Comments on: “We” the people – Korean democracy http://koreadispatch.com/2008/08/29/koreas-democracy-of-the-we/ Observations from the heart of Seoul Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:49:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: South Korean Buddhist monk attempts harakiri « Korea Dispatch http://koreadispatch.com/2008/08/29/koreas-democracy-of-the-we/#comment-86 South Korean Buddhist monk attempts harakiri « Korea Dispatch Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:28:05 +0000 http://koreadispatch.wordpress.com/?p=365#comment-86 [...] Korean Buddhist monk who attempted to disembowl himself at Seoul’s Joggye Temple, during protests against President’s Lee Myung-bak’s discriminatory religious policies. On Saturday, a [...] [...] Korean Buddhist monk who attempted to disembowl himself at Seoul’s Joggye Temple, during protests against President’s Lee Myung-bak’s discriminatory religious policies. On Saturday, a [...]

]]> By: mark schurmann http://koreadispatch.com/2008/08/29/koreas-democracy-of-the-we/#comment-80 mark schurmann Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:17:08 +0000 http://koreadispatch.wordpress.com/?p=365#comment-80 It felt for a time early in the Democratic primaries as if Americans had achieved a similar sense of communal democracy. Rather than vote along narrow demographic lines they voted for and in the interest of national unity. Most surprising was the fact that it was the much maligned middle Americans in Iowa who did it. Unfortunately, strategists, pundits and media felt it was more important--for individual campaigns, for ratings and personal careers that Americans think and vote as individuals and for individual interests i.e. personal faith, class distinctions, even this obssession with personal experience instead of the countries international role (and its consequences) and the failing economy. Now with a seeming revival of cold war antagonism between Russia and the US, we may see a popular swell of support for the hawkish, supposeldy more experienced John McCain. PM Putin of Russian accused the US of insitagating the conflict in Georgia for just that reason, an accusation I find totaly plausible (typically, the white house denies this as if they have any credibility at all). Whatever the outcome of the November election, a return to the communal political movement we saw in Iowa would send a much stronger message of hope to the world than any speech by Obama. If Koreans, like Pakistani lawyers and Burmese monks and Nepali famers, seek to take back politics, than so should Americans--despite our individualistic leanings. With the upcoming elections we have a unique chance to do so. It felt for a time early in the Democratic primaries as if Americans had achieved a similar sense of communal democracy. Rather than vote along narrow demographic lines they voted for and in the interest of national unity. Most surprising was the fact that it was the much maligned middle Americans in Iowa who did it. Unfortunately, strategists, pundits and media felt it was more important–for individual campaigns, for ratings and personal careers that Americans think and vote as individuals and for individual interests i.e. personal faith, class distinctions, even this obssession with personal experience instead of the countries international role (and its consequences) and the failing economy.

Now with a seeming revival of cold war antagonism between Russia and the US, we may see a popular swell of support for the hawkish, supposeldy more experienced John McCain. PM Putin of Russian accused the US of insitagating the conflict in Georgia for just that reason, an accusation I find totaly plausible (typically, the white house denies this as if they have any credibility at all).

Whatever the outcome of the November election, a return to the communal political movement we saw in Iowa would send a much stronger message of hope to the world than any speech by Obama.

If Koreans, like Pakistani lawyers and Burmese monks and Nepali famers, seek to take back politics, than so should Americans–despite our individualistic leanings. With the upcoming elections we have a unique chance to do so.

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