Christmas 2024, Squid Game & President Jimmy Carter
Dearest Reader,
As I have said before and will undoubtedly say again—I love the Christmas/Holiday Season. I love the schmaltz and the universal compassion that is unleashed during this time of year (shout out to Yiddish for the endlessly helpful vocabulary). I was watching Christmas movies recently before enjoying the holiday festivities and chuckled to myself remembering old traditions, family gatherings and memories from previous holiday celebrations. Having multiple generations of family come together and for whichever holiday you observe, is always a joyful, chaotic experience that can be really grounding as ritual or tradition. Nevertheless, this year feels a little bit different (in the States, at least), perhaps because of the general uncertainty of the moment. As we close out the year, I sense palpable anticipation for what 2025 will bring as we bask in the last tranquil Christmas before Donald Trump takes office and Melania frightens us with her holiday decorations. This week I reflect on Christmas, the new season of Netflix’s Squid Game (2021-) and the well-earned passing of President Jimmy Carter at 100 years old. This one is spoiler free (mostly).
What I love most about Christmas time is, well, everything. I love the decorations, the food, the kinetic energy, the “Christmas spirit,” the entertainment, the gatherings and overall nourishment during this holiday. Nevertheless, I’ve had mixed emotions about this season over the past two years amidst the wars raging abroad that the United States is either fueling or essentially indifferent to. I read that for the second year in a row, Bethlehem in the West Bank of Palestine, where myth proclaims Jesus Christ was born (which should matter to so-called Christians) has maintained “no decorations, no lights” in protest of the ‘plausible genocide’ in Gaza, as well as, violent assaults in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In a recorded sermon this year, Reverend Munther Isaac of the landmark Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem proclaims, like last year’s sermon “Christ in the Rubble,” that this December 2024, “Christ is still in the rubble.”
In November Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, were issued warrants for their arrest. Now the124 member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are compelled to execute those warrants for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity from Israel’s relentless destruction of Gaza following the atrocities of October 7th. The irony is that Israel appears to have assassinated most, if not all, of the members of Hamas responsible for October 7th, so legal accountability for this horror show mainly rests on the Israeli government and military. Despite this welcome legal development, the bombardments continue unabated, but hope springs eternal. In fact, just this December, the United Nations General Assembly voted on three resolutions for Middle East Peace and a two-state solution in lieu of Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Reverend Isaac is a mindful orator who speaks with a soft, compassionate tone of voice, akin to Mr. Fred Rodgers of Mr. Rogers fame—who was himself a Presbyterian minister. In his sermon Reverend Isaac reminds us of the stakes: “Four-hundred and forty days of constant bombing, non-stop. Four-hundred and forty days of starvation, tens of thousands killed or injured; forever displaced or imprisoned. Seventeen-thousand children killed. And it feels like we have watched them be killed one by one. Four-hundred and forty days of the people of Gaza sharing live images of their own execution, even burned alive; and we cannot stop it.”
Reverend Isaac concluded his twenty-minute sermon by saying, “Today we embrace our calling in this wounded world and land. We insist on seeing the name of Jesus in every victim of oppression, marginalization and violent ideologies of supremacy and empire. We will continue to declare the goodness and justice of God. Yes, it has been four-hundred and forty days; four-hundred and forty days of Palestinian resistance or ‘sumud.’ Indeed it has been seventy-six years of sumud, but we have not and will not lose hope.” Sumud roughly translates to, "staying put despite continuous assault."
Regardless of the glacial nature of politics worldwide, international law must be upheld. Stopping this never-ending bombardment of Palestinian sovereignty and safety will also improve Israeli security. The world should take a sober lesson on perseverance from Palestinian “sumud” and continue voicing opposition to their systematic extermination by the state of Israel as alleged in United Nations and Human Rights Watch investigations, among other legal watchdogs.
Speaking of sumud, but shifting gears a bit, during the holidays there are often a lot of exciting home viewing options and this year seems to have been owned by the second season of Netflix’s Squid Game. The dystopian Korean drama, for the first time at Netflix, is the number one television show across 93 countries. The first season of the series sparked a global sensation for a show about Koreans crippled with debt who volunteer to participate in a shady contest that promises a massive payout for the winner. The only catch is that losing any competition will cost your life—as in you die. This shocking plot of winning a contest or committing murder vs. death offers a grim viewing experience as you watch people die in tragic, gruesome ways for a chance to be debt free. In reality, South Korea contends with pronounced income inequality, which I’m sure inspired the heightened authenticity of the series.
