Education and politics are closely intertwined, as the failure of education ultimately results in the failure of politics. Today, many of us are deeply disappointed by both our education system and our political climate. Yet despite this widespread dissatisfaction, neither seems to change.
American poet Robert Frost once said, “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” If this is true, we must admit that our education system has failed us. We routinely refuse to listen to opposing opinions and easily lose our tempers when confronted by them, presumably because we lack true self-confidence.
Helen Keller also wrote, “The highest result of education is tolerance.” Unfortunately, modern education has failed to foster this quality because we no longer tolerate different voices and ideologies. True education enables us to nurture self-confidence, helping us create a healthy space between our ears and our emotions. This psychological buffer zone is what we call “culture,” “refinement” or “sophistication,” all of which are acquired through learning. Therefore, when we exhibit a hot temper upon hearing differing ideas or beliefs, it proves that we are either uneducated or that our education has largely failed us.
Regrettably, students do not seem to learn how to listen to others without losing their temper or self-confidence at school. Instead, they only learn how to select the correct answer from a multiple-choice list, a skill vital for securing high scores on college entrance exams. To make matters worse, some ideologically driven teachers clandestinely brainwash their students. As a result, our society has become flooded with individuals who are short-tempered, hostile to differences and lacking in self-confidence. This flaw is mirrored exactly in our political arena.
We frequently confuse stubbornness with self-confidence, but the two are radically different. Truly self-confident people are not stubborn; they possess the capacity to listen to and embrace different opinions. Indeed, we should have the capacity to listen to and acknowledge different views, even if we do not ultimately accept them. Embarrassingly, however, we denounce anything that differs from our worldview, refusing to either listen or acknowledge it.
According to Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Many note that the educational fervor in South Korea is exceptionally high, even bordering on obsession. However, can we truly use our current education system to change the world? Few people would say yes. John F. Kennedy asserted that “the goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.” Embarrassingly for us, the goal of modern education has instead become training students to pick the right answers on an exam and stick to a single ideology that denounces all others.
It is not only education that has disappointed us; politics has failed us as well. When we think of "politics," images of hyper-partisan factions, political brawls, and theater immediately come to mind. The word itself has become synonymous with lies, deception, and corruption.
Politics was invented to settle disputes through diplomacy and avoid armed conflict. As Tony Benn said, “All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” Therefore, through effective politics, we can avoid ideological clashes and factional conflicts. Politicians are not gladiators fighting to the death in an arena; rather, they are negotiators meant to settle disputes diplomatically.
Politicians are, in essence, diplomats. Therefore, a politician’s true job is not to instigate conflict, but to prevent war through negotiation and persuasion. In practice, however, political leaders frequently abuse power, provoking fights or escalating tensions into war. They must remember Henry Kissinger’s insight: “Diplomacy is the art of restraining power.”
To our disappointment, today’s politicians are deeply divided into the left and the right, locked in constant combat. Richard Armour lamented this reality, writing: “Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.” Politicians must put an end to ideological warfare and pursue peaceful coexistence. They must dedicate themselves to building a better society and a brighter future for the next generation.
The American television series "The West Wing" portrays the idealistic aspects of politics and governance. Watching this drama, viewers can glimpse the positive potential of public service and find themselves wishing for politicians as admirable and competent as those on screen. This is why we deeply miss great historic statesmen like Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy, who successfully steered their nations through profound international crises.
In South Korea especially, both education and politics are vital to the welfare and happiness of ordinary citizens. We hold onto the strong hope that our education system and political climate can evolve, allowing us to become truly educated, open-minded individuals who willingly embrace differences.
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Kim Seong-kon
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer's own. -- Ed
khnews@heraldcorp.com
