2nd assignment

Bulhwigippennamo which is the school newspaper of Korean Minjok Leadership Academy sometimes has to cut some of the articles out of the paper just because the teacher who allows them to publish in the school says the articles are inappropriate for student newspaper.  The content of those articles are usually about criticism toward school policy, and sometimes some articles showing the result of student survey record are cut out. This is a kind of censorship that Korean students face when trying to express their opinion toward the issue where authority of certain organization or person is directly related.

When it comes to a topic of censorship, some adults who support censorship argue that censorship is essential for government or other organization with authority because they have to control the ideas published on the media so that they can stabilize the society, and also if there’s no censorship, biased information could be exposed to the public which might deceive and harm the society. However such logic is definitely wrong.

I want to question on the fact that stability caused by censorship is really good. It may not be as good and desirable as public thinks so. In 1980s of Korea, there was censorship upon almost every media and art from newspaper, TV, music and even cartoons on TV. Every publication must be censored by the government before being released to people, and also they can be banned whenever the government wanted so. It is true that the society was very stable; but is it a desirable stability? No, it is not. That’s a way how the dictator commands society, It was the realization of the novel, 『1984』. Such censorship stabilized the society as the dictator wanted which shouldn’t be tolerated in order to achieve democratic world.

Also, the logic that information not verified by the authority can harm the society and deceive public is definitely not true. If you know the case of Wikileaks, you will soon figure out that why such logic is wrong. Wikileaks is an organization which publicizes certain confidential information related in the field of financial market, diplomacy, politics and even the national defense, and it caused sensation to the society that the information we thought to be true may be fake information strategically released to the public in order to achieve what the government wanted. Some people worried that it may cause too much horror to the society and might destroy the current system. They say that the reason why certain information was manipulated is to achieve bigger goals. However, government should not deceive its people because whatever situation it is in, the very first duty of the government is to let the people know what is happening and to help them decide what to do by providing information as much as possible. If they don’t we, the people of a nation, certainly have a right to fight against the authority.

I understand the idea of opposition that censorship should be allowed if there’s a plausible reason. However, we cannot decide how much will we allow it, and we cannot also be certain whether censorship would be properly done. I hope that all the people of the society know about the inappropriateness of censorship and strive their best to protect their right as human beings and a member of the society.

THB: all the censorship should be banned
THS: publication without interference of government
THB: freedom of speech shouldn't be invaded

Impressions on the video, "The Story of Stuff"

     Before watching the video, "The Story of Stuff", I had watched the same series of video, "The story of Bottled Water". At the moment I was watching that video, I was almost persuaded by the speech of Annie Leonard and the animation in the video. However, when watching "The Story of Stuff", I was a little dubious about the credibility of the show.
     Unlike normal debate broadcast, the video only showed one aspect of idea, which might cause a serious bias to its audiences. In the video, the mainstream of the idea is that consumption based economy of U.S is causing the waste of resources, exposure to malignant toxic, and pollution of the Earth. However, this is not true in some of the businesses. Some corporations produce eco-friendly products, products made without toxic or in an energy saving procedure. Without given this kind of information and  given only one side of idea, the audiences might lack of the ability to assume other sides of idea, and such could be too much inflammatory.
    I know that this video can provide us some creative ideas and new perspectives on the issue of current economy, but the video being used for education should be reconsidered seriously, for the video might cause many disadvantages. If an educator wants to use this video, I really want to recommend him to find another class material which shows the perspective of the other side so that students can think of what is right or wrong in unbiased situation.

These are 3 motions I suggest for Debate Class

1. THB educaters should ban the use of class materials that are not officially approved.
2. THB censorship can be justified when the goal of which is to educate students.
3. THS education about politically sensitive issues in school.

Debate Class

I'm definitely worried about the class, for I'm not a fluent speaker of English and also I haven't had a previous experience of English Debate... However, I hope I can speak English better and understand better about English Debate!!

Also, I want to be familiar with Mr. Garrioch, too.