When Squid Game first appeared I hesitated to watch the first season because I was scared of the violence and frankly I still am. However, like many things South Korean, the show has some genuine depth and complexity built within it. The first season was shocking and wickedly brilliant. The violence in the series portrays a hype-realized yet nuanced and sadistic depiction of capitalism. The series is also reflective of real-life academic social experiments exploring interpersonal dynamic in stressful environments as with prisoners and guards incentivized by different rewards and/or allegiances. Considering the normalization of violence in Gaza before our eyes, where weapons detonated on a family home are in turn sold to the highest bidder by weapons manufacturers as “battle tested,” Squid Game is sadly art imitating life. In real life, as manufacturers turn out massive profits from the slaughter of innocents, a fictional Squid Game reveals uncomfortable truths and posits equally frustrating questions about capitalism, poverty, debt, greed, cognitive dissonance and human nature.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the second season, but writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk did not disappoint. Because the men and women in the games are poor and/or in severe debt, they have less “value” in society. The desperation on their part to return to good standing creates a complex and distorted environment for the rich and powerful to exploit. Like the 2019 Oscar winning film Parasite from writer/director Bong Joon-ho, Squid Game explores themes of class inequality and power.
In the second season of Squid Game, we return to the games and delve deeper into the minds of the star player Seong Gi-hun played brilliantly by dynamic actor Lee Jung-jae. Gi-hun ends up in a diabolical clandestine cat and mouse game with game designer, Front Man. Front Man, played to perfection by Lee Byung-hun, seems to be the creator of Squid Game and disguises himself as player Hwang In-ho after he seduces Gi-hun back into the game. This season has a lot of humor, compelling characters, touching emotional moments and a kind of savage poetry about a world that too easily looks away from other’s suffering and even plays games with their pain. If “Christ is still in the rubble,” I suppose Squid Game is a mirror of our times.
As I prepared to publish this newsletter, the announcement that President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday December 29th, made me take a moment to reflect. Like a lot of people, I am a big Jimmy Carter fan. He’s about as close to Keanu Reeves as any politician has gotten in my lifetime—a universally beloved and revered human being. President Carter reached a remarkable 100 years old and though his adored wife Rosalynn passed away in 2023, he holds the record for the longest living U.S. president and together they boast the longest presidential marriage with 77 years. I’m sad to see truly great men like President Carter pass on, but he already gave us so much, even holding on a bit longer to vote for Kamala Harris this year.
What I admired most about the late James Earl Carter Jr. was his faith in humanity, his principled beliefs, his steadfast commitment to peace building through The Carter Center, his courageous advocacy for improving national healthcare as far back as 1976, his recognition of Israeli apartheid (also see: Amnesty International) alongside the need for a sovereign Palestine to assure peace in the Middle East, all his work with Habitat for Humanity building affordable homes in 14 countries over 30 years, his refinement of U.S. nuclear emergency response and disaster management and his constant example as a humble man living a dignified life of service. President Jimmy Carter always stood apart, however, I remember him as one among many great women and men of the twentieth century though most of them are gone now.
Carter, wasn’t perfect and some argue, understandably, that his administration between 1977 and1981 passed austere legislation that kickstarted the free-market neo-liberal hellscape we live in today, laying the groundwork for Reagan. President Carter entered office in the wake of Nixon and Vietnam, amidst racial inequality, years of civil rights turmoil and a struggling economy. It was a window in time to set a tone for the future of the country. Indeed, Carter offered many positive policies and practices despite being fiscally conservative. The president’s fiscal conservatism carried over from his time as a Georgia governor and farm owner before that. In a shaky economy, Carter hesitated to fully fund things like a proposed guaranteed national income program or a national health program. Instead Carter sought to cut costs and narrow objectives on the proposed programs while inching towards more generous spending on public programs if/when the economy improved.
Former President Carter also used the federal government to intervene in workers rights. According the Jacobin, “[in] 1978, Carter invoked emergency provisions of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act to break a strike by the United Mine Workers” fearing that a three month long strike might skyrocket energy costs. This move set a precedent, like his other cost cutting measures, to pivot government towards austerity and efficiency over consensus policies of the New Deal era. I don’t fault President Carter overall for his attempts to manage spending that made him overlook some bread and butter issues, but mistakes were made…and we keep making them. However, President Carter’s shortcomings during his one-term presidency don’t negate the fact that he was born during Jim Crow with clear proximity to white supremacy or even white nationalism, yet he chose to pour his energy into creating a more just world for all people. And he did so consistently without fanfare especially after his presidency. I’m sure President Carter will be missed by millions.
I hope you’re wrapping up a restful and joyful holiday season. As vitalizing as this time is with friends and family, I imagine many of your conversations with aforementioned are riddled with some of the issues I grappled with in this newsletter. The big takeaway is, when in doubt be more like Reverend Munther Isaac or the transcendent Jimmy Carter. I plan to publish something for the New Year this week. Regardless, happy holiday season and cheers to a spectacular New Year.
Rest in Paradise President Jimmy Carter (and First Lady Rosalynn Carter).
Ceasefire Now for Gaza and across the world.
With Peace & Love During End Times,
Agunda
