[Joseonggwan's Global Humanities Journey] Are We Living in a Civilized Society Now?

The 2014 film The Railway Man. It is based on the true story of British soldier Eric Lomax, who was captured by the Japanese army during the fall of Singapore in World War II. The film stars the reliable actors Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.

After the war ends, Lomax seems to live an ordinary life in his hometown on the surface. However, the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Japanese army during his captivity haunts him as trauma. When the aftereffects of the torture worsen to the point that daily life becomes impossible, he decides to visit the place where he was abused.

The place is now operated as a war museum. To his surprise, the Japanese military policeman who tortured him has transformed into a guide for tourists. After the visitors leave, Lomax confronts the Japanese man and reminds him of their past. The Japanese guide remembers Lomax.

Japan was defeated in the Pacific War, and Singapore was liberated by the Allied forces. This time, the Japanese military policemen become prisoners. At that moment, an Allied officer says to the trembling Japanese soldiers:

"We intend to treat you fairly. Because we are civilized people. But justice must be served."

The scene shifts back to the present. Lomax barely restrains himself from taking revenge on the Japanese guide as he was treated.

"(The Japanese soldiers) just treated us like beasts because we surrendered."

The guide says to Lomax:

"It was all lies. All of it. That we would win, that it would be honorable?those were all lies. You were the only one who told the truth. No matter how much we tortured you, you showed that life was the most precious."

I chose the film The Railway Man solely based on the two lead actors, without any prior information. The unexpected message made me watch the film again. It made me ask myself the fundamental question: "What does it mean to be civilized?"

If you were to name the greatest figure of the 20th century, it would probably be Winston Churchill (1874?1965), as he led the Allied forces to victory in World War II.

Recently, I heard an unexpected perspective from my acquaintance Mr. W, a former career diplomat. He analyzed World War II from the viewpoint of civilization versus barbarism. The Allies represented the civilized forces, while Germany and Japan, who started the war, were the barbaric forces?a dichotomous perspective.

During World War II, the Allies formed a "temporary" alliance with the Soviet Union. To defeat Nazi Germany, it was necessary to pressure Germany from both the East and the West.

From Germany's perspective, the Eastern Front was the battleground between Hitler and Stalin. It was a grand confrontation between Nazism and Communism. Despite both being totalitarian regimes, Nazism and Communism were mortal enemies. The 900-day siege of Leningrad by German forces symbolized the German-Soviet confrontation.

Struggling against Hitler, Stalin persistently demanded Churchill to quickly open a Western Front by landing on the European continent. Once the Western Front was established, Germany would suffer greater losses, giving the Soviet Union a relative advantage. Churchill agreed to Stalin's proposal but delayed as much as possible, finally launching the Normandy landings in June 1944.

Former diplomat Mr. W explained this: Although Churchill temporarily allied with the Soviet Union to annihilate Nazi Germany, in his mind, Communist Soviet Union was a barbaric force that should disappear from the earth. Churchill planned to prolong the Eastern Front to incapacitate both totalitarian regimes.

William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich details the final days of Hitler and the Nazi leaders. As the Allied forces approached Berlin, Hitler wrote his will in a secret underground bunker. Ordinary people might expect that Hitler would repent his sins and ask for forgiveness in his will. Far from it. That is just common sense expectation. Last summer, the Leeum Museum exhibited Maurizio Cattelan's Kneeling Hitler, which attracted visitors' attention. However, that is merely an artist's hopeful imagination.

Maurizio Cattelan's "Kneeling Hitler" exhibited at the Leeum Museum of Art last summer.
Photo by Seongkwan Cho

In his will, Hitler continued to lie, make excuses, glorify himself, and clung to his lust for power until the end, dismissing traitors and naming successors. He left curses and persecution of Jews as his legacy.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's second-in-command and propaganda minister, killed his six children and wife on May 1, 1945, the day after Hitler's suicide, then committed suicide himself. His propaganda was so meticulous that the majority of Germans believed in Germany's victory even after the success of the Allied Normandy landings. Most Germans were trapped in the media frame he designed, blinded to the truth, and marched toward death.

I predicted early on that Russia's invasion of Ukraine would never end until Putin dies. Unfortunately, this prediction is proving accurate. The Putin regime is a reenactment of Stalin's regime. The media, religion, and academia collude with Putin to produce and spread false narratives, paralyzing the judgment of the Russian public. They call the invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation." They claim it is to protect the people from the Ukrainian regime. Russian elementary school textbooks teach that Ukraine is a Nazi puppet of the United States. It is no wonder that novelist Kim Jin-myung published a novel titled The Perfect Way to Kill Putin.

The Cultural Revolution was a massive rebellion drama to eliminate political opponents. Big Brother Mao Zedong ignited the passion of youth to strengthen his power. The Red Guards roamed the streets carrying Mao's Little Red Book, committing all sorts of atrocities. The Red Guards acted like puppets controlled by Big Brother. For example, all accusations that led to Liu Shaoqi's death were proven false.

Xi Jinping is also a reenactment of the Mao era. We frequently witness cases where anyone who voices even a slight dissent under Xi's regime disappears without a trace.

Among mobile applications is "Xuexi Qiangguo" (Learning Power), designed to help users learn Xi Jinping's thoughts and speeches. This year, Xi's quotations were included in the essay section of China's university entrance exam. The claim that Xi Jinping approaches a cult of personality around Mao is not baseless.

Mao Zedong propaganda during the Cultural Revolution. The Xi Jinping regime is evaluated as having approached the personal cult of Mao Zedong.
[Photo by Wikipedia]

What is a civilized society? What kind of person is a civilized person living in a civilized world? Three conditions must be met to be considered civilized. First, one must judge based on facts; second, trust scientific facts; and third, uphold the rule of law.

The claim that the Fukushima nuclear wastewater would pollute the East Sea was the height of anti-science. Since the Earth's history began 4.5 billion years ago, the Pacific Ocean currents have not changed. They will not change in the future either. A self-proclaimed pastor incited people by claiming that the Pacific current passes through the strait between Hokkaido and Honshu and reaches the East Sea in a month, and some citizens believed this. Furthermore, those who falsely claim to be progressives shamelessly manipulated national statistics to deceive the public. The actions committed by the Soviet Communist Party, Nazi Germany, Japanese militarism, and Mao's Communist Party have been openly repeated in Korea.

Are Koreans truly living in a civilized world now? At this point, we cannot help but rely on the insight of Hannah Arendt (1906?1975). Having experienced the Nazi regime, Arendt asserted early on that the disappearance of Hitler does not mean the end of totalitarianism. In her masterpiece The Origins of Totalitarianism, she predicted:

"The ideal subjects of totalitarian rule are people who cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, truth and falsehood."

Author and genius researcher Jo Seong-gwan

Operator of 'Genius Table', former editor-in-chief of Weekly Chosun

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