pages tagged societyspwhittonhttps://spwhitton.name//tag/society/spwhittonikiwiki2015-11-18T17:09:12ZStamp out deviantshttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/stampdeviants/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2015-04-10T01:38:00Z
<p>I’m clearing out my old Korea notes and I found this gem that I wrote
down during a lecture in the orientation week:</p>
<blockquote><p>Apparently we educate so that Ss can pay taxes and be productive
members of society. And to stamp out “deviant behaviour”.</p>
<p>Out of all the OECD countries Korea has the highest working hours and
the lowest productivity.</p></blockquote>
No contemporary history in Korea?https://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/contemporaryhistory/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2015-02-09T04:37:00Z
<blockquote><p>In South Korea, contemporary history is omitted from the national
school curriculum. The modern era (”geundae”) begins in 1876 with the
“opening” of Joseon Korea to international trade and international
market forces, and the contemporary era (”hyeondae”) begins in 1945
with liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Arguably the most
diligent students in the world study everything except the entire
history of their own republic, founded in 1948, and the entire history
of the division, which was applied in 1945. Not one but every
generation of South Koreans lacks the formal education to understand
the historical context of the republic or the division beyond personal
experiences and emotional expressions. Ignoring the past and reveling
in economic success has been the national agenda set by dictators
resistant to critical reflection.</p></blockquote>
<p>I’d like to know if this is true.</p>
<p>(<a href="http://www.koreaexpose.com/voices/history-guides-the-future-in-south-koreas-latest-blockbuster/">source</a>)</p>
Korea Exposé: Dating for Dummieshttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/datingdummies/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2014-10-21T23:30:00Z
<p><a href="http://www.koreaexpose.com/impressions/dating-for-dummies/">Dating for
Dummies</a></p>
<blockquote><p>A couple, obviously bored out of their minds, stare intently at their
smartphones in a Seoul coffee shop. The small talk, if there is any,
is painful to eavesdrop on. Despite their matching clothes, ubiquitous
couple rings, and obligatory selfies together, they seem to have
little in common.</p></blockquote>
Korea Exposé: seems like a solid bloghttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/expose/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2014-10-08T01:02:00Z
<p><a href="http://www.koreaexpose.com/voices/no-country-for-old-people/">No Country for Old People | Korea
Exposé</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.koreaexpose.com/voices/south-koreas-angry-young-men/">South Korea’s Angry Young Men | Korea
Exposé</a></p>
<blockquote><p>… the situation of South Korea in which everyone is conditioned to
see him- or herself as a “have” at all cost, even going to the length
of stepping on anyone perceived to have less power just to demonstrate
one’s own powerfulness …</p>
<p>Ilbe is another incarnation of the have-nots who pretend to have.
Refusing to accept the truth of not being a somebody in a country
where being a nobody is a fate worse than death, these young people
lash out, unaware of their own moral degeneration into “hungry ghosts”
- agwi - to borrow Park’s description: twisted creatures whose hunger
is so intense they try to devour anything but can never fill that void
inside. …</p>
<p>South Korea’s young people are dealing with a miserable reality. They
undergo onerous education for a promise that their future will amount
to something. But when they graduate, landing a covetable job is
fiercely competitive. Costs of living are high, and renting a place of
your own, much less homeownership, is near impossible for a single
person without the help of well-to-do parents. Everyone says one
should get married and have children, but the expense of establishing
a family is daunting. Consumption is endlessly encouraged. Debts pile
up. There appears to be no hope on the horizon.</p></blockquote>
Extreme pornographyhttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/whatdoyoudesire/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2013-05-14T21:04:00Z
<p><a href="http://nplusonemag.com/what-do-you-desire">What Do You Desire? | Emily Witt, n+1
magazine</a></p>
<p>An interesting read about the attitudes of extreme pornographers to what
they do.</p>
Outspoken reductionismhttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/outspokenreductionism/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2012-09-26T19:43:00Z
<blockquote><p>Wolf has always been a creature of public fantasy, a reflection of our
desire for attractive victimhood, for outspoken reductionism, for easy
answers with a “relatable” narrative.</p></blockquote>
<p>(<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/roiphe/2012/09/naomi_wolf_s_new_book_about_her_vagina_is_ludicrous_.html">source</a>)</p>
Drugs harm reductionhttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/brainstudydrugs/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2012-09-25T19:32:00Z
<p><a href="http://brainstudy.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/a-proposed-shift-in-drug-policy-from-prevention-to-harm-reduction/">A proposed shift in drug policy: From prevention to harm reduction |
Brain
Study</a></p>
<blockquote><p>However, the real strength of Professor Nutt’s argument is in his
rationale for sensible drug policy based on scientific results rather
than political scare-mongering and media sensationalism.</p></blockquote>
<p>This comment isn’t fair. Drug policy ought to be based on scientific
results concerning harm only after a decision has been taken to make
drugs policy a matter of harm reduction, harm reduction in the terms
that science can measure i.e. a matter of physiological health. Society
might decide that it doesn’t want drugs to be part of people’s lives as
a matter of principle, in which case, scientific results are completely
irrelevant. I agree with Ms Smith and Prof Nutt, but don’t think the
opposition should be disposed of so condescendingly.</p>
Postmodern bio blurbshttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/postmodernbioblurbs/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2012-08-30T09:38:00Z
<p><a href="http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/random-postmodern-bio-blurbs/">Random! Postmodern Bio Blurbs |
3:AM</a></p>
<blockquote><p>… there’s a lot to be said for this approach, not the least of which
is avoiding bio-blurbs like this: “X lives in New York with her three
cats. She makes cookies out of the weirdest things (and they taste
REAL GOOD!). Her favourite word is ‘red’ and when it snows she wears
sandals.” The only reasonable response to such postmodern narcissism
is, firstly, to remind the author that we don’t actually give a damn
about his or her personal idiosyncrasies, and, secondly, to ask them
to grow up.</p></blockquote>
<p>I think this applies to Twitter, Facebook and the personal blogosphere
too.</p>
Faster, sooner, nowhttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/fastersoonernow/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2012-08-03T14:08:00Z
<p>Something I read some months ago that the author accidentally made a
private post so I couldn’t link to it:</p>
<p><a href="http://scottcarless.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/faster-sooner-now-13/">Faster, Sooner, Now |
ScottCarless</a></p>
We, the Web Kidshttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/wethewebkids/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2012-06-18T22:12:00Z
<p><a href="http://pastebin.com/0xXV8k7k">We, the Web Kids</a></p>
<p>A lot of this is wishy-washy and uninteresting. The stuff on copyleft,
§2, is particularly good though.</p>