[The Editors' Verdict] A Small but Refreshing Revolution

1969 was the year Richard Nixon was inaugurated as president and the Woodstock Festival took place. Nixon continued to demonstrate his political prowess even after his dishonorable resignation. However, he was shackled by the constraints of ethics. The Woodstock Festival still stands as a symbol of youth resisting the hypocrisy of the establishment. What drew more than 400,000 young people to a festival held on a rural farm?

One of the most widely remembered moments from the Woodstock Festival is Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the U.S. national anthem. Even today, the national anthem played in a rock improvisational style is moving, even to foreign listeners. However, Hendrix faced considerable criticism for that performance. Critics argued that the sacred anthem should not be played in a rock style. Yet, the reason he could perform the anthem in such a way was because there had already been a precedent of breaking with tradition. Naturally, that earlier performer also faced fierce criticism and hardship.

The 1968 Major League Baseball World Series was a matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers. The first two games were held in St. Louis, and the series was tied 1-1. The next three games were scheduled to be played in Detroit. On the final day of the three games in Detroit, the singer who performed the national anthem was Jose Feliciano, a blind singer from Puerto Rico whom most young people today may not remember. He was 22 years old at the time.

Feliciano’s rendition of the national anthem was a soulful, wailing interpretation. No one had ever sung the anthem in such a way before. Instead of cheers, he was met with a storm of boos after finishing. He was dropped from all radio programs. He lost job opportunities. All he wanted was to express patriotism in a different way; there was nothing in his actions that could be construed as disrespect or contempt for the country or the anthem. Despite being persecuted, he made a comeback with new songs. In the end, his sincere patriotism was finally recognized.

Look at the World Series today. Is there any singer who performs the national anthem strictly by the notes? At the fifth game of the 1968 World Series in Detroit, American patriotism was confined to the musical notes. Any other form of expression was not considered patriotism. It was not tolerated. Isn’t it ironic? The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits any restriction on freedom of religion and the press. Yet, Feliciano’s small revolution demanded significant sacrifice.

Currently, under the banner of prosecutorial reform, South Korea is in turmoil. Observing the large-scale and revolutionary attempts and measures carried out in the name of reform since the Moon Jae-in administration, one cannot help but question what these reforms are truly for. After the ruling party’s sweeping victory in the general election last April, such attempts have been repeatedly pushed forward. Now, it seems that even the actions of the president and the ruling party are unclear. They are even trying to oust the prosecutor general whom they themselves appointed.

It is impossible to understand what role the major issues of the day?such as eradicating deep-rooted evils, income-led growth, prosecutorial reform, relocation of the capital, disaster basic income, and the Green New Deal?are actually playing for the country. Is the establishment of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) really such an urgent matter? Why do they not recognize that it is a double-edged sword?

In the end, to promote such so-called grand reforms while producing the same old problems as previous administrations is either incompetence if done out of ignorance, or hypocrisy if done knowingly. Ultimately, these slogans remain empty words or become pretexts for deterioration. Would it be impossible for us to have a small but refreshing revolution, like the one that occurred during the fifth game of the 1968 World Series?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.