It's Time to Wake Up

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to speak with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
This vision
Planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
~ ~
~~
[Source: The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel (The Sound of Silence) Rushcrow's pop song translation/interpretation (rushcrow.com)]
 
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With trust in parliamentary democracy at an all-time low, citizens are armed with smartphones and social networking services (SNS) and are poised to jump into a ‘Korean Jasmine Revolution (started in Tunisia, North Africa, when a young man who worked as a fruit vendor committed suicide in protest against a crackdown, December 2010).’ This may be perceived as a dangerous provocation to the vested interests, but was it not they who ultimately made the citizens angry? We live in a ‘world of anger’ that has even led scholars who used to be only contemplative to take action.

Insight into historical consciousness and the spirit of the times is not the exclusive domain of intellectuals, but the destiny of all of us who live in this era. We need 'intellectual action' now.
[Source: [Reading the World] Acting Intellect/Jae-Seung Jung, Hankyoreh (hani.co.kr), 2011. 11. 8]

 
‘The Sound of Silence’ is Simon & Garfunkel's 1964 debut album. Written in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963), the song symbolizes a specific moment in American music history. It was a time when the sincere political participation of folk singers who frequented coffee shops turned everyone's expectations upside down and was accepted by the mainstream.

The song was used as the soundtrack for the movie ‘The Graduate’ (1967) and is well known to middle-aged and elderly people. Simon, who had just graduated at the time, wrote the song, and the lyrics show that he is facing social issues, but at the same time, he is expressing spiritual aspects.

Meanwhile, South Korea has been building the foundation of a democratic society through the 4.19 Revolution, the May 16 Military Coup, the June 10 Democratic Resistance, and the May 18 Democratization Movement. During this period, of course, there were divisions between camps, such as conservatives and progressives, and the accompanying pain of division between the Yeongnam and Honam regions.

However, recently, with a non-politician in the position of national leader, terms such as 'democratic regression' have been frequently used. There is also a self-deprecating remark that we woke up to find that we had become a developing country, having been recognized as a developed nation by the international community.
Outside the country, the United States, Japan, China, etc. are setting up strategies to maximize their own interests in politics, diplomacy, and culture, and are trying to achieve them.

Everyone in South Korea will remember the story that South Korea was 'China's vassal state' during a conversation between President Trump of the United States and Xi Jinping. The Qing Dynasty, which preceded China today, was a country founded by the Manchus. However, China today, which is ruled by the Communist Party, claims that the Manchuria region, where the ancestors of the Korean people founded Goguryeo and Balhae, was part of their country and that their culture is also their culture, and has been working on this under the name of the Northeast Project.

In the early 19th century, the Taft-Katsura Agreement (1905), which mutually recognized the US's right to rule the Philippines and the Japanese Empire's right to rule the Korean Empire, justified Japan's invasion of Korea.
Thus, foreign countries are constantly waging wars of aggression for their own interests.

The parent generation who experienced the 'barley bread era' in the 1960s after the Korean War devoted themselves to education for their children, even if they starved themselves. Thanks to the dedication of this generation, the current middle-aged and elderly generations live in a country that has achieved economic growth that no other country has been able to achieve. South Korea entered the ranks of developed countries in just 57 years since it was a developing country, which is nothing short of a miracle.

However, the people of South Korea living in this era are experiencing great confusion and self-loathing after the change in the political landscape and the political forces of a single national leader. The cause of this is the lack of each individual's politics, history, and philosophy, but ultimately, it can be assumed that there is a problem with the family education that taught them.

Even in my elementary school days, there was a lot of interest in the teachings of 'family harmony brings prosperity (家和萬事成)', 'cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world (修身齊家 治國平天下)' and 'benefit mankind (弘益人間)' in homes and schools. Subsequently, the country's economic growth brought about prosperity in human life as well. This led to a shift from extended families to nuclear families, and consequently, mental education and discipline naturally disappeared from homes, and the purpose of education was to cultivate abilities to compete and achieve better things in a competitive society.

Therefore, we have created a dichotomous value society where those who enter prestigious universities and succeed are successful people, and those who do not are failures. We have overlooked the fact that each individual has different abilities and talents, and as a result of overlooking the fact that the fruits of their efforts are valuable in their current position, we are experiencing a society of frustration as we face a time of polarization.

It seems that now is the time to face this situation and wake up. It is time to examine whether we have neglected the mental, historical, and human education of our children, and whether we have been negligent in our efforts to care for our neighbors.

When my children and the younger generation engrave the ruling ideology of Dangun Joseon, 'benefit mankind' (홍익인간), that is, the meaning of benefiting the people around them or the country, and possess the leadership qualities of 'cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world' (수신제가 치국평천하), there will be hope for future generations, and South Korea will become a country that exerts a positive influence on the world.

September 20, 2023, 참길