Stop letting 'em in. Save your culture.
Monday, January 06, 2025
12 comments:
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Bit of a one-sided look at my hometown. But what I really don't understand is how you can post such stuff when at any moment someone could turn around and say "alas, poor Seoul, stop letting 'em in" and not renew our visas? You're perfectly entitled to your views, but I struggle to reconcile them with the fact that you yourself are living as a (temporary? semi-permanent?) immigrant here in Korea. I know technically you are here on an F4 visa (reverse chain migration?). but essentially you came back for the economic opportunities. It strikes me as being somewhat hypocritic that you slap up posts decrying multi-culturalism and various forms of immigration and supporting conservative policies while living here as an economic migrant and enjoying this country's cheap semi-socialised healthcare every time you have a health scare.
ReplyDeleteMy reply was too long! So...
Delete[Part 1]
posts decrying multi-culturalism
Where did PJW decry multiculturalism? Maybe you don't understand the larger, culturally rightie argument: it's not immigration from non-Western countries that's inherently bad, nor is diversity inherently bad: it's illegal immigration by people who then refuse to embrace their new home's cultural norms (see France, for example, where unassimilated Muslims in no-go zones of the banlieue around Paris refuse to integrate with French culture—for generations—and have effectively become a bloc unto themselves, which is not a reference to all Muslims in France, obviously). If all you see from PJW (or whomever) is a bigoted "dirty foreigners" argument, then you may need to think again.
As much as I complain about aspects of Korea that rub me the wrong way, I've also publicly affirmed, on multiple occasions, that in my experience, the good outweighs the bad, which is why I remain. When I'm outside of my domicile, I don't go around blustering and insisting that everything be done the American way; I recognize I'm in a foreign country, and that I need to practice a measure of acceptance. It's just that I don't go around virtue-signaling about how much I accept. (On the flip side, I also have no desire to do the pretentious thing and "go native.") Also: I know that, were I to move back to America, or move to France (where I speak the language fluently), I'd end up chafing at all the nonsense there, too. Meanwhile, this blog has been around long enough to span a few years of my time in the States (roughly 2008-2013); feel free to go back and see how serene I was about life, work, and culture in Virginia. You'll find plenty of bitching.
cheap semi-socialised healthcare
That's not what this article (scroll down to the addendum) says. If anything, it argues that the Korean system is more free-market and privatized than the American system, which is what makes it cheaper (the article I'd quoted back then seems, alas, to be the victim of link rot).
Bit of a one-sided look at my hometown.
At least PJW is honest and up-front about his biases, unlike the mainstream media, which falsely tries to paint itself as somehow neutral and objective.
If the complaint about the rightie/conservative POV is its tendency to unquestioningly value the past (heavily implied in PJW's rant... and the man is always ranting), the complaint about the leftie/liberal view is its tendency to blindly view change and difference as an unqualified good, even at the expense of societal integrity. That seems to be at least one ingredient in the left/right impasse. Truth is probably somewhere in between.
[Part 2]
Deletereverse chain migration?
Google's all-wise AI says:
Chain migration is a social process where immigrants from a specific area follow others from that area to a new destination. In the United States, it refers to the ability of immigrants to sponsor family members for green cards, which can lead to a chain of migration.
I can't remember, but I may have been inspired by other gyopos to come to Korea to find out more about my roots, as well as to continue with what was then my love of teaching—just not teaching in US high schools. If I'm an "economic migrant," I'd say that that condition came about years after I'd arrived for what were originally utterly different reasons. And as I said above, I've been back and forth between the US and the ROK. Does economic migration explain that?
Frankly, I don't see what pleasure you get out of visiting my blog, Paul. What's your endgame? If you think you can change my basic stance, well, I think that's as likely as my changing yours, which is why I never try; I merely defend myself after you've once again, for whatever compulsive reason, put me on my back foot. Why keep visiting if it's only to carp, complain, correct, and point out perceived hypocrisies? Visiting this blog must be a weirdly delicious form of hell for you. I mean, you could fall back on the "Hey, I'm just having a discussion" excuse, but if you're getting personal by insinuating I'm acting hypocritically, then I'd venture there's an emotional investment that keeps you coming back. Could you please explain that?
