Suicide, a book, and more local politics

 Got a minute? For a change, this blog won’t ask much more of your time.

ㅁ The BBCis talking about suicide in S Korea. It’s a topic I keep coming back to here, though I haven’t recently. It seems that in 2009, 40 people killed themselves every day in this country – every day. That statistic starts of this article, “Tackling South Korea’s high suicide rates,” and talks about some things the government here is doing to tackle it.

My own position on it is one many might see as contradictory. I think it’s a choice anyone ought to be able to claim as human right to decide when they make their exit, even if for reasons that might seem to the rest of us to be not at all good enough. At the same time, when large numbers of people are seeking out ways to make that choice, something is out of whack.

ㅁ I’ve been reading David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, and I never thought I’d ever say I’m enjoying it, but I am. It’s a fat one, but I’ve got it as an eBook, so it’s no harder to carry around than my Galaxy Tab. I’m a third of the way into it, and by page count I could have finished two other novels instead. There are pages that are tiresome and seem unnecessarily repetitious, but one of the blessings of a long work is that idiosyncratic use of language a structure that might have seemed annoying at first later start to seem less so.

He killed himself, by the way. One of the fun things about reading a living author is that you can look forward to his next one. Well, there won’t be any more.

ㅁ Three Wise Monkeys has another article by Peter Ward about electoral politics here in the ROK, this time about Ahn Chul-soo, a somewhat charismatic figure who will play a role, and possibly be a candidate in the presidential election next year. I didn’t agree with everything Mr. Ward said in his previous article about the mayoral  election, but I’m glad to see someone writing in English on the topic.

ㅁ Today was the day for the nationwide standardized tests that play such a role in the university entrance process.  I hate the test culture of this country (which, by the way contributes every year to the suicide rate among young people), I do want to mention that I have a nephew involved in it this year. I want to wish him well.

ㅁ I promised Part 2 of the thing I started Monday about satire and politics. I’m breaking that promise. I’d rather do it better, rather than just toss it up half-done to meet a personal deadline.