u/DoctorOsterman

Right now I'm compiling a list of books that can get me a better understanding of Libertarian Socialism, its history, culture, significant figures associated with it, and of course, its economics.

Here are the books I've found so far:

1# Libertarian Socialism: Politics in Black and Red

2# The Conquest of Bread

3# Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution

4# Post-Scarcity Anarchism

5# The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy

6# The Next Revolution: Popular Assemblies and the Promise of Direct Democracy

7# Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice

8# Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction

9# Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism

10# The Anarchist FAQ

11# Towards A Libertarian Socialism: Reflections on the British Labour Party and European Working-Class Movements

12# Markets Not Capitalism

13# Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work

14# Parecon: Life After Capitalism

15# Manifesto of the Free People's Union

16# Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism

17# Anarchist Economics: Unlocking Anarchist Economics, Rethinking Wealth, Power, and Cooperation

18# The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World

19# The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia

20# The Accumulation of Freedom: Writings on Anarchist Economics

21# God and the State

22# Marxism, Freedom and the State

23# Statism and Anarchy

24# The Defetishized Society: New Economic Democracy as a Libertarian Alternative to Capitalism

25# Economic Justice and Democracy: From Competition to Cooperation

As you can see, a majority of the work I've found closely tie into Anarchism more than Libertarian Socialism. But I don't consider myself to be an Anarchist. I want to learn more about Libertarian Socialism. Do you guys have any good recommendations for me?

P.S. I have severe ADHD so I have trouble focusing and reading complicated paragraphs so if there are some books out there that even someone like me can easily read too that would be welcome!

In 2005, the ROK Ministry of National Defense (MND) became the target of public scrutiny after a series of abuse cases erupted within the South Korean military.

As a result, the MND sent out a task to every military unit to come up with reform programs meant to diagnose the cause of the abuse cases and solve them.

Eventually, the 6th Division of the ROK Army launched a program called the "Evergreen Military Campaign" (늘푸른 병영운동), which the MND perceived to be the most effective solution and selected to be the role model that other divisions should take note of.

So what was the "Evergreen Military Campaign"?

Basically, one of the policies included attaching a "Laughing Bell" (웃음벨) in each of the soldiers' barracks. And once in a while, someone would visit the barracks and ring the bell. And when the bell was rung, every soldier had to stop whatever they were doing, and start laughing.

Instead of actually figuring out what was causing the soldiers to become abusive or abused, the military created a policy where soldiers were literally ordered to laugh and pretend to be happy. And those who didn't comply or didn't laugh hard enough became the target of even more abuse for disobedience (so if anything, it kinda made the situation worse).

Eventually, the "Laughing Bell" was switched with the "Laughing Exercise" (웃음체조) where soldiers were gathered for mandatory laughing.

Recently, there was even angering news that soldiers were ordered to participate in mandatory laughing exercises right after one of their comrades was killed.

Even to this day, this policy is considered one of the most dystopian/orwellian policies modern liberal democratic South Korea has ever produced.

For Korea, I would recommend Gwak Jae-u (곽재우 / 郭再祐), also known as the Red Coat General (홍의장군 / 紅衣將軍).

An action adventure game set during the Imjin War with Gwak Jae-u as the playable protagonist would be awesome.

What about you guys?

For South Korea I would say the 1971 Anjeong-ri Incident (안정리 사건).

For those who may not know what this is, basically back then in South Korea there existed areas called "Gijichon" (기지촌), which translates to "Camptowns", near USFK bases which were small communities whose local economy was centered around and relied on the spending of USFK soldiers.

Even though it was on foreign soil, the Gijichon adopted the same racist laws discriminating against blacks that were set in the United States at the time. White USFK soldiers and black USFK soldiers were segregated, not allowed to enter the same bars, clubs, and even brothels. And many times, white USFK soldiers were just overall treated much better (and given better facilities) than their black counterparts.

Even after the Civil Rights Act passed and desegregation became the norm (in the States), white USFK soldiers (who paid more) demanded that the Gijichon remain segregated, to which the people of the Gijichon complied. This became the start of the conflict. The Gijichon were technically Korean, not American. Therefore, they didn't have to follow the rules laid out by the US government. And the South Korean government didn't have any laws about racial segregation. So, because of this loophole, the white USFK soldiers could keep the advanced bars and clubs to themselves meanwhile black USFK soldiers remained discriminated against. The black USFK soldiers, rightfully angry, revolted, often responding violently by physically assaulting Gijichon workers (who were viewed as complicit in the racism) or committing property damage. However, this only cemented the idea that blacks were dangerous and couldn't be trusted in the eyes of Koreans at the Gijichon who didn't understand why the riots were happening.

On July 9th, 1971, around 80 black USFK soldiers from Camp Humphreys raided a Whites-Only club in a nearby Gijichon called "Tuffy's Hall" in response to a rumor that a white soldier threw a rock at a black soldier during an argument. Afterwards, the rage spread across to the Korean bystanders who were also then assaulted, with 7 critically injured and around 80 suffering minor injuries. The assaults only stopped after the police, both Korean and US military, arrived to break up the scene.

When news of the riot spread, around 3000 residents of Anjeong-ri (the town where the incident took place) gathered in front of Camp Humphreys with racist banners to demand reparations for the damages and punishment for the black USFK soldiers. When the Camp refused to let the protestors meet the soldiers, the protestors formed vigilante squads that went around and lynched random blacks assuming they were the rioters. Eventually, the squads were broken up as well by the police.

These events (which became known as the "Anjeong-ri Incident") would result in diplomatic trouble between the US and ROK, as the US government began pressuring President Park Chung-hee to deal with "Korea's deeply-rooted anti-black racism" which resulted in the Park Chung-hee government launching the "U.S. Camptown Purification Movement" (기지촌정화운동) which reformed the Gijichon to be less of a crime hub and also to be more inclusive by initiating mandatory "anti-racism" education.

Despite being a shocking case of racial conflict in South Korea, the Anjeong-ri Incident is rarely talked about at all. I think this incident can teach us a lot of lessons of how complicated these issues can be and how sometimes people can become perpetrators and victims of their circumstances at the same time. Definetly an incident people in South Korea (and maybe in America) should know about.