PS: I've also explained many times that I have little desire to return to the States unless it's to live somewhere where the population density is very low. Please factor that into why I remain in Korea.
Owl, get your head out of the sand. England isn't English anymore thanks to all the illegal and mass migration (Is there much of that in South Korea?), crime and assorted social issues associated with it (Did you watch to the end of the video or daily uncensored English news?), and England destroying politicians having anyone arrested who speaks out about it.
DeleteI know I'd hate to live in or visit and be arrested for a personal email/text/phone call/comment to anyone stating anything negative about the issue, or any issue, that is considered harmful to the insanity that is currently modern England. Truly a real-life dystopian day/nightmare is occurring right before our eyes in real time.
You are blind to the truth and reality of it living far away in your safe Asian cocoon. Too bad most of the people in England don't have the luxury of doing the same, especially when it comes dealing with male Albanians, Afghans, Iraqis, Algerians, Moroccans, and Somalis (per the brave souls reporting for "The Telegraph").
Just a note to keep everything above the belt, gents. (Not that you hit below the belt, John. I'm only offering a caution—as much to myself as to anyone else.) I don't agree with Paul's political point of view, but he's a smart guy who's generally more literate about US politics than most Americans, including me. He's also been more than helpful in suggesting walking routes to me, and his Korean skills way outstrip mine (yes, I've seen the videos of you, Paul).
DeleteI can't ban anyone specific via Blogger software, and I have no intention of banning Paul, who may have levied an accusation of hypocrisy... but that's a far cry from calling me a shit-eating cocksucker who should burn in hell, so I can't say I'm all that bothered.
As for England, it does seem to have turned into an Orwellian hellscape, but if there are leftie English out there who are keen to overlook all the current problems in favor of gaslighting and fear-driven political correctness ("What are you talking about, my good man? There are no problems here!"), well, let them. It's their country, which they can keep or lose as they choose. For a little while longer, anyway, before the big decisions get taken away from them by demographic pressure (similar to the pressures that are building in the US, actually).
I have a bizarre love of England despite my having spent only three days in London years and years ago. And I think American culture owes everything that is basic to it, from food preference to language to common-law jurisprudence to worldview, primarily to England. But my love of England is a lot like my respect for China: I have little to no respect for Chinese culture and politics now, but I revere the pre-"communist" China of old, imperfect as it was, for the wisdom and civilization it bestowed upon the world. By the same token, the England of yore gets and deserves my deepest reverence and fondness. The UK of today, alas, is stuck in an even worse cultural mire than the US is. We should all be trying to help ourselves and each other out of that mire.
While I'm on a roll, let me respond to this comment from much, much earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteYou asked me why I continue to visit your blog.
There are a couple of reasons.
1. Habit. I've been reading this blog for a long time, and I would hazard that we were much less further apart back when I started. Tbh, if I came across it nowadays, I'd probably carry on and not come back. But you've still not annoyed me enough to unsubscribe (and you note that you have lost some friends due to diverging views.)
2. Walks. I do enjoy the walk blogs and sometimes refer to them when I'm planning cycling jaunts.
3. A desire to read something that is outside my 'echo chamber'. I don't recall ever having met you in person, so I've no idea if we'd rub each other the wrong way in real life, but I disagree with a lot of the people you support, if not necessarily the essence of their viewpoints. But with the algorithm seemingly programmed to feed us stuff that's similar to what we're already consuming, I find it useful to see what the other side is thinking and, given point 1, I don't have to make much effort to consume it, nor does the algorithm seem to think I want to see more similar stuff (but that is why I won't click on (m)any of your youtube links. Do you consume stuff outside your echo chamber?
My original comment can be summarized as follows:
1. You openly support Republican policies on this blog.
2. Republicans are against universal healthcare. (Not sure where you personally stand on it)
3. (My assumption is, and correct me if I'm wrong,) there's a good chance you would have been royally fucked if you had had your health problems back in the States.
I'm not sure anyone really supports illegal immigration. But the left tends support treating such people with compassion, and with the USA (formerly) having a thriving refugee programme, trying to determine those who deserve to stay, but basically being overwhelmed by the sheer number and consequently making a complete dog's dinner of it.
