Monday, 10:00 am, author stumbles upon immense indoor sports emporium: Broadly speaking there are four moments when a human being may be said to acquire a rational soul. Bowling, swimming, exercise and weight lifting. Or, to put the matter another way. “Strategic Choice and Globalization in Korea:” Four possibilities as to when the life of a human being may be said to begin. “Labor Practice and Economic Reform.” Amidst the fragrance of chlorine and against the background beat of disco music. A human being may acquire a soul: (1) at the moment of conception, (2) some time between conception and birth, (3) at the moment of birth, or (4) some time after birth. “Conclusion.” Each of these possibilities found some support among the philosophers of the ancient world.
Having purchased a “Welch’s Sparkling Strawberry Soda,” author sets it down, takes out his “Eye Soft Morning Glory” note pad and with black ballpoint pen begins to describe the scene that is transpiring behind a long window. Globalization is an uncharted sea, one that requires great skill to navigate successfully. Six bright girls, already sweating, three in baseball caps, are running in place on computerized treadmills. Some of these ancient authors had argued that the human being begins at conception. Two black-clad policemen enter on break to purchase small bottles of tomato juice. Segyehwa policy had originally been designed to create innovative economic structures. Thought to be the moment when the seed-mixture “set” to produce the embryo, a few days after insemination.
“KBS Health,” reads the sign on the door to the exercise room, through whose window is visible a woman being attended to by a physical therapist. Conforming to liberal norms and capable of sustaining international growth and competitiveness. This position is associated with the Pythagoreans, but it may well have also been the view of Aristotle. Who is supervising her side bends. This implied economic liberalization not only in terms of trade but also of finance and foreign investment. Through another interval in the line of six exercising women is visible the circular belt of an anti-flab machine. Another view was that the human being began sometime between conception and birth, either when the form was complete (“formation”) or when the fetus had begun to move (“quickening”).
In leisurely fashion. The developmental state gave way to a liberal regulatory state. After much light conversation. This position is associated with Aristotelians in particular. The two policemen. (It seems also to have been the view of Philo of Alexandria.) Consummate their tomato juice purchase (three bottles in all). The chaebol were to be down-sized and prepared for competition on a level playing field, both domestic and international. To which are added three black straws. There were many who argued that the human being began immediately after birth, when the fetus was physically separate from his or her mother and began to breathe air. Everything is efficiently inserted into a black plastic bag. It was necessary that society be democratized for more citizen participation.
This fourth view is associated with the Stoics and Platonists, though what Plato himself thought is unclear. Each policeman, in addition to black pants, black shoes and black gloves, has a black police phone. It was necessary that welfare and social spending be expanded, so as to broaden the social safety net and enhance human development. In a black sweater over a plaid shirt a man who has finished his exercise exits the locker room door, takes a seat and informs author that he should give up his place to four ladies who wish to sit together at his table. There were also attitudes and practices common in the ancient world (most notably the toleration of infanticide) that might seem to imply that even long after birth a child was not considered to have full status as a human being.
However. On the pillars of the exercise room. Nevertheless. Have been hung pictures of athletes: a female long distance runner raising her arms at the finish line, male weight lifters displaying their bulk. Achieving these aims required a clear understanding. Ancient writers seem not to have understood. The sequentialization and prioritization of reforms. The importance that this had in delaying the propagation of the soul. And the consequences of such choices. Author changes venue to swimming stadium, mounting steep steps to a seat, removing his jacket against the heat and humidity, defogging his glasses and turning his attention to recording this lively scene, in which full-tank-suited swimmers, many of them older women, are being tended by black navy-seal-suited young men.
They believed that young children, like women, slaves and barbarians, simply did not have full legal or ethical status, which depended on free citizenship. A prodigious stream of swimmers, all with flippers (in chartreuse, pink or aquamarine) file past, doing the butterfly, the backstroke, the crawl. The response of South Korea to globalization challenges some present ideas about globalization based on European experience. They seem to belong to teams, or at least to regular groups, for a dozen in each lane wear identically colored swim suits and caps. In the case of the western European economies there has been a tendency to question the welfare state and turn to neo-liberal market ideology. Behind this display, the walls of the stadium are adorned with brightly colored tiles:
This has created conditions that demand not only an increased reliance on the market. The tiles have been distributed with lively imagination: But at the same time an expansion of the welfare state and the social safety net. Descending ranks of peach, burnt sienna, purple, pale green, dark blue, lavender and pale blue. Recent trends in the politics of Western Europe indicate that the response to globalization involves a conflict between the attempt to preserve social democracy with its welfare state. The lap swimming has ceased. And yet to insure that market forces sustain competitiveness. By fours the swimmers hold hands, forming circles, leaping together off the shallow floor of the pool, finally disengaging to thrust their hands in the air and, smiling, clap in unison.
At the far end of the pool, high on a wall above it, is a very large painting of a tree, pristine white doves emerging from its abstract branches.