Good essay. Only thing I don’t like is sort’a personal. Gotta problem with references to Tiananmen Square as “the worst government massacre ever!!”. My girlfriend is Korean, her family’s actually from the North and she still has people there. The disinformation (whitewash) about S. Korea in our rulerz’ media is even worse (in some ways) than that about Saudi Israelia. The disquiet at Tiananmen in 1989 cannot compare to that in the S. Korean city of Gwangju in May of 1980, when soldiers under yet another General overthrowing the government (happens A LOT there) machine-gunned unarmed protestors. But the Gwangju Uprising has been disappeared from our Western media & history more thoroughly than any other genocide — and Tiananmen conveniently replaces it (OK, The Sabra and Shatilla massacre does come to mind). S. Korea’s squeaky clean image as a “thriving democracy!” in our rulerz’ narrative must be maintained, for obvious reasons. But please, Caitlin, do me, thinking Koreans and yourself a favor and just google “Gwangju Uprising” and consider replacing Tiananmen with it in your metaphor bank?

Thank you and please excuse the caterwauling.