IMHO, living in Korea long-term on an F-visa and voting for someone like Trump, is not dissimilar to turkeys voting for Xmas. If we ever get a Korean version of Trump as President, I would expect our lives to take a turn for the worse.
Regarding Sheffield, I can't remember if I commented about this or not, but just for completeness' sake. I was back in Sheffield in March. My family don't live in Sheffield any longer, but live in a small village about 50km away. During the 3 weeks I was back, I went to Sheffield three times, twice for football and once for a night out with a friend. One of the football matches was a local derby so there was a bit of aggro in town on that day (but football is overwhelmingly white). When I went out for my night out in town, I did a pub crawl visiting about five pubs in the centre of town. As I walked around town, at no stage did I see gangs of youths running wild nor any piles of trash. I don't for one moment believe that Sheffield is Utopia, but I can only say what I myself saw (plus I asked my parents and they've not seen anything like that either despite going weekly). They did say there are areas they'd not like to walk through, but that goes for any biggish city and those problems predate all of us.
As a final aside, the two codgers that were interviewed in the video are supping cans of beer at a bus stop in the middle of the day. I'm not sure they are the most reliable sources.
[Part 1]
ReplyDelete1. Habit. I've been reading this blog for a long time, and I would hazard that we were much less further apart back when I started. Tbh, if I came across it nowadays, I'd probably carry on and not come back. But you've still not annoyed me enough to unsubscribe (and you note that you have lost some friends due to diverging views.)
I'm sorry that what keeps you here is mostly just habit. Surely, you have better things to do with your time than to deliberately experience a constant, low-grade annoyance. Why subject yourself to the torture? Why waste your time? There are worthier blogs out there.
Note that the friends I lost unfriended me: I didn't unfriend them. I think that settles the question of who's been more tolerant. I would actually love to have my friends back, whatever our disagreements. It's all very sad. In my personal life, I admit there are indeed people I've unfriended, including some folks on the right who proved to be insufferable assholes, but my normal policy is to exercise a sort of libertarian forbearance with most folks. The people I had cut off were cut off mainly for reasons of personality, not ideology. I can be civil with people who are civil with me.
Regarding civility: I had one angry leftie commenter ask me how Trump's cock tasted. It was very tempting to publish the comment and to give a blistering reply, but trolls can't stand it when they're ignored, so I simply deleted the comment and said nothing. Sure enough, the troll went away. It's no fun for these psychos unless there's a fight. They want to needle and hector and get under your skin. They don't want discussion. Maybe it's how they feel validated. I used to be a troll once myself, so I kind of understand the motivation.
2. Walks. I do enjoy the walk blogs and sometimes refer to them when I'm planning cycling jaunts.
I'm surprised to be used as a reference, and thankful. Alas, as a walker, I cover a lot less ground than you do as a biker, so I doubt my walk blogs are that useful.
But with the algorithm seemingly programmed to feed us stuff that's similar to what we're already consuming, I find it useful to see what the other side is thinking and, given point 1, I don't have to make much effort to consume it, nor does the algorithm seem to think I want to see more similar stuff (but that is why I won't click on (m)any of your youtube links. Do you consume stuff outside your echo chamber?
If you were to watch the videos I link to, you'd see that most of them show long swaths of leftie content—not short, out-of-context snippets that get contorted into lies and straw-man attacks by the American left, which is what the left usually does to the right. The US right is generally more aware of what the left says, does, and is than the left is aware of what the US right says, does, and is. More: the US left has swung more radically leftward than the right has swung rightward (see here, one of many such articles/graphs). As someone who leans more to the right than to the left, I have no choice but to be exposed to the left's point of view because the left insists on constantly cramming its message down my throat. I'd prefer just to be left alone, but that's one thing the left can't do. It's ironic how similar this mindset is to that of religious-right missionaries who think they have a duty to save your soul.
[Part 2]
DeleteYou openly support Republican policies on this blog.
