Man in the mirror, not the magnifying glass (The Korea Times, April 22, 2014) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.
Man in the mirror, not the magnifying glass By Casey Lartigue, Jr. In the 1988 song "Man in the Mirror," the late Michael Jackson encouraged people who want to make a change in the world to start by changing themselves. Nice thought, but the reality is that most people prefer to use a magnifying glass to examine others. This is especially true of my fellow social activists imploring people to "wake up." A handful of activists will rally in a circle, but hundreds of fun-loving people show up, with very little notice, to join a snowball fight or mud wrestling festival. Fans fill up huge sports stadiums to support their teams. Two million people, mostly from South Korea, rushed to sign a petition denouncing the judging of an Olympic figure skating competition involving Kim Yu-na. Shaking their heads, regardless of ideology or issue, many activists ask: "Why don't more people care about (fill-in-the-blank impor