“What kind of resolution am I?”

Hong Se-hwa's first new work in 11 years,
To become a free man who loses 'a little better'
The struggles of a "grenadier" and the questions it raises for us.

Hong Se-hwa, a godfather of progressive intellectuals who has raised painful yet clear questions about our times in works such as “I am a Taxi Driver in Paris,” “The Seine Divides Left and Right, and the Han River Divides North and South,” and “Coordinates of Thought,” has published a new work after 11 years.
Even when the rough textures of the world crash against the waves and he is sometimes swept away by the great texture without being able to control himself, his thoughts, which have always maintained their center, serve as a compass to regain center in a world torn apart by division, and make us look back on the direction and texture of life.

People, human relationships, and society are all rough and not delicate or gentle.
In this unrefined society, where those who embrace hospitality, consideration, and humility are the weak, we have become 'comfortable' only by being sharp and rough rather than rounded.
Although we are certainly living in a freer era than in the past, we are living an oppressed life without even realizing it within the structure of neoliberalism.
The places where this was fully implemented were 'school' and 'military', and we were secretly trained as slaves within this 'normal' system.
The powerless, unable to say “no” to state violence, are now forced to “voluntarily submit,” cleverly manipulated by the false discourse created by capitalists and the agenda-setting of politicians.


The author speaks of a world where one must turn a blind eye to injustice to enjoy a comfortable and easy life, and where one must give up one's humanity and become rough in order to survive.
Let us come down from the mountain called Korean society and walk 'a little lower', becoming free people who fight against domination and submission, and become free people who defeat 'a little better'.
This book is the result of such efforts.
Even if only a very small number of people want to live like human beings and enjoy true freedom, let's unite and walk that path together.

“The night rain is whispering outside the window/ This six-mat room is a foreign country,” I used to repeat.
It was like a refrain of my daily life, unable to escape from anxiety, and when I finally stopped it, my childhood will to remain a private was completely revived.
Officers are promoted as they age.
A private soldier remains a private soldier no matter how old he gets.
The actual fighting is mainly done by private soldiers.
But almost all of them do not remain privates but try to become officers.
'Okay, then I'll stay a private until the end!' That thought, which I had excitedly had in my youth, never left me even after I grew old enough.
--- p.12

In an age like today, where power and materialism proclaim victory, a free person who stands against domination and submission can be a contradictory being.
To remain free, one must become a loser in secular society.
In human history, anti-dominantists (anarchists) can be said to be the epitome of free people, but they have walked the path of defeat almost as if it were their fate.
They will not accept, for example, Mao Zedong's statement that "power comes from the barrel of a gun" as an emotion rather than an ideology.
They too took up arms, but it was to resist tyranny, not to seize power and rule.
Because they are anti-dominantists.
--- p.16

I am both the subject that builds myself and the object that I build.
The fact that I, a human being, am both a subject and an object, is inherently a free being, yet a lonely being, stems from this.
Because I am free, I am lonely, and because I am lonely, I am free.
The sight of a human being, gazing at the crescent moon in a quiet twilight, suddenly overcome with a baseless sadness welling up from the depths of his heart, or filled with boundless joy at still being alive, is a tearful sight of a being that is both free and lonely, lonely and free.
In this way, humans are lonely beings who enjoy the freedom to create themselves and the freedom to form themselves.
--- p.24

Just as we failed to say “No!” or “Stop!” to state violence, we diligently followed the ruling class’s competitive supremacy and materialism instead of saying “No!” or “Stop!”
In a society ruled by money, when the majority voluntarily submits to it and lives without any sense of problem, the minority only consoles themselves for their daily lives, unable to escape the dominance of materialism, by occasionally making cynical remarks toward a society rife with materialism.
The dominance of materialism was not shaken in the least.
We, who had to submit to the physical force of dictatorial power, are now voluntarily submitting to the material rule mediated by desire.
--- p.49

Kindness, consideration, hospitality, and humility have become detrimental, signs of self-recognition as weak, defeated, and inferior.
The same goes for concessions.
Everywhere people meet and encounter each other is a scene of a battle of wits.
“I’ve already suffered enough at work, why do I have to suffer again?” These feelings clash.
Most of the sudden violence or retaliatory driving that occurs on the street or at taxi stands is caused by the perception that yielding means defeat or loss.
--- p.58