I'm surprised at this interpretation. You're aware, I'm sure, that the US right/conservatives have divided into two major camps (I've written several times about this): MAGA and GOPe. MAGA isn't ideologically that different from 90s-era Democrat principles: anti-war, pro-free speech, America-first, pro-labor (but not necessarily pro-union), anti-global free trade (because other countries take advantage of US largesse), racial tolerance (despite the nonsense propaganda the current left is trying to push about rightie bigotry), etc. There are also some traditional rightie beliefs that are a part of MAGA, like biological integrity (a man is a man; a woman is a woman), free-market versus government-imposed measures for the economy and health care, etc. A lot of Americans who call themselves conservative are disgusted with the Republican party; they'd like to see it die and be replaced. I'd rather say that I side with the conservative-not-Republican folks, but if you insist on the Republican label, let's say "MAGA Republican." Which is 70% Clinton-era Democrat.
There are aspects of rightie belief (not shared by all righties) that I disagree with, e.g., the traditionalist stance on marriage as being between one man and one woman, as well as the hypocritically statist rightie notion that "there needs to be an amendment" defining marriage the traditional way (young US righties generally don't give a crap about sexual orientation). And while I agree that the idea of trans women competing against biological women presents moral difficulties, I generally disagree with the idea that trans people can be dismissed as mentally ill. I'd follow, here, the libertarian principle that, if you're trans, go ahead and be trans unless you're trying to foist your personal values and/or way of life on others, e.g., forcing usage of certain pronouns, demanding that "cis" people date trans people or be labeled bigoted, force young children to declare themselves trans long before they really know who they are, compete against cis women in women's sports, etc.
So again, if I "openly support Republican policy," you would do well to note that I don't support GOPe Republican policies. The GOPe people are basically the Never Trump, neocon wing of the Republicans (McCain, Romney, Cheney, Bush II, Murkowski, McConnell, etc.) who realized Trump had brought in his own brand of Democratic policies and priorities and was corrupting the old party power structure. There is very little difference between GOPe neocons and today's US left: both are statist, anti-free speech, war-hawkish, pro-nation-building, etc.—the antithesis of what MAGA stands for. (And if anyone thinks MAGA stands for racial bigotry and enriching the rich, they've simply swallowed the left's propaganda whole.)
[Part 3]
Delete2. Republicans are against universal healthcare. (Not sure where you personally stand on it)
3. (My assumption is, and correct me if I'm wrong,) there's a good chance you would have been royally fucked if you had had your health problems back in the States.
Health care is not a right. As the saying goes, nothing provided as a service done by others is a right. (If I own a bakery, do you have a right to my bread?) You have to pay for health care. Do I think health-care costs in the US are ridiculous? I do. (Would I have been royally fucked in the US system? Probably yes, although Korean health care has its own dark, questionable side, which is partially what led to my heart attack: they took away my heart meds for a few months.) But insurance takes care of more than is advertised by leftie sources, and in the US system (probably other countries' systems, too), medical facilities are obliged to render care no matter your financial state. Still, such care remains overly expensive, but as I've argued before, making US health care more free-market in nature, not less, is the way to drive down costs. As I'd pointed out in 2020, the Korean system is cheaper because it's more privatized and competitive than the American system, which is forever caught between the pendular extremes of the free marketeers on one side and the statists on the other. US health care needs to pick a lane.
[Part 4—I guess this is a novella now]
DeleteIMHO, living in Korea long-term on an F-visa and voting for someone like Trump, is not dissimilar to turkeys voting for Xmas. If we ever get a Korean version of Trump as President, I would expect our lives to take a turn for the worse.
I didn't vote for Trump in either 2016 or 2024, and my lone mail-in vote was buried under a pile of fraud in 2020, not that it would've mattered, anyway, so you're addressing a straw man. But I do agree with most of Trump's priorities: stronger borders, support for American manufacturing, an end to the insanity of wokeness and heedless illegal immigration, fairer trade between nations, lowered inflation, the expansion of private-sector businesses (especially small businesses) while eliminating government fraud/waste/abuse, etc. None of that feels like a turkey voting for Christmas.
