HUP 10
The reason a peaceful protest gets out of control
Sooyean Kim
p.158(4-1)
About the fourth point.
A peaceful protest gets out of control and turns into a violent and destructive
alteration. How would you explain why these people acted in the ways that they did?
Do you have your own theory to explain why people behave they way they do?
In my opinion, wherever pressure is, a peaceful protest will be turned into a
violent and destructive alteration unless there is an understanding between people.
Human beings are the most intelligent animals in the world; therefore, they have their
opinions, thoughts, and feelings that they express when they experience some accidents
and facts more than any other animals. If peaceful protests are not accepted, and if we
cannot understand one another in social groups, people become violent to accomplish
their rights to know and say something about unclear facts.
To begin with, here is a very simple example of violent reactions in my childhood.
When I was a child, I wanted my parents to buy a doll which was very new at that time,
but they very easily refused it. I felt that something in my heart wanted to come out of it
and would have blasted. My blood became very hot, and then in second my body became
very sweaty. I came into my room. The next reaction of mine was throwing away all
stuffs in the room and tore all stuffs in pieces. After this, they punished me. Even though
I was punished, I did not know why they did it. I only thought my parents hated me. If
they explained why they did not buy the doll for me, then I, a rare personality, would
have understood their words and not have reacted. As a result of that, such an unclear
refusal caused a violent reaction in me which could have been a peaceful protest.
The next example is about what was the most violent protest in South Korea.
About 25 years ago there were many students’ demonstrations against the Korean
government in South Korea. At the beginning of this period when demonstrations could
be frequently be seen on streets, students and citizens only had some kinds of paper stuffs
in their hands, which were painted, drawn, and written why they were demonstrating in
the sarcastic ways and what they disagreed about the decisions of the government. As
time went on when the government did not accept the students’ and citizens’ opinions,
the protest became extremely brutal and violent. Everybody threw bottles, stones, and
special bombs made with poison which could make people breathe hardly. Against the
citizens and students, police shot many people and killed them. Because of those brutal
actions many streets were filled with people’s blood at that time in South Korea. In sum,
a peaceful protest of citizens became a violent and brutal action because the government
did not accept their opinions and there was no explanation for this.
As I showed above, a peaceful protest became a violent protest when there was
pressure without any conversation and understanding between two objects. As people can
make good friends through discussing about their relationship or problems without any
pressure, a society develop through solving troubles in groups; therefore, a peaceful
protest is the signal that societies and the world are alive and it would mean that we are
progressing. But, if the protest is not accepted or understood as an action for development
of both groups, it would hurt both of them as the above two examples show.