For the record, I smoke, I eat meat products, and I love to shoot a good protest now and then. Nevertheless, with what’s been happening over the last couple of months, I can’t help but think people will believe anything they hear/read. The beef issue is complex, and I won’t try to simplify it. For in-depth and up-to-date coverage of the beef issue, head on over to the Marmots Hole.
However, there is one aspect I do want to draw attention to, and that is safety.
Many Koreans believe that the United States wants to export, to Korea, a product that is unhealthy. The media, kblogs, various unions, and civic groups believe that by eating imported American beef, the chance of contracting mad cow disease, while slim, are far too great. The health, welfare, and future of Koreans, both young and old, are far more important than beef that sells for a lower price.
The fact that Koreans living in the United States eat American beef is irrelevant. The fact that Korean children who attend elementary, middle, and high school in the United States eat American beef is irrelevant. The fact that Koreans attending prestigious Ivy League universities are eating the finest cuts of American beef is irrelevant. American beef is unhealthy, and no one is going to tell them otherwise.
No matter how you stress that no U.S. cow born since 1997 has contracted BSE, and that no American has ever caught vCJD, the human form of mad cow disease, 70-80 percent of the public believe that BSE-infected U.S. beef will be imported into the country. (link)
And yet, there already is a product, imported from America (and other places), which kills thousands of people a year due to its threat to the health of those who consume it. There already is a product, enjoyed by many of the same people I saw screaming at the top of their reduced lung capacities for the Korean Presidents impeachment, and the immediate halt of US beef imports. That product? Tobacco.
I won’t smoke US beef, but I’ll eat US cigarettes
Now I won’t go so far as to say that these people are hypocritical, but I will go so far and say that they are simply jumping on an irrational bandwagon. If someone wants to smoke, they can. If someone does not want to smoke, they don’t have to. Likewise, if someone wants to eat cheaper American beef, they should be able too, and for those that don’t, the more expensive Korean and Australian beef will still be available. Let the market decide if US beef will be successful in Korea. If the real fear is the fall of the domestic cattle industry and the potential for vast unemployment, then say so. Don’t hide behind the circumstantial evidence regarding the health risks associated with American beef.
Most everyone would agree that the Bush administration looked like fools hiding behind the “Iraq is an enemy to the world” rhetoric. The misinformation, mistruths, and spin his administration was a party to made them look like incompetent idiots. The same should be said of everyone doing the same regarding US beef in Korea.
Comments 4
What I find sad about this is that, for the protesters, their actions take place within a perceived vacuum. They think they are doing a great service for their country. But, as this story gets more and more press I see it doing a lot of damage to the image of Korea. It, in tandem with other events (see Lonestar), continues to make Korea a place foreigners don’t want to visit and don’t want to invest in. For now, many of the protesters are probably happy with that. Let’s get back to them in twenty years.
Something about this whole events strikes me as simply undemocratic. A radio host noted that at these protests some property was being stolen, and she noted that it is ironic that people trying to “help” the nation were stealing public property. Well, guess what? There was a huge backlash and her program is being canceled. And there’s the nugget of the problem. The people who are sensible on this issue can’t even speak out for fear that they will be targeted and their careers ruined. I can’t blame them for that. Who needs that kind of grief from teenagers and zelaots? The snuffing out of dissenting opinion through intimidation, real or perceived, is undemocratic and scary.
Posted 30 May 2008 at 7:20 am − permalink −Thing is the protesters haven’t any faith in their fellow Koreans. They think that restaurants and middlemen will market the US beef as Australian or domestic. The students worry because the schools will buy the cheapest beef (U.S.) and serve it; it’ll also be the most delicious beef they’ve had.
Of course, all this fear is irrational because these protesters have far greater chances of 1) being murdered while protesting, 2) fatally slipping and falling in the bathroom while getting ready to protest, 3) having a fatal traffic accident while going to the protest, 4) being stuck by lightening while protesting, 5) being hit by falling airplane parts while protesting.
Protesting is far more dangerous than mad cow disease (odds of dying from vCJD: 193 in 6,000,000,000).
Posted 31 May 2008 at 8:02 pm − permalink −“Most everyone would agree that the Bush administration looked like fools … The same should be said of everyone doing the same regarding US beef in Korea”
true, and i agree that the basis of the beef protests is a real reach, but i gotta give credit to the korean people for being so passionate about their case… here in america, we promulgate draconian governmental oversight and an unjust war and few people even speak up…
Posted 17 Jun 2008 at 10:19 pm − permalink −Peter, by that logic, you’d have to give Bush and his neo-con buddies credit for being so passionate about their case for war!
Both groups believe they are right, despite the fact that most of the information they use to prove their stance is/was wrong.
Posted 18 Jun 2008 at 6:23 am − permalink −Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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