[Column] Surviving our period past the trying glass

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By Park Hyun, editorial author

In Lewis Caroll’s traditional youngsters’s ebook, “Alice in Wonderland,” the protagonist falls down a deep gap whereas chasing a white rabbit. The world Alice encounters on the opposite facet is a wierd place the place frequent sense and logic maintain no sway. Its inhabitants embody a queen who shouts, “Off together with his head!” at each flip, arbitrary and nonsensical trials, and teams embroiled in vicious fights that escape from video games that pay no heed to guidelines in any respect. Once I replicate on the previous few years of Korean society, it feels as if we’ve fallen down a rabbit gap as properly.

The previous few years have been a harsh check of democracy’s limits. The primary woman has been taking part in at reigning as queen of a democratic nation, whereas her husband tried to take over the nation by declaring martial legislation with the help of navy leaders and his acquiescent Cupboard. Although his try failed, the bulk get together and far-right forces have risen to the aspiring dictator’s protection — all of which has shaken the constitutional order to its core. 

Even the judiciary, believed to be the ultimate bastion of legislation, held a tilted scale and betrayed its personal rules. But our democracy didn’t collapse. This was due to the steadfast defend shaped by the residents who poured out into the streets earlier than the Nationwide Meeting and Gwanghwamun Sq., particularly younger individuals of their 20s, braving the bitter chilly to withstand in solidarity. 

Korean democracy has constantly demonstrated astonishing vitality on the very fringe of the precipice. However now, even that resilience should not be taken without any consideration. The world is being swept into nice chaos. The “return of empire” pushed by Putin and Trump, the irreversible Pandora’s field of synthetic intelligence, the accelerating local weather disaster, the populist storm, and political polarization are all converging concurrently. It feels as if forces past human management are shaking the world to its very foundations.

In “Nexus,” Yuval Harari argues that humanity’s tendency to summon uncontrollable forces stems from our species’ distinctive capability for large-scale cooperation. He additionally notes that human networks of mass cooperation depend on fictions and illusions to bind communities and create order. When the plenty comply with false perception techniques, dictators seize management of the world. 

As within the case of Nazism, the civil unrest attributable to far-right populist Yoon Suk-yeol is an occasion of this phenomenon. Sadly, the world right this moment resembles the Thirties in some ways. Nationalism, pursuit of financial self-reliance, and racism are gaining floor, centered across the main powers of the US, China and Russia. Notably, Trump’s MAGA motion — a false perception system rooted in white supremacist ideology — is swallowing the worldwide superpower and threatening all the world.

On the root of this chaos lies political polarization and YouTube. Utilizing these as each gas and instruments, populists, dictators and authoritarians are operating amok throughout the globe. The plenty are beguiled by their demagoguery, and society is changing into more and more fractured. 

YouTube is the current period’s rabbit gap, amplifying anger and conspiracy theories. In his 1964 ebook “Understanding Media,” Marshall McLuhan noticed that the introduction of recent media expertise causes audiences to fall right into a state of paralysis, which provides rise to societal chaos. When McLuhan provided this perception, tv had taken Western societies by storm, however YouTube’s damaging energy right this moment far surpasses that of the TV. Algorithms are driving residents aside by prioritizing stimulation over fact and affirmation bias over deliberation. A distorted public sphere is the perfect breeding floor for populism. Democracy’s enemies all the time develop from inside.

We should rebuild the cornerstones and pillars of democracy. Solely then can we defend this establishment when a tsunami strikes unexpectedly.

So as to take action, we should first make those that tried to overthrow Korea’s democracy pay the value for his or her actions. On the identical time, we should transfer rapidly to amend our Structure to restrict the focus of energy and strengthen checks and balances. If we fail to overtake our imperial presidential system and unchecked navy, there isn’t a stopping the rise of one other, extra highly effective, band of insurrectionists like Yoon and his lackeys, Kim Yong-hyun and Roh Sang-won.  

Second, we should work to alleviate the present excessive polarization in our nation, and spare no effort in solidifying the socioeconomic underpinnings of democracy. Greater than an financial difficulty, inequality is the basis of division amongst individuals. 

Third, we should redesign the general public sphere of debate for the digital period. Whereas respecting freedom of speech, we should strengthen social accountability for incitement, hate speech and disinformation. 

Fourth, fated to be located betwixt nice powers, Korea should pursue a balanced diplomacy that stands with the US whereas in search of pleasant relations with China and speaking with Japan and Russia. We should do all the things to make sure that we don’t turn into a pawn on the chess board of larger powers and are swept right into a conflict. 

2026 is the Yr of the Pink Horse. The power of the crimson fireplace and the vigor of the horse herald a 12 months of nice impetus. We should transcend the dysfunction and use this 12 months as a turning level in creating a brand new world. 

In “By the Trying-Glass,” Alice conquers the Pink Knight and efficiently advances to the ultimate sq. of the chess board and turns into a queen. In the actual world, trudging via our turbulent occasions will likely be making an attempt and contain setbacks. But when we take a web page out of Alice’s ebook and confront the nonsensical and unreasonable powers that be with knowledge and braveness to create a brand new world via our distinctive perspective, then nothing is inconceivable. 

Every day we should transfer ahead, till we have now surmounted this age of absurdity.

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