(A)Pathetic

So, it's been a week since the torch came through Seoul. After leaving here, it went to North Korea for the first time, and of course, had no difficulty. Everything the world sees of North Korea is carefully choreographed and happy-looking.

Anyway, I've been doing some thinking. I am angry with this group of Chinese people here in Korea. What the hell were they doing, being violent toward South Koreans, who were protesting China's treatment of their North Korean brothers and sisters? Ignorance! How can they support sending people to labour camps, torture, death?

They were throwing rocks at one point, for god's sake, and even a wrench, and a reporter got sent to hospital. All for what? Because we (who are living in a democracy, I might add) are not allowed to say anything negative about China? Ludicrous. Sure, be happy, and even proud, you are Chinese. Be happy you come from a huge, varied, and beautiful country. Be happy about your friends, family, language, culture. China has a lot of beauty. But don't be happy about the corruption in your country, even against your own people, who are routinely thrown out of their houses in favour of development, and left with nothing. Who, if they dare protest, are punished: beat up or put in black jails (jails that don't exist on paper). And now that you are abroad, educate yourself and don't be happy, be dismayed (!) about your country's abysmal treatment of those under their thumb. Don't be a blind nationalist, and start abusing people who don't share your opinion! Especially when you're a guest in their country!




And what's with signs like this one, below??
I mean, come on. You're in Korea now. You have freedom of information. You can read, you can look on the Internet. Just what kind of indoctrination have you been fed all your life that would lead you to make a sign that says, "Ugly Dalai Lama?" If you've ever heard him speak or read anything he has written, you will know he is the most kind, intelligent man, and despite his own and his people's abuse at the hands of the Chinese, still holds a non-violent, conciliatory attitude toward them and their government.


As you can see, I can go on ad nauseam about this. It's actually not what I sat down to write about. Digression is a favourite pastime of mine.

Have you heard the phrase, "The opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy"? Do you agree? I think it's kind of both. I mean, on the one hand, we have the violent mobs that are filled with hate, and they definitely have no love for the people who disagree with them. But then we also have those who are not in the midst of it (ie most of us in the West, in relatively calm countries), who just don't care.

I have one friend, and he just doesn't care, for real, I think, about anything that does not directly affect him. He's thrown me a for a loop, because otherwise, he's actually a pretty decent guy. So I've really been wrestling with this question, because if you start to talk about these things, and you come up against, "Sorry, I just don't care," with a shrug of the shoulders, well, then, what do you say? It's easier to debate with someone who is passionate about their side than it is to converse with an apathetic person. I guess if he doesn't care if no one helps him (should he ever need it), then what argument do I have?

The unfortunate conclusion to such attitudes is usually torture and genocide. So...help me out. I'm quite stumped here. What do you say to indifference? To those who seem to lack (and don't care that they lack) empathy or compassion?