A recent Korea Times editorial advised American-retail
store Costco to recall the old saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans
do." Sage advice, sure, but its expiration date has come and gone. That
old saying needs to be updated as, “Rome has come to you.”
"When
in Rome, do as the Romans do" allegedly goes back to ancient Rome
when St. Augustine, on a visit, was advised by the bishop of Milan:
"When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not.
Follow the custom of the Church where you are." It has been shortened
to: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
That
is practical wisdom for those who enjoy staying out of jail or avoiding
an embarrassing faux pas. But should one "do as the Romans do" or turn a
blind eye when the locals engage in barbarism, oppression, or just
plain old stupidity? Literally doing as the Romans did could have also
meant engaging in pedophilia, slavery, rape, and a host of other
barbaric things that were legal or condoned in ancient Rome.
Travel
allegedly broadens one's horizons, but as a traveler or expat, "When in
Rome" means restricting oneself by engaging in a Star Trek Prime
Directive of non-interference. "No identification of self or mission. No
interference with the social development of said planet. No references
to space or the fact that there are other worlds or civilizations." In
other words, stop being yourself and leave your own culture at the
immigration checkpoint.
An incredibly
globalized world with instant interaction among wired and mobile
people produces new thoughts and new ways through the crossroads of
mutual exchange. The static passivity of "When in Rome" is out of date
in such a dynamic world.
To my friends who
warn of anarchy when I applaud Costco and advocate evading laws that
block peaceful and voluntary exchanges I ask, should a visitor in the
past have gone along with Japan's colonization of this country?
I
doubt that a Korea Times staff editorial, if the paper had been allowed
to exist then, would have editorialized in favor of obeying what was
then the law of the land. It surely would have been a violation of local
law to rescue slaves from Korea before slavery was officially ended
here in 1894 but I would have cheered on such rescuers.
Internationally,
were outsiders wrong to aid Jews in Nazi Germany, blacks under South
Africa's apartheid or American slavery and Jim Crow, or North Koreans
seeking to flee North Korea through China today?
As the Charles Dickens character Mr. Bumble said, "If the law supposes that, the law is a ass _ a idiot."
That a body of government, even a democratically elected one, passes a
law or regulation restricting economic or personal liberty doesn't mean
that citizens must always acquiesce.
I will
admit to breaking the law only once in Korea (or, "non-cooperation," as
Mahatma Gandhi might have said). Earlier this year a good friend of mine
organized a swing dance party at a hotel club in Seoul. We were warned
in advance that the club did not have a dancing license, thus, no
dancing was allowed.
I considered asking my
mom to write a letter to the Seoul mayor, letting him know that she
wouldn't mind if I danced at a hotel club lacking a proper dance
license. I also thought about being more radical by organizing an
unauthorized dance party in front of City Hall, but decided I didn't
want to spend a night in jail. Instead, I violated the local ordinance
by swing dancing at the hotel club, without permission, with other brave
souls.
But in my defense, I was dancing with Romans.The writer is a visiting scholar at the Liberty Society in Seoul, Korea. He can be reached at caseyradio@daum.net.
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The Korea Times
