My students told me that youtube videos of people eating are popular here because many Koreans are on diets and watching someone eat is the next best thing to actually eating. Seems weird to me, more like torture if you're hungry
When I'm on a diet, which I have been for the last 18 months, the last thing I want to do is watch or even read about food I like. I actively avoid it. Maybe i havent reached the existential plane of vicarious sensual enjoyment yet.Yeah, imagine watching porn and not busting a nut
puts him in league with the Chinese, the Saudis, the Israelis, India, Pakistan, etc. And if the majority of the Russian people want an authoritarian system of government, is that wrong? Isn't that part of freedom? Some want to be on the order side rather than the liberal side. That's their choice.
can you imagine telling someone in the 40s "bbbbbut they 'elected' hitler, so it's okay" just because trump or putin or whoever isn't actually hitler doesn't make authoritarianism cool
The Russians LIKE a more orderly, autocratic government.
Quote from: tylerthegloob on July 25, 2019, 03:21:48 pm can you imagine telling someone in the 40s "bbbbbut they 'elected' hitler, so it's okay" just because trump or putin or whoever isn't actually hitler doesn't make authoritarianism coolHitler was elected, that kind of goes into my point. An authoritarian system of government, sans elections, can certainly cause problems, but so can a democratically elected one. Now, democratically elected ones have more safeguards, but this notion that an authoritarian structure is inherently wrong is false.
A well-run monarchy might be better than an unstable democracy. Would a "kinder, gentler" Stalin have been able to resist the Germans? How about Mao/Chiang and the Japanese? A nice government can be just as awful because it neglects a fundamental aspect of governance- safety and security. Now authoritarian governments tend to wayyy overemphasize those and neglect other foundational elements of governance, but that doesn't mean that everything is all one way or the other.
Would you rather live under Assad or Saddam or revert to the state of nature that consumed Iraq and Syria? Before Mao, China was repeatedly invaded and fractured. The British Empire abolished slavery long before the American republic did so. Kings and dukes and the Church prevented racial and ethnic strife because all that mattered was loyalty to the sovereign. Get rid of their authority and you unleash centuries of religious and national warfare on an unprecedented scale as unifying factors are discarded
Furthermore, many emerging democracies have a period of more authoritarian rule or uniparty rule before they become full-fledged democracies. This is often necessary to build stability and develop to the point where real democracy can emerge and prevent internal civil strife.
Anyways, the point was more of a theoretical one. The Russians LIKE a more orderly, autocratic government. Are we to deny them that simply because other autocracies have bungled things? That seems as justifiable as imposition of other systems like republics and democracies because democracies have given rise to Hitler.
Do you mean the native English teachers or just foreigners in general comprising many careers? It sounds like they are into their little clique and don't mix well with new comers.
I've taught in classrooms which had TVs nearly as big as a small carI've taught in classrooms which had 3-D TVs and glassesI've taught in classrooms with PA systems and surround sound speakersI've taught in classrooms with dozens of English focused board gamesI've taught in classrooms with hundreds of English story books... I've never taught in a class which had a single Korean-English dictionary.