[Deputy Manager Column] '15 Days' Let Only Common Sense Win

On the 9th, the early voting station for the 21st National Assembly election was set up at the G check-in counter in the departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport. Early voting will take place over two days, from the 10th to the 11th, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] "Shifting responsibility onto others"

This is said to be the reason why singer Lee Jang-hee's representative song "Geugeon Neo" ("That's You") was designated as a banned song in 1975. "In this quiet night when everyone is asleep, why am I the only one who cannot sleep? Among the many writings in the book I turn, why can't I see a single character? That's you, that's you, it's because of you." The then Performance Ethics Committee's thought was something like, "Why blame others for your inability to sleep and read?" It was like beating down the flower-like heart and expression that maintain human dignity with a hammer and covering it with concrete.

There was such a time. Common sense is like oxygen; a society without it suffocates. One of the driving forces that made present-day America exist was a thin book titled Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, a British-born American thinker.

In 1776, Americans were not strongly confident or determined about independence, but Common Sense helped establish it as universal common sense. "It is absurd to suppose that a continent can be permanently governed by an island. Look at nature. There is no instance of a satellite being larger than its planet." This was his concise metaphor. John Adams, the second president of the United States, praised, "Without Paine's pen, George Washington's sword would have been useless."

Politics defines an individual's social life. In Korea, individuals get the opportunity to decide the composition of the National Assembly once every four years. They can set the basic rules and direction of society. That time has come again. This time too, all sorts of controversies, criticisms, and disputes continue. Whether it is for principle or power lust, shame is set aside in the face of competition. What is especially unfair is that the seed of the mixed-member proportional representation system was trampled before it even sprouted. If the link between the votes I cast and the number of seats is absent, consideration for minorities becomes hollow. New ideas and claims suitable for a new era, though not mainstream, lose their ground. The driving force for fundamental change weakens.

"When the steps get tangled, that's tango." This is a line from the movie Scent of a Woman. So, in the end, we must vote. At least, to completely break away from reckless irrationality. Law is the minimum common sense, and the constitution specifies human dignity and the pursuit of happiness. Words from those who have abandoned respect for humans cannot be trusted. I only hope that common sense will prevail.