Would a Korean version of Trump make things worse in Korea? Probably, but mainly because too close of a copy of Trump, an American, wouldn't map onto Korean culture, which is too mired in its own insecurity and victim mentality to adopt a truly chest-beating, Korea-first, fuck-China-and-the-US policy. Until Korea truly sees itself as a global power (which it is), and not as a tiny bug easily squashed by bigger countries, no amount of Trumpitude will make Korea's situation better—not with Japan, not with China, not with the US, not with Europe collectively, not with anyone else.
re: Sheffield
I'm glad you encountered no problems. I didn't encounter any problems in either Paris or Niort when I was in France in 2018, and my buddy Mike just jaunted all over England and encountered no problems anywhere, either, but he did note how some places no longer felt like England. When I was a student at Georgetown University, I saw a lot of homelessness, but I never witnessed gang violence or a murder. All that said, crime stats don't lie, and neither do long, tracking video shots of squalid tent cities, violence, mass riots, homelessness, rampant drug use, totally unnecessary poverty, and other leprous social problems in DC, LA, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Paris, London, and yes, Sheffield. Unless you're going to claim that Paul Joseph Watson's video footage has been faked. Just because I personally don't see the negativity doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've lived in DC, but there are places in DC that I would go out of my way to avoid: Northeast, Southeast, and anywhere hear the Anacostia River—not to avoid the races, but to avoid the crime. Georgetown and downtown DC, with all of the monuments, businesses, and museums—these places are their own little, secure bubble away from harsh realities. Here's an analogy: it's like having a giant tumor hanging off my right arm, and the doc examines my left arm and says, "I don't see anything wrong."
As for what you said (elsewhere, I think) about polarization, I totally agree. See here. But that's mainly the left veering far left.
(Oh, a note about Portland, Oregon in 2008: when I was on my trans-America walk, Portland was well on its way to becoming the shithole it is today. Tent cities and homeless people were everywhere, in every park I passed and all along the Willamette River, with many people brazenly shooting up because they knew no one would be enforcing the law. I don't think a Nazi-style clampdown on all the citizenry is the answer, but it's become screamingly obviously that leftie, soft-on-crime, laissez-faire policies aren't the answer, either. But we've reached a point in polarization—by which I really mean the left's going extremely to the left—that simple enforcement of already-existing laws is considered racist. This is enstupidation on a massive scale.
[Part 5]
DeleteA desire to read something that is outside my 'echo chamber'. I don't recall ever having met you in person, so I've no idea if we'd rub each other the wrong way in real life, but I disagree with a lot of the people you support, if not necessarily the essence of their viewpoints.
The practical question is: would you feel compelled to talk politics if we met in person? I wouldn't. There are a million different, worthy topics to talk about. In my everyday life, I just do what I can do get along with folks. I don't actively look for trouble, but there are folks who feel the urge to confront me directly despite my never having confronted them directly or personally. That's the fundamental difference between me and Them.
I thank you for your considered and detailed replies. I'm snowed under with work again right not so I might or might not get back to you later (probably not because I don't have much to say and I fear we'd just end up in a never-ending game of ping-pong.)
DeleteI will however take the time to answer the final question you posed rather than leave you hanging for Lord knows how long.
Would I feel compelled to talk politics with you in person? I think making a conscious effort to avoid it would be leave it as an elephant in the room since a lot of our online interaction has at least tangentially related to politics. Also, I would like to have a brief chat just to orientate myself on whether online you is real you or (as is wont to happen) a certain level of trolling and bluff. For example, you often comment that you'd like to see such and such a person meet a gruesome, painful death and I'm curious how genuine that is.
I'm not convinced we're politically massively that far apart. I know you've said in the past that you're pretty much a libertarian and when I've taken those tests you put up, I end up in the same ballpark as you but just a couple of steps to the left. (I would hate to actually be a politician because I would hate to feel obliged to toe the party line on every issue. Perhaps I'd be like the lady from Alaska and a couple of the others that vacillate back and forth to some degree.)
I'm sorry if I have you wrong. You have to remember that you are a prolific poster, and my image of you is built up on reading most of your posts (I skip vides and film reviews), but only what sticks in my mind over time.
I will however try to stop conflating you with generic republicans in any future comments.