Korean Job Discussion Forums

[alphakennyone]

I consider myself a leftist. In university in America, leftist writings generally involve a lot of self-introspection about what's wrong in our own society.

It makes me wonder about leftism in other countries there. There seems to be a lot of leftists (especially coming from Asia or Latin America) who protest America but really don't look at the problems or inequalities of their own societies, other than blaming that on the almighty Great Satan. Korea seems to be a great point-in-case. While I agree with many of their ideas about the problems in America, it irks me because their anti-American opinions are often used to bolster their own patriotic concepts.

I'm trying to wrap my head around it. I want to hear foreign leftists tell me about the problems in their country, not reiterate what American scholars have already said about America.

[beercanman]

What is a leftist? I find terms like left, right, middle, used to describe political interests I guess, baffling and dumb. I've only heard Americans use these terms, as though they are somewhat defined by which political interest they adhere to. It makes no sense to me, whatsoever. Republican, Liberal, Conservative, whatever. All of this sounds like nonsense to me. Political interests? I also have no idea what that means. Really. Are the political parties really individually aligned in opposition based on different sets of beliefs and interests? Does that make sense? Does the question even make sense? If so, how can that be possible? How can they be so different if their interest is to do good for the country?

Never mind, I'm a bit drunk. I am not one for politics. Go to the current events forum. I rarely go there.

[sharkey]

[Sergio Stefanuto]

Jamie Glazov has some interesting ideas:

[Big_Bird]

[Bob_Salad]

Didn't you hear? Political ideology is dead. There's only various forms of liberal centralism now.

[ChopChaeJoe]

I believe the term left comes from the French diet (or congress or whatever it was) where the aristocrats sat on the right, the church in the middle, and the commoners on the left. So the facist movements of Italy and Spain in the 30's would clearly be right wing, the nazi movement in germany not as much (more like gangsterism with a mystical bent.)

But does that make countries like Iran the center (theocracy?)

Today, all facist means today is bad. It's lost it's context.

I'm very liberal (nationalized health care, slave reparations, house the homeless, prison for Bush Inc. etc.), but I find much more in common with Korea's conservatiives than its liberals. The liberals seem to want to sell out their own country in order to join with north korea -- with north korea at the helm.

Words mean whatever we agree them to mean. And we don't agree too much.

[Benicio]

I believe that one important point the OP kind of makes is that the "leftists" of Korea are not really leftist in the traditional definition.
They are extremely nationalistic and racist- 2 things that do not jibe with leftist ideology.

I consider myself quite liberal, but in Korea I tend to agree with the rightists more. The rightists tend to be for cooperation with other countries like the US and Japan, for the opening up of Korea to the outside world and "globalization".
Yes, they are on the greedy unrestrained capitalist side, but they seem far more rationale than the "lefties".
The lefties have undying hatred for the US and Japan, are very racist against non-Koreans, wish to wall off Korean to the outside world, wish to reunify South and North in some kind of fantasy land where Kim Jong Il would start being a nice guy, united Korea would be some kind of utopia that would rise up and be the envy of the world.
In other words, the lefties here have their heads planted firmly up their arses!
Much like the extreme right wing nuts in the US.

As for the OP's question, there are two type of lefties:
1- ones who are for socialism, collective helping of the people, reigning in massive greed, betterment of society. They want to work to help people.
2- the ones who blame the US and capitalism for all the world's problems.
They believe that if the US and capitalists are destroyed, then maybe they will be happy. They want to work to destroy the US and capitalism.

The world has no use for the second kind!

[mheartley]

I have yet to really meet any 'true' leftists (at least how we know them to be in the west) among the local people in East Asia, at least that I can remember of. I'm sure they exist, but of the people I've met, most of them don't really have the concept of left and right. The nationalism is pretty much always present to some degree from their education and what they get in the media, and I don't think most of them are ever educated to the point where they introspect or become self-aware enough to really fit the western leftie mould. Sure a lot of them would have ideas and opinions, some from column A, some from column B, but I think you give the education systems here too much credit if you read into it too much more than that.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

Pat Condell's latest vid is his best ever, IMO:

[djsmnc]

The left used to be so much more radical. Burning flags, locking down government buildings, attacking police...Now if someone were to throw a molotov cocktail, the left will be the people outside fussing about the injustice of there being a burn mark on the pavement. Nothing but a pansy, flyer-passing bunch of diaper wearing sissys. "Wah, they arrested me at my home cuz I'm black"

At least the right still believes in using violent means to achieve what amounts to being very little purpose!

[AgentM]

[catman]

I'm on the left myself but I seem to have very little in common with the left in South Korea. It all pretty much has to do with their support/apologetics towards pyongyang.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

[Big_Bird]