When a King Does It, It's Tradition; When a Citizen Does It, It's a Sex Crime
In ancient Greece, there was a man named Thrasymachus who said this: "Justice? It's just whatever benefits the stronger."
We usually judge things by "legal or illegal." But what if something illegal were turned into something legal by force?
In 1505, King Yeonsangun of Korea's Joseon dynasty sent officials across the country with orders to gather beautiful women and fine horses. These officials were called "Chaehongsa." The women who were brought in were called "Unpyeong," and those selected again from among them were called "Heungcheong." These women were tested every day, and if they did poorly, they were beaten.
After Genghis Khan conquered a tribe called the Tatars, the tribe's women were also divided up among Mongol men. Genghis Khan took as wives the two daughters of a Tatar chieftain he had killed. The elder of the two was caught while trying to flee with her husband, and her husband escaped alone.
If ordinary people did something like this, it would bring the death penalty or life in prison, but when a king does it, it becomes a legal institution.
It happens in our own time too. Yahya Jammeh, the former president of the Gambia in Africa, is said to have hired young women as staff at the presidential palace, even paying them salaries, and forced them to have sex with him. He even used state programs such as beauty pageants and study-abroad scholarships to pick out women.
There's also Gaddafi of Libya. A woman named Soraya testified that when she was 15, she handed Gaddafi a bouquet of flowers when he visited her school, and afterward she was taken away and raped for five years.
The stories about Mao Zedong come mainly from a book written by his personal physician, and the stories about Kim Jong-il's "Joy Brigade" come mostly from North Korean defectors, so let's just call them allegations.
The stories above have something in common. It wasn't just one person doing something wrong; they turned it into a "system." An official post called Chaehongsa, a custom of dividing up the spoils of war, a job as presidential palace staff. Those in power didn't just do wrong; they made it impossible to call it wrong.
In modern politics too, the winning side makes the laws. When the workers' politician wins, workers make the laws, and when the politician backed by women wins, women make the laws.
Think about it. If the person who makes the laws is that same person, and the people who judge are on that person's side, who can call him a criminal? As the saying goes, "If it succeeds, it's a revolution; if it fails, it's a rebellion." The same act gets a different name depending on who won.
It can be done with money, too. The rich can hire expensive lawyers and hold out even if a trial drags on for years. The poor can't. A person who steals because they're hungry is caught right away, while the corruption of powerful people sometimes gets buried in complicated legal arguments and fizzles out. Before the law, no one is equal.
One day, Israel's King David saw a woman bathing from his rooftop. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his own commanders. The king summoned her to the palace. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David ordered that Uriah be placed at the very front of the most dangerous battle. Uriah died, and David took Bathsheba as his wife.
Legally, he was clean. No one accused the king. No one could.
But a prophet named Nathan came to the king and told him a story.
"A rich man had a great many sheep and cattle, and a poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb. When a guest came to the rich man's house, the rich man was unwilling to use one of his own sheep, so he took the poor man's lamb and slaughtered it."
David burned with anger. "A man like that deserves to die!"
Nathan said, "You are the man!"
A king may escape the law, but he cannot escape God.
Read the original (Korean) →
We usually judge things by "legal or illegal." But what if something illegal were turned into something legal by force?
When a King Does It, It's Tradition; When We Do It, We Get Sued
In 1505, King Yeonsangun of Korea's Joseon dynasty sent officials across the country with orders to gather beautiful women and fine horses. These officials were called "Chaehongsa." The women who were brought in were called "Unpyeong," and those selected again from among them were called "Heungcheong." These women were tested every day, and if they did poorly, they were beaten.
After Genghis Khan conquered a tribe called the Tatars, the tribe's women were also divided up among Mongol men. Genghis Khan took as wives the two daughters of a Tatar chieftain he had killed. The elder of the two was caught while trying to flee with her husband, and her husband escaped alone.
If ordinary people did something like this, it would bring the death penalty or life in prison, but when a king does it, it becomes a legal institution.
It happens in our own time too. Yahya Jammeh, the former president of the Gambia in Africa, is said to have hired young women as staff at the presidential palace, even paying them salaries, and forced them to have sex with him. He even used state programs such as beauty pageants and study-abroad scholarships to pick out women.
There's also Gaddafi of Libya. A woman named Soraya testified that when she was 15, she handed Gaddafi a bouquet of flowers when he visited her school, and afterward she was taken away and raped for five years.
The stories about Mao Zedong come mainly from a book written by his personal physician, and the stories about Kim Jong-il's "Joy Brigade" come mostly from North Korean defectors, so let's just call them allegations.
The Law Is Made by the Winners
The stories above have something in common. It wasn't just one person doing something wrong; they turned it into a "system." An official post called Chaehongsa, a custom of dividing up the spoils of war, a job as presidential palace staff. Those in power didn't just do wrong; they made it impossible to call it wrong.
In modern politics too, the winning side makes the laws. When the workers' politician wins, workers make the laws, and when the politician backed by women wins, women make the laws.
Think about it. If the person who makes the laws is that same person, and the people who judge are on that person's side, who can call him a criminal? As the saying goes, "If it succeeds, it's a revolution; if it fails, it's a rebellion." The same act gets a different name depending on who won.
It can be done with money, too. The rich can hire expensive lawyers and hold out even if a trial drags on for years. The poor can't. A person who steals because they're hungry is caught right away, while the corruption of powerful people sometimes gets buried in complicated legal arguments and fizzles out. Before the law, no one is equal.
Still, There Is an Eye That Cannot Be Fooled
One day, Israel's King David saw a woman bathing from his rooftop. She was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his own commanders. The king summoned her to the palace. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David ordered that Uriah be placed at the very front of the most dangerous battle. Uriah died, and David took Bathsheba as his wife.
Legally, he was clean. No one accused the king. No one could.
But a prophet named Nathan came to the king and told him a story.
"A rich man had a great many sheep and cattle, and a poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb. When a guest came to the rich man's house, the rich man was unwilling to use one of his own sheep, so he took the poor man's lamb and slaughtered it."
David burned with anger. "A man like that deserves to die!"
Nathan said, "You are the man!"
A king may escape the law, but he cannot escape God.
