JoongAng Daily
“Can we really expect miracles from politicians?”
January 6, 2016
Emanuel Pastreich
The entrepreneur-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo is scrambling to create a new political party and I have heard the gossip about which politicians may, or may not, join him in this venture.
But although some friends have voiced their hopes that a new party will breathe life into the stagnant political discourse of Yeouido, most assume that other than a few ritualistic changes, and yet another name change, politics will continue pretty much as usual. Political parties will remain as relevant to ordinary citizens as the fantastic cloud formations that pass by in the sky.
Interestingly a similar struggle is taking place simultaneously in the United States in the Democratic Party. In that case, although presidential candidate Bernie Sanders does not want a new party, he wants to take control away from Clinton loyalists and create a party that is not as close to corporate interests. His supporters are waging a silent war with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National committee who ran Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign and is accused of bias in favor of Hillary. Supporters of Ahn and Sanders hope that somehow they can wrestle politicians away from cozy relations with business and media and make them focus on the needs of ordinary citizens.
