At first I thought it was a joke, but apparently it is not. The ad contained this claim: “The fuels that produce CO2 (carbon dioxide) have freed us from a world of back-breaking labor, lighting up our lives, allowing us to create and move the things we need, the people we love.”

This got me thinking about some other possible “We Call It Life” adds…

- “Iraq War, we call it life”: The ad would say “The fuels we secure cheaply from this and other wars in Middle East have freed us from a world of back-breaking labor, lighting up our lives, allowing us to create and move the things we need, the people we love.”

- “Sweat shops, we call it life”: The ad would say “These facilities have freed us from a world of back-breaking labor, allowing us to enjoy these cheap clothing and shoes that the advertisers make us believe we need.”

- “Genocide, we call it life”: an ad by Sudanese government.

And so on…

It looked like a specialized high school and from the name I thought it was one of those government funded elite schools (well, “MinJok” (race, nation, people, etc.) sounded like a lot like a government work), but it turns out this is a private high school founded in 1993 by the founder of Pasteur Milk and is also funded by the company. Incidentally, there is a news item about Pasteur Milk being sold to another company.

Anyway, the TV segment introduced the school as aspiring to become the Korean “Eton School”. There were several interesting things about the school from other “normal” Korean high schools. Everyone lives in dorms. The school uniforms were hanbok-based. The classes seem to be small and everyone seems to be quite involved. Most students go to colleges abroad (mostly in the U.S.). They have a policy called “EOP” (English-Only Policy) that forces students to use English unless it is an emergency. And they have surveillance cameras in every dorm room (“Wha-wha-what!”).

Well, I thought the EOP was pushing a bit and somewhat oxymoronic for a school with a name that sounds very nationalistic. Also, the fact that most of their students going to the U.S. colleges sounded a bit weird. To me that sounds more like a brain-drain. And from my experience, the college years seem quite important in adjusting to the society, so I am not sure how well those students will adjust coming back, if they ever.

But the most shocking thing for me, was the surveillance camera on the ceiling in every dorm room (there was no separate bedroom / study room) that a teacher-on-duty uses to monitor students. How does this prepare the future “leaders” of our country?

Well, the female student who were asked if the camera does not bother her, said they only use it during the self-study (another oxymoronic term) period, so she got used to it and don’t mind. EVEN IF these cameras were used only during a limited period time, what the h*ll does it teach about the individual’s privacy and rights? Especially when these students attend colleges aboard. If they shared this particular high school experience, what would that say about Korea?

I mean, I think I am okay with someone making a round periodically, but surveillance cameras? P-lease….

And during a web surfing on this school, I also realized that there are heavy corporal punishment (“heavy” as in “till the stick breaks”). And that is whole another story…

President Roh Moo-Hyun was impeached by the opposition party parliament members for election fraud, corruption and incompetence. The matter is sent to the Constitutional Court to be decided whether the result of the impeachment vote would stand. For now, his presidential power has been suspended and his Prime Minister has taken over the job temporarily.

Personally, I doubt it will stick at the Constitutional Court and this probably was a political strike for the national parliamentary election a month away. I am sorry that those opposition PMs thought the matter of impeachment that lightly, and I hope they all lose in the election.

But the fact is that this shows the leadership quality (or lack there of) of President Roh. He has a very righteous and inflexible attitude that I am surprised he is in politics. Not only him, but his followers all carry a similar attitude. This has had more affect of disharmony (not bringing people together) and is definitely a cause for disaster, especially when your party has less than 1/5th of the parliament.

I believe one of the many qualities of a leader is to convince others to follow you, not just to force your will onto others. President Roh has many good qualities in my mind, but this he does not have. His competitive personality had created and intensified the level of opposition, and this impeachment incident clearly asks the question whether he can lead the nation.

After the parliament’s decision, there has been demonstrations by the supporters of President Roh. His supporters are generally young (in their 20s and 30s), and their knowledge and use of the Internet was what made it possible for the unlikely candidate to become the president.

The problem with this younger crowd is that they are not exercising their rights to vote. Of course, they did for the presidential election, but that’s just one of many elections to select those who would represent them (e.g., the parliament members). I’ve read a news article a couple of weeks ago that in a recent local election in Korea, majority of the voters were 50s and up, and hardly any in 20s.

This is truly sad. After Mr. Roh became the president, his core supporters in the party did not have the patience, so all 47 of them broke out and formed a new minority ruling party. What were they thinking? I am sure they think that they have the support of the people, but in a recent popularity poll, President Roh’s support was below 30%, and this, I think, is assuming that all younger crowds turn out (which is quite likely now with the impeachment pending).

Anyway, this is a sad sad situation in Korea, who just cannot seem to enjoy a moment of harmony and tranquility in the past century.

Somehow I am not that surprised about the female excelling in school. Even for less “macho”/”aggressive” society such as Korea, I’ve often heard that girls are better at school work than boys. I guess the difference between two societies is that, in Korea, everyone (I mean everyone) knows, from very early on, that a diploma from a good college is a must for your future. Also, in Korea, being good at academics isn’t a liability for boys (actually, often quite an opposite).

However, what surprised me was that Ritalin was prescribed to so many boys and that it is sometimes forced.

He is four times as likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. That often leads to being forced to take Ritalin or risk being expelled, sent to special ed, or having parents accused of negligence. One study of public schools in Fairfax County, Va., found that more than 20% of upper-middle-class white boys were taking Ritalin-like drugs by fifth grade.

