Understanding Real Politics 2
보스톤코리아  2013-04-01, 15:15:37 
by Sungtae Park (뉴잉글랜드 시민협회 정치인턴)



The highlight of the internship program was when Michael Dukakis, a highly respected former-Governor of Massachusetts and a former-presidential candidate, came to the State House to speak. Governor Dukakis’ lecture about becoming passionate about politics was perhaps the most inspiring lecture of the entire summer. Even better was when he kindly stayed after the lecture to talk with students. While I understood that Governor Dukakis’ views and my views on many issues differed, I decided to engage him anyway after the lecture, and so I had an opportunity of having a very informative and interesting debate with him on issues such as health care, social security, and economy. Even though my views have not changed as a result of the debate with Governor Dukakis, he did truly open my eyes to even more diverse array of perspectives, ideas, and solutions to contemporary problems.

As I have mentioned before, politics is not merely about knowledge. It is also about the process and also your ability to muddle your way through many different factors involved in the process without losing the sight of your ideals. A great politician holds highly moral ideals, appeals to idealism, and at the same time manipulates these different forces in politics to achieve his ideals. An average politician, on the other hand, adheres to these different forces in politics and simply sways with the wind. As a single politics major, who has been studying nothing but politics past three years and as someone, who is strongly interested in going into politics in the future, perhaps not as an elected official, but certainly as an advisor on policies, the internship experience in the State House was a highly valuable one. I would have known but would have never truly experienced the complexity of politics, unless I could work side-by-side with actual politicians.

I would like to close my writing by extending my gratitude to the Korean American Citizens League of New England for giving me this brilliant opportunity. There are very few Asian Americans, let alone Korean Americans, in American politics today. I believe that is the case not only because Asian Americans find it difficult to climb up the political ladder but also because proportionally less Asian Americans are interested in politics. Even at my college, Brandeis University, I always find that proportionally less number of Asian Americans is majoring in International and Global Studies or Politics. Even Asian Americans, who have interest in politics, often choose legal studies, economics, or business. That is not to say that there exists no Korean who has achieved high positions in American Politics. Victor Cha, currently a professor at Georgetown University and an advisor to the think-tank CSIS, was the former-Director for Asian Affairs in the National Security Council of the White House and was President George W. Bush’s top advisor on North Korean affairs. If more Asian Americans simply choose the path of politics, I am certain that we will see more Asian American politicians and government officials in the United States, and I believe the KACL is doing a wonderful job giving opportunities to as well as motivate Korean Americans to become involved in politics. I hope the organization all the success in its future endeavors.

ⓒ 보스톤코리아(http://www.bostonkorea.com), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
의견목록    [의견수 : 0]
등록된 의견이 없습니다.
이메일
비밀번호
Competition between large supermarkets rises 2013.04.01
Wegmans is anticipated to enter the Boston area
박물관 100배 더 즐기기 26 2013.04.01
커피 한 잔, 명화 한 점
Understanding Real Politics 2 2013.04.01
by Sungtae Park (뉴잉글랜드 시민협회 정치인턴) The highlight of the internship program was when Michael..
고위 공직자 성접대 의혹 2013.04.01
(보스톤 = 보스톤 코리아) 오현숙 기자 = 또 다시 불거진 성접대 파문으로 정치권이 술렁이고 있다. 이른바 ‘별장 성접대’는 김학의 법무차관의 사퇴에도 불구하고..
잇단 ‘자진사퇴’, ‘인사사고’ 12번째 2013.04.01
(보스톤 = 보스톤 코리아) 오현숙 기자 = 박근혜 정부가 잇단 인사 실패로 출범 한 달여 만에 최대 위기에 직면했다. 한만수 공정거래위원장 후보자가 25일 잇단..