I Will Throw Questions at the World
What is politics? What does it mean to change society? In the summer and fall of 2012, when I was a senior in high school, I declared I wanted to challenge the world with thought-provoking questions. I resolved it within myself, organized my thoughts, and sought validation. No one told me such work was 'political.' Not my friends, not my parents, not my homeroom teacher, not even the interviewers at Konkuk University. So I came to university holding onto that dream like a precious treasure. I'll make people think! I'll create opportunities for people to think differently while using this program! My eyes sparkled with boldness and conviction, my heart pounding. When did I realize? That to the world, my dream was undeniably political, and that tiny, weak little you would struggle to achieve it. I don't remember clearly. So now, four years after entering university, my dream of posing questions to the world has vanished somewhere. Posing questions to the world, making people think differently. Making them consider and act on things they never questioned before. That was politics. I still don't know if I was naive or pure. Living in this world brings so much criticism, so much dissatisfaction, so many questions. But why am I the only one curious about this? Don't others wonder about this too? I want to ask, but those questions inevitably become political. My pure belief that change starting from the smallest places could spark big change remains as 'political' village community activities – the kind you shouldn't put on your resume. What exactly is political? What is politics that we get so nervous and bite our nails just saying the word? Is politics like Voldemort in ⟨Harry Potter⟩, that person whose name must not be spoken? Why are we so afraid of political things? Two years ago, in a book discussion club, I asked people that very question: Why do you shy away from talking about politics? Many answered then that the problem with politics is that opinions differ so widely, making it hard to find common ground. Therefore, for the sake of harmonious relationships, it's best not to bring it up. What a dreadful society it must be where differing opinions mean people stop talking and debating altogether. The society I already live in is that dreadful society. If talking about politics is so frightening, how much more terrifying and frightening must it be to actually participate in it? Realizing once again that I am a young person living in a Korean society of despair and anxiety, I mourn my twenty-year-old self whose eyes once sparkled.