Ex-president Yoon's attempt to impose martial law didn't just deepen divides between political parties. It caused a fundamental split within his own conservative party, creating warring "Yoon again" and "Yoon never again" factions that have crippled its effectiveness and created a deep identity crisis.
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The most significant threat to a political ideology comes not from the opposing party, but from the 'lunatics' on its own side. These extreme factions can make the entire group appear foolish and unreasonable, doing more damage to their credibility than any opponent ever could.
Despite a strong democratic and economic recovery, South Korea was passed over for the award. The judging committee determined its progress was primarily a recovery from "entirely ridiculous and self-inflicted wounds" (an attempted imposition of martial law), which is a less compelling form of improvement than overcoming external challenges.
Current American political turmoil is not about personalities but the structural breakdown of both major parties. Each has lost key voter factions, creating a chaotic period where neither can truly win. This instability will persist until a new political alignment emerges.
When a political movement is out of power, it's easy to unify against a common opponent. Once they gain power and become the establishment, internal disagreements surface, leading to factions and infighting as they debate the group's future direction.
South Korea's mainstream conservative party is increasingly influenced by a loud, far-right fringe. This group, composed of online commentators and YouTubers using MAGA-style tactics, has demonstrated the power to mobilize the party's base and dictate its leadership choices, effectively marginalizing moderate voices.
The BC Conservative Party's rapid rise was followed by an equally rapid collapse. In a bid for mainstream electability, its leadership recruited candidates from a collapsing centre-right party. This created a caucus of "dogs and cats" with fundamentally opposed views on cultural issues, leading to infighting and paralysis.
Treating political opposition as a criminal enterprise creates an existential battle akin to nuclear MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). It forces each side to escalate when in power, fearing they'll be jailed if they lose, which guarantees the destruction of the political system itself.
After being expelled from the BC Conservative Party, politician Dallas Brody co-founded a new party, only to be temporarily thrown out of it as well. She attributes this to a "woke right" faction that, in her view, mirrors the progressive left's tactics of enforcing ideological purity and punishing dissent.
An obsessive focus on internal political battles creates a critical geopolitical vulnerability. While a nation tears itself apart with divisive rhetoric, strategic adversaries like China benefit from the distraction and internal weakening. This domestic infighting accelerates the erosion of the nation's global influence and power.
The main opposition party in Japan, a hasty merger of two established parties, failed spectacularly. Rather than creating a stronger force, the alliance muddled their identities and leadership structure, causing them to lose more than half their seats and alienate core supporters.
