-up to the presidential election in 2012. (Brian Reynolds Myers)
No one ever said the regime's legitimacy reposes in the nukes themselves. It rests on a commitment to the unyielding defense and unification of the Korean nation. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[S]trong racial pride always entails intense awareness of an inferior other. For the North Koreans, foreigners are inferior - even the friendly ones. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[W]hat the dictatorship wants is presented as something we should want more. Most calls for subversion enrage the North. Not these though. Never these. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[A]lthough the "far left” Justice Party is ostensibly in the opposition, 77% of those who support it say that President Moon is doing a good job. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[M]emory politics are by definition political and shift accordingly. There was a time when both the South Korean left and North Korea were more interested in good relations with Japan than the right here was. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Seoul doesn't have the will to "De-Kim Il Sungify" North Korea. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
South Korean nationalism is something quite different from the patriotism toward the state that Americans feel. Identification with the Korean race is strong, while that with the Republic of Korea is weak. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Nationalism is about putting the (ethno-)nation above liberal-democratic and leftist values alike. Once one takes that step, one is not separated from other nationalists by anything irreducible. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
The U. S. was never stronger, North Korea never weaker than in 1994, yet even then the fear of an artillery attack on Seoul prevented an air-strike on Yongbyeon. You can put it another way and say that the very success of the nuclear program, the fact that it has gone this far, proves that it was never necessary for North Korea's security in the first place. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Triteness of content has not necessarily hurt ideologies in the past. There are very few original or profound ideologies on the political scene. (Brian Reynolds Myers)
Has the Republic of Korea ever been more obviously unloved than in this year of "Hell Chosun?" View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
[I]f we're going to jeer at North Korea for being a de facto monarchy, we must also acknowledge the main advantage of such a system: no divisive squabbling over who has the right to rule. On my book tour for "The Cleanest Race” I used the example of my British mother: a firm supporter of the monarchy with different estimations of the various royals. She doesn't like the idea of Charles becoming king, but accepts that it will and must happen. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
The whole point of the military-first policy was not so much to whip up support for the military as to de-ideologize the economic sector, to make it possible to dismantle the command economy without dismantling the authority of the whole system. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers
Not for nothing did Eldridge Cleaver say that the North Korean police made him miss the Oakland police. View quote
Brian Reynolds Myers