Korean society is full of people who have reached the stage of perfection.
Almost none of us live with a skeptical self.
The most important reason why free people who enjoy the freedom to build themselves are a rare species in our society is not so much the anxiety about the lack of material conditions that can protect them as the fact that people who live as "doubting selves" are extremely rare.
The freedom to build myself is something only a skeptical self can enjoy.
I must give my world of thought wings of freedom so that I can reflectively look into it, approach more accurate truths, and make correct judgments, and so that I can keep away from prejudice and error.
--- p.68

The contradictions we face are the most complex in the world, encompassing class contradictions, division contradictions, regional contradictions, gender, and ecological issues.
It may be because the contradictions are so sharp, but the way they operate and their claims are also rough and not gentle.
If each person asserts their own radicalism, there is a risk that they will all eventually become extremists.
We all need humility.
Let us change and mature ourselves by becoming self-reflective.
I also have to persuade my family, neighbors, and colleagues under the condition that I am persuaded from time to time.
Free yourself from the consciousness that betrays your existence! There is no magic bullet that can change the world overnight.
--- p.113

The reason I ask questions so persistently is simple and clear.
Unless the ruling powers of this land ask what source of their power allows them to continue to rule while ignoring the absolute majority of the people, and unless they bring about fundamental changes to the “tilted playing field” that is absolutely advantageous to them, the outrage of Gangjeong and Miryang, the tragedy of the Sewol Ferry and humidifier disasters, and the pain and misery of workers forced into submission and obedience will not disappear.
This is also because the lives of young people who have difficulty planning for the future are unlikely to change.
--- p.154

For us, the opposite of freedom is not oppression, but insecurity.
The ruling powers trampled on basic human rights, including freedom of the body, in the name of protecting the free world, and to achieve this, they instilled a sense of 'fear' and 'anxiety' about North Korea.
Because the protection of freedom is invisible, the opposite of freedom is not oppression but insecurity.
The purpose of the conservative media's instigation of chaos is to touch on the security and order awareness that has become ingrained in the DNA of members of society, leading them to oppose and criticize the striking workers.
--- p.162

How difficult it is to know a human being.
How difficult it would be to know the story of this stranger.
Since every human being is a social being and a historical being, we can only truly know a person by knowing the society he belongs to, the history of that society, and even the geopolitics of the land he lived in.
But how do they treat foreigners seeking refuge in Korea because they are at risk of persecution and the loss of their lives?
--- p.200

The living conditions of Jean Valjean, who cannot escape from a state of poverty even for a moment, constantly force them to face limitations and remain on the border between law and lawlessness.
It means that it is precariously on the border of ‘livelihood crime.’
The meaning of the phrase 'guilty until proven innocent, guilty until proven guilty', which we often use, should be expanded by using the character '誘' (entice).
Because if you don't have money, it doesn't just stop at being a sin, it leads you to commit a sin.
--- p.210

Recognition, the affection that flows between people, its starting point is the ability to empathize with the pain and misfortune of others and compassion.
No matter how tightly the system is built, there are bound to be gaps.
It is human nature to look after those who are still struggling and marginalized and to act as a glue to fill the gaps in the already fragile social safety net.
Such recognition is disappearing due to victim mentality and self-interest.
The human relationships that were so dry that it seemed as if they could no longer be strained not only eliminated the loss, but also the life that warmed my heart.
--- p.222

Anxiety eats away at the human soul.
Because of anxiety, each person cannot enjoy the freedom to decide what kind of being they want to be.
Ultimately, to overcome the problem of anxiety that undermines humanity, it is absolutely necessary to expand universal welfare through public distribution.
We must move toward a society where all members of society can maintain their human dignity, a society where we all live together in harmony, a society where social solidarity is alive, a society where everyone lives simply but maintains at least a minimum level of human dignity.
What we lack is not material things, but the spirit of solidarity and mature politics.

--- p.229~230