#standwithhanbin

I have no words. Honestly, I am beyond myself. I have no more words. This is not just about Korea. I am so disappointed, angry and sad.

Is this what we think is the right thing to do is? Is this our solution? To break people, to drive them into despair? Then, when they develop mental issues and try to find ways to cope with them we categorize them as “drug heads” and shame them. We publicly shame them and dehumanizes them. We strip them of any compassion, turn them into monsters. We ostracize them and push them to the borders. When they fall down the cliff, we act shocked and send a hypocritical message of sorry to pretend that we still have moral counsciousness?

I am absolutely tired and disappointed at people’s pure hypocrisy. The people who are the quickest to shame are always the same. They stand on a pretended “moral high ground” and put down people to feel a sense of moral accomplishment and feel like that they “did something good”. Their shaming is constant and they follow anything that the media pretends is “bad”. They are the people who shame criminals, but they are also the same people who shame people needing support and empathy. They are the same people who are yelling at the abusers while abusing other people. Without making any informed decision, without doing any research, without taking the time to reflect, their actions are much more nefarious than they think. This is what helps the media manipulate people so easily.

Are we, as a society, really going to pretend to be understanding and supportive of mental health while shaming someone obviously suffering psychologically for trying to cope with their mental issues? Are we, as a society, really going to pretend that we are empathic when we are so quick to destroy someone in need of help ? Are we, as a society, really going to pretend that we promote tolerance, when innocent until proven guilty has become only a meaningless sentence?

This message is not only about knetz but also about the people on Facebook, on Twitter, on Weibo, and on Allkpop trying to throw very vile accusations around, trying to equate this scandal to something of the caliber of human trafficking, trying to say that this is another reason why YG is problematic, trying to pin Hanbin himself down as another reason why YG is a problem, calling Hanbin a “drug-head”, being sarcastic and saying very snide things like “as if he would admit buying from the drug dealer” and “another from YG’s drug den”. I don’t think he needs your “help” to feel more guilty. I don’t think he needs your “help” to feel more down. I don’t think you need to drag him even lower than he is already. I don’t think you need to push him over the cliff. Sometimes, all people need is a small push to drop over the edge. Literally.

I also think that the fact that he did drugs or not should not be a decision on whether to hate him or not. I, personally, do not believe that he took drugs. However, even if the truth turns out that he did take drugs, what difference does it make? Since when is taking drugs an indicator of someone’s moral values? Does taking drugs inhenrently make people bad people? Furthermore, can we think about the reason why he would take them?

Also, to the people coming up with the excuse: “but he would be breaking the law”. Having a law against something does not make that thing inherently bad. Law systems are inherently reactionary and laws only change when there is a big social movement observed. Someone breaking a law that has very reactionary values shouldn’t be inherently judged as a “bad person”. Instead, we should also question this law itself and further discussion about the validity of it. As an East Asian person, I am more aware than anything that a lot of laws in East Asian countries need a lot of reviewing and changing, as a lot of them are absolutely absurd, reactionary and can even be a threat to basic human rights. It is extremely important to speak up against unfair and outdated laws and encourage a conversation about them.

Also, please be informed about the effects of a drug and their usage before making quick assumptions. Please make an informed decision. Don’t just get an opinion because the media told you what you should think. Form your own opinion. Herd mentality is toxic. Just hating is not cool.

Be compassionate. Stay informed.

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