I was in a quandary about whether or not to post a comment in my blood money thread last week. Not because of the content per se but rather because it seems to be more of a "read my site" post than anything else.
The commenter said;
"I am afraid that much of this post is severely incorrect and misleading, and therefore deeply offensive. A more accurate picture of this so-called "blood money" -- with an actual discussion of laws and everything -- is available here."
Where it says "available here" had a link to the commenter's blog. Being curious I followed the link and read the voluminous post the blogger wrote attempting to debunk the ideas that evil ignorant expats have about "blood money". According to the blogger the way Koreans do blood money is just the same as plea bargaining in the US. He couldn't have just said that? He couldn't have commented on the parts that get his panties into such a bunch and why? He could have, but that wouldn't have pimped out his site as much as his attack and a link to his site for "the truth".
Reading his post (on his site), and staying awake through it, just had me shaking my head. Much of my post was "severely incorrect and misleading" according to him. What parts? The ones that talk about experiences people I know had with the system? The idea of a lesser sentence based on blood money being paid or even just offered? The reports from KOREAN sources that confirm what expats have said about the abuse of Blood Money? Nice way to slough off other peoples experiences, actual reports, and opinions of others because they don't fit your narrative.
Yes, people do work deals out sometimes in the US, and even here in Canada. There are people who deliberately get hurt, or fake it, to get money out of you. If/when caught THEY get in trouble with the law here for blackmail or filing fraudulent claims. In South Korea, in the case of one friend, the police KNEW the guy was doing it, apologized for him, but still insisted my friend pay blood money or be charged. How is that the same as plea bargaining again? Oh right, it isn't.
Yes, there is no obligation for the person to pay blood money. Unless you count the fact that it will be held against them when it goes to court. Look at the case of the bus driver who stopped the guy from molesting one woman and attacking another. Part of the judges reasoning for his sentence was based on the fact that the driver had NOT paid compensation to the "victim".
Or conversely, in the case of the scum that raped the South African woman, the fact he offered her blood money was taken into account when he was sentenced ... towards reducing his sentence.
The blogger ignored things like that in his post. Probably because they hurt his argument that there is nothing wrong with Blood Money and it is just misused by evil expats who want to malign Korea. Not the first time I have seen him do something like that to prove his point. I used to read his blog fairly regularly while I lived in Korea.
As I was contemplating whether or not to post his comment and give his site some free advertising "someone" sent in several comments. I guess my "delay" in posting the comment bothered someone, or a few someones. I received comments saying things like;
"Stop being ignorant and LEARN" which also contained ... a link his blog post about blood money.
I have to admit that comment did make me chuckle. Of course anyone not agreeing with everything said by him/them is ignorant. I actually did learn from his post. I learned that his writing style and way of arguing his point haven't really changed since I used to frequent his site. He is right. You are wrong. If reality doesn't completely agree with him then he will just ignore the parts that upset his argument.
Overall, to use some of his own words, I found his comment, and the other ones sent in, severely incorrect and misleading and therefore deeply offensive because they were dismissive of people's experiences and reality. Therefore, while I will use them and reply to them here, I won't include his link.
Added April 24th 2011: I guess I should thank the commenter(s). He (they?) reminded me of a pretentious asshole I got email from in the late 90's and still have a copy of.
I have had similar experiences where the gist of a thread/discussion is entirely disregarded. To name but one, Daves, unfortunately, is full of such deliberate obtuseness. You know what I mean... where someone shoehorns their own hobbyhorse again and again into it.
ReplyDeleteAlso the long, rambling, meandering responses! When teaching it is possible to 'hold court' for hours while those whose first language is not English have to listen. I think consequently some genuinely believe that they
are worthy of this attention. And you get.....the guy who told you canada is forth (sic) in the world.
I knew a couple teaching in Korea at a University who were the kind that "held court". The students had to call them Professor so-and-so. They actually rewarded University students with candy and of course talked down to them like they were children. Imagine their shock when the University didn't want to renew their contracts.
ReplyDeleteDave's ... volumes could be written about Dave's.