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Finding Something Requires Losing Something

Posted by Focus Pacific on July 27th, 2025

Are you afraid of losing things?

Before you answer this seemingly straightforward question, I think you should think carefully about what losing really means.

No one is completely calm when he or she loses something valuable. Sometimes this loss…like losing a loved one…can be devastating.

On the other hand, we should keep in mind that those who are likely to succeed are ones who can overcome their loss and become stronger. This is because the key to success may be learning from the loss.

For example, in John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, Joad’s family is driven from their land by drought and the dust bowl. They move west to find a better life, and as a result, they lose their familiar homeland. That is, they lose their home only to take the risk of finding a better one. Later they find no jobs and a hard life and therefore begin to lose hope and confidence. However, they are determined to work harder because they want new opportunities and a better life. As a result, the more they lose, the harder they try and more they find.

As another example, Rosa Parks was arrested and jailed in 1955 because she refused to give up her seat to a white person. This event inspired Martin Luther King to become one of the most powerful figures in the civil rights movement, eventually leading to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What did King lose? He lost his freedom, peace, and time. And he lost the most important thing to any person…his life……a hero killed by a madman. However, he found his life’s purpose and helped the oppressed find freedom.  

There is a saying that water continues to exist even after turning into vapor. This tells us that, each time we lose something, we have a new opportunity to reach our ultimate goals.

Finding something requires losing something.

K. Du

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지워지는 주홍글씨 N번 방

Posted by Focus Pacific on July 24th, 2025

지워지는 주홍글씨 N번 방

 

 

International school of Beijing 12th Grade

권안

 

일명 박사 방의 주동자 조주빈(박사)이 수많은 카메라 앞에서 전국민에게 신상을 공개하고 뉴스의 헤드라인이 조주빈의 얼굴로 가득 채우던 N번방 사건이 처음 화재가 된지 일년이 넘었다. 2019년부터 운영되고 2020년 한 매체에 의해 공론화된N번방 사건은 텔레그렘을 이용한 불법 성 착취물 공유 디지털 성범죄이다. N번방 사건의 가해자들은 피해자들을 SNS를 이용해 유인해 사회적 약자들인 여성과 미성년자들이 대부분인 피해자들에게 접근 금품을 빌미로 성 착취물을 찍게 하고 이를 텔레그램 단톡방에서 불법적으로 유통하였고 또한 피해자들을 성 착취물의 유포를  빌미로 협박하여 성 노예 삼아 신체 사진, 유사성행위 영상 등 피해자의 성적 수치감을 자극하는 영상물을 강제적으로 요구해 지속적으로 영상물을 유통하였다. 이러한 잔인한 여성의 성상품화는  피해자들에게 영원히 치유되지 못할 상처를 안겨주었다. 지금까지 확인 된 N번 방의 여성피해자는 무려 1154명에 다다르며 심지어 피해자 중 미성년자의 지분이 66.7%라고 한다. N번방 안에서 불법 성 착취물을 공유하고 배포한 이 악질적인 범죄에 가담한 N번 방의 회원 수는 만명이 넘는다. 기하급수적인 회원 수에 우리나라 국민들은 N번방 같은 성범죄에 가담하고 있는 범죄자들이 사회에 만연하다는 것을 인지하게 되었고 도처에 N번방 가해자가 존재할 공포감에 시달렸다. 이에 따라 정부는 N번 방에 연루된 모든 성 범죄자들에 대한 확실한 조사와 강력한 처벌과 성범죄에 재발 예방에 힘을 쓸 것을 약속 하였다. N번방 사건에 높은 지분 율을 가지고 있는 조주빈(박사), 문형욱(갓갓) 등등의 주동자들을 포토라인에 세워 신상을 전국민을 상대로 공개하며 범죄자들의 가슴에 전국민이 볼 수 있도록 주홍글씨를 달게 하고 죄의 엄중함을 알렸다.