I just don’t get the notion that most Americans seem to have that you can take an easy way out by “fixing” things by medication, especially with mood or personality altering stuff. Physical violence is bad, but this is?

Is this like a New York Fourth of July firework extravaganza? Is this the blockbuster dinner and the movie? Is this a bully showing off his bulked up muscles and flexing biceps?

[updated] Anyway, the thing is… If Saddam Hussein is caught/removed/killed, there is a very good chance that GWB will get re-elected. *Sigh*

It is a very interesting and fairly well-written story on the subject that I began to care much since my last trip to Korea a couple of weeks ago. The most striking thing I noticed in Seoul was that at CD stores, the Gayo selections were very, very limited. It was difficult, if not possible, to find any stores that had variety in Gayo, especially from indie labels. The music (and movie as well) piracy is pretty big in Korea, too, and after that trip, the reality of the Korean music CD industry’s decline has hit me hard.

According to the IHT article, most musicians and record labels have given up on fighting the piracy and are trying to adapt to the new environment. The albums can be pirated, so “there is no income from the royalties, so artists in China record single songs for radio play instead of albums for consumers.” And since they cannot pirate physical people, what they end up doing is a lot of live paid appearances including concerts, which are mostly funded by corporate sponsors. And the record labels who cannot get much income from the album sales are turning into talent management agencies which gets a portion of the artists’ income.

As a business, this might not be a bad transition. The pop music industry is becoming not about the music and the creativity. From the article they say that another side effect of this piracy is that it becomes even tougher for new artists to get a chance. They claim it’s hard for the record labels to promote new artists in stores since there is no sales happening. Well, I think this will be a problem for those new artists who want to show their music. However, in this new “music” industry where music is no longer most important, there is always a chance for those with the right “images.”

Maybe this is the reality. The pop music has become just a fad and a commodity that nobody cares that much for a reasonably long time. I maybe am able to understand that this is a reality, but I can’t help feeling sad about the future.

It is undeniable that the U.S.’s hard power (or direct power, such as military or economy) is unmatched by any other countries now. Its military dominance will probably continue for a while (the only weakness about the U.S.’s military power is its own people, public opinions). And its economy as a hard power is as strong as its military. The U.S. still has most of the influential capitals and businesses of the world. Not only those, it also has one of the largest, most sophisticated markets in the world. Maybe, China will be and probably become the only real contender to the U.S.’s economic dominance. These are what makes others to regard the U.S. as a “bully”, but so far, the bully‘s other sides have kept it under control.

However, the U.S.’s soft power seems to be diminishing recently. It probably peaked right after the World War II, but it has been slowly decaying (just like any other things) ever since. And in recent years, with the bubbles of the New Economy popped and with many corporate scandals, the other’s perception of the American Dream and the American capitalism is becoming more realistic and less awe-inspiring.

And as the commercialization of everything has been accelerating in the U.S., the influence of the American culture seems to have become less. This mass-market-driven commercialization inevitably accompanies the “banalization” [my term] of the culture. That is, to appeal to broader audience (which means to be “efficient”, “cost effective” and in “the economy of scale”), one has to appeal to more basic, “lower” common denominators. What was once regarded as “high culture” in the developing and 3rd countries, it becomes just some trendy cheap stuff as they get exposed to more variety.

And so far in the current administration, there has been several incidents where our ideals of democracy, equality, liberty and human rights have been shattered, even within the U.S. soils. After the 9-11, anywhere can be a battle field and the Bush/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft would believe that anything can be compromised. We hear about several U.S. citizens held in military facility without legal representation. We hear about some legal aliens held in prison for following what was asked of them. All this will just make the others think that the American ideals are nothing but fragile illusions that we ourselves will be ready throw away at a moment’s notice. This makes it harder for others to believe that following the American way of life is the thing to do.

Anyway, as Mr. Nye noted, the U.S. cannot maintain the dominance in hard power forever. There will come a time when we have to rely on the accumulated soft power to make our interests heard by others. I just can’t help but think that the current administration isn’t helping at all.

This newspaper article (in Korean) talks about a Korean language instruction booklet that has been circulating on the Internet. This Korean language book was made about two years ago by a Vietnamese company who exports labor outside Vietnam. Almost all the Vietnamese workers in Korea are supposedly carrying this instruction book.

Some other phrases found in the book:

“We must get a written promise from him.”
“We can’t forgive such behaviors.”
“How can a man like you hit a woman like me?”
“I will go work for another company if you hit me again.”

I don’t know what to say. I mean, I’ve heard that there are human rights violations going on in Korea (and I must say similar things happen in the U.S., Japan and wherever there are workers who are under compromised positions, usually in a illegal status), but the fact that some actually have instructions on how to say such things in Korean, goes to show that how frustrating and serious the situation is.

Is it inevitable that one human will take advantage of another whenever possible? What makes us regard another human being and think they are not the same as I (or we)?

I wonder how big the human rights organizations are in Korea (or whether one exists). We, Koreans have been, for so long, regarded themselves as victims that maybe, it’s hard to imagine that we have gained such a powerful position these days after so much hard-work over the past several decades. I guess we need to grow up.

I think the subject of my previous update definitely applies here. I think I am just doing that. And no matter how nice I find someone, I just can’t seem to get convinced enough that I should become aggressive. Is it that I hadn’t found “the one” yet, or is it that I will be this indecisive for the rest of my life?