The Wheels of History Turning Backward

Yesterday, in observance of the holiday, I tried to step away from the news and spend time with my family. While I only confirmed the shallowness of my own inner self, which struggles to find true peace, simply isolating myself was enough to simulate a superficial sense of tranquility.

Restless throughout the night, I looked back on the trajectory of history with a gaze that had somewhat settled.

The Fascism of a Sterile Chamber and the Lost Tolerance

The signs of a civilization in decline always sprout from the cracks of everyday life. In the fierce ideological verification led by the left today and the shadow of the soon-to-come "gag laws," I see the painful causality of history. What must we protect in the face of encroaching institutional violence? Even in the quiet of daily life, this fundamental question could not be easily erased.

The British philosopher John Stuart Mill asserted, "If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." George Orwell insightfully noted, "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

Human civilization has "progressed" in the truest sense—not through political slogans, but upon the foundation of tolerance that embraces dissent. However, in today's South Korea, freedom has devolved into the right to monopolize only the sounds that are pleasing to one's own ears. The act of scrutinizing everything—from a specific coffee brand and the dialect of a teenage girl to the price of side dishes for self-employed workers—to apply an ideological yardstick is a clear regression that transcends intellectual poverty.

Even Rosa Luxemburg, a revolutionary they hold in such high esteem, once declared, "Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently." Forming factions with those who share the same views to indulge in moral superiority is merely the cohesion of a shallow interest group; it is by no means democracy.

Facing Evelyn Beatrice Hall’s declaration, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," current attempts at thought control appear infinitely impoverished. An ideology that can only survive by trampling on others and gagging them is nothing more than an obsolete dogma that has already lost its vitality.

When Tribal Logic Obscures the Facts

The greater tragedy lies in the fact that the madness of fragmented ideological vetting is evolving into state-level oppression, cloaked in the institutional power of "gag laws." The idea of bleaching all conflicts and disagreements in society to create a giant sterile chamber has always given birth to standardized violence.

We must not forget Hannah Arendt's warning that "the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer exists." When blind tribal logic covers up the facts of daily life, the masses stop thinking and submit to power. The base madness that once picked apart the trivial daily lives of others will eventually tighten the noose around all of our necks in the name of the law; this is the inescapable causality of history.

The health of a nation does not come from a sterile state where conflict is forcibly excised. A community moves forward without rotting only when disparate voices intersect and clash without suppression, even if it is somewhat noisy and uncomfortable. To those who mouth slogans of democracy while tightening their grip on the daily lives of others, I ask in the name of history:

When does the word "freedom" that comes out of your mouth truly shine? It is only when you respect and tolerate the freedom of those who hold opinions different from your own.

A controlled peace that allows only the words that suit my palate is no different from the complacency of livestock in a pen. A profound tolerance that willingly endures even rowdy and uncomfortable voices is the only breakwater that can save this nation from falling into a pit of standardized barbarism.

◆ Author Park Joo-hyun

Composer, music director, columnist, and essayist. They actively express opinions on political, current affairs, and social issues on Facebook, gaining empathy from many. Author of the essay collection "Crossing the Stormy Sea."