Americans don't get riled up to protest. Give away billions in taxpayer money to financial fatcats with no accountability--no worries. Refuse to punish war criminal torturers--no problem. The battle cry is...moo.

Koreans, on the other hand, live in a vibrant democracy and their political action is a bit more direct. Here is a striking photo of union protesters in Daejeon using sharpened bamboo spears to attack riot police.



(an article about the current state of rioting in Korea, quoting a Sogang professor, is here)

Comments

AdamfromVA said…
Because American political action dose not constitute rioting does not mean we do not live in a "vibrant democracy". In fact, because it takes such a land mark event to cause a riot in America there tends to be a lot of exposure to the issue at hand thus legitimizing American protests and riots. This, in my opinion, is more democratic then gratuitously pointing sharpened bamboo at the low level bureaucrats that happen to be the manifestation of the entity that the rioters are unhappy with.
May 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM
DM said…
I agree violent protests do not equal democracy. Koreans are deeply involved in expressing their opinions. I just thought that picture was striking. I'm not calling for sharpened bamboo stakes. For one, we have the 2nd Amendment in this country...

Americans do not protest anything, even the complete erosion of our basic Constitutional fabric or corruption and criminality in the highest offices of the land.
May 29, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CHAOS WASHING MACHINES

My apartment comes with a washing machine called, imposingly, a Goldstar Chaos Hi Tech Washing Machine. I thought it was a dryer too but that doesn't seem to be the case. Korean apartments have these alleys between the living areas and the outside wall in which clothes are dried. There are sliding doors between the apartment and the alley, and large windows between the bedrooms and the alley. I thought I wouldn't have to use it but if the washing machine is also a "hi tech" drier I sure can't find the right combination of buttons. Not that I haven't looked. I tried to decipher everything with the help of my dictionary and limited knowledge of the hangul alphabet (which includes only a dim understanding of the actual letter order--still working on that). The word pronounced (I think) "saw" is a simple two letter word. But according to my dictionary, it means, "a cow, a bull, an ox" or "dressing, stuffing," "little, few,
Read more
Image
In case you didn't see that county map indicating increased Republican voting between 2004 and 2008 before they took it off of the NYTimes page, here is an image of it: This is a fascinating document that I think will be the focus of many studies. Explaining increases only in these areas in the entire country could be very instructive. Andrew Sullivan notes dryly: "Ah, yes, Appalachia and Arkansas. Obviously concerned about marginal tax rates for those earning over $250,000 a year, I suppose."
Read more