그렇다면1년이 지난 지금, N번방 사건의 현 좌표는 어떨까. 성범죄자들에 대한 강력한 처벌과 수사를 약속했던 이 성범죄는 과거의 발자취로 남아 현재에는 없는 일이 되었을까?  결론적으로 성범죄자에게 남겨진 주홍 글씨는 사회를 개선하는 어떤 역할도  하지 못했다. 이사건의 주동자들에게 부여한 주홍 글씨는 불법 성 착취물을 배포하고 공유했던 나머지 수만 명의 N번방 회원들의 죄를 대표해서 지고 나서 익명의 가해자들에게 면죄부를 주는  효과를 가지고 왔고 시간의 흐름에 따라 N번방 사건은 대중에게 화제성을 잃어버렸다. 1년이 지난 현재의 시점에도 신상이 공개 되지 않은 2만명의 성범죄자들이 사회에 존재한다는 사실은 변하지 않으며 지금 이 순간에도 피해자들의 아픔은 치유되지 못하고 불안감 속에 떨고 있다. 또한 N번방 사건은 현재 진행형으로 텔레그렘이 아닌 다른 매체를 이용해N번 방들이 생성되고 있고 또 다른 성범죄의 피해자들을 생성하고 있다. N번 방에서 이루어진 디지털 성범죄가 공론화 되고 일년이 지난 현재에도 같은 성범죄의 반복과 수많은 여성들이 폭력에 대상이 되고 있는 것을 통해 포토라인을 통해 새겨진 주홍 글씨는 사회에 만연히 존재하고 있는 성범죄자 들에게 경고의 표식 조차 되지 못한 것을 알 수 있다. 주홍 글씨를 면한 수많은 성범죄자들이 다시 일으키고 있는 성범죄 속에서 타겟이 될 수 있음에 떨고 있는 우리나라의 여성들과 정신적 고통에서 헤어나오지 못하는 피해자들을 위해서 여성의 성을 상품화하는 성범죄의 형벌을 가중 시키는 것은  필연적으로 보인다.

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Volunteering: Why Don’t We Do It?

Posted by Focus Pacific on July 10th, 2025

The charitable societies and organizations that evolved in the depression of 1930s are losing their relevance with the present generation. We are no longer interested in sending checks to American Red Cross. Rather we prefer to give our own time and energy to the cause.

Today’s generation is a complex one with our own weaknesses and strengths. One of our positive side is our interest in helping people. But according to a study, only 24 % of Generation Xers(age 20-38) did Non-profit volunteering as compared to 31 percent of Baby Boomers and 27 percent of Elders.

Some reasons that we identified include:-

  • Lack of Time:The most important factor is the lack of time. Most twentysomethings are very busy. Due to their low spare time, the twentysomethings gravitate to “episodic volunteering.”
  • Lack of Desire: Many of us have been taught that volunteering is good. It is said to be good to help the sick, poor or the suffering but we are not sure exactly why we should volunteer.
  • Turnover:Although, volunteering organizations are very successful, there is a lack of volunteer retention.

Those with the desire to serve must take small steps and go forward to getting involved in volunteering. They will find it is good for them as well as the community.

 

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The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Society

Posted by Focus Pacific on July 2nd, 2025

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Society

In recent years, artificial intelligence has advanced rapidly, gradually reshaping social structures and everyday life. While AI offers enormous benefits, it also brings significant impacts—especially in employment and safety.

AI can replace many traditional roles and enable automated production, particularly for repetitive, assembly-line tasks such as customer service and factory work. These jobs employ many ordinary people, especially in the service and manufacturing sectors. AI can lower labor costs, reduce human error, simplify management, and improve efficiency—but it also exposes many workers to the risk of unemployment. For individuals, losing a job can destabilize an entire family. At the higher-skill end, AI’s large databases and faster, more advanced algorithms not only displace some roles but also create new ones, with many people now working directly in AI-related fields and forming new professional ecosystems.

AI’s development also raises safety concerns. Take self-driving cars: they bring convenience, but if a system failure causes an accident, who is responsible? Algorithms make mistakes, and on questions involving morality and ethics, AI cannot fully reason at that level—it is based on data, not emotion. The large data demands of AI require continual collection and extraction, which can infringe personal privacy if not handled properly. For example, AI-generated images often remix existing artworks; whether this constitutes plagiarism remains a matter of debate.

AI’s rapid growth brings great convenience but also many difficulties and challenges. Alongside progress come real risks. We should not over-rely on AI; we should treat it as a tool, not a crutch. Governments need to craft sensible laws and oversight to set boundaries, strengthen regulation, protect people’s privacy, and foster a healthier society.

Jiani Wang

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Social media and relationship building

Posted by Focus Pacific on June 30th, 2025

Building business relationships through social media network is an art. If you use social media to make your business popular then it is better building meaningful relationships always instead of just collecting friends. Here are five simple steps to help you in best possible way –

  • Be genuine and real – we advise you to share real and genuine thoughts with customers to continue any meaningful conversation.
  • Followers should not be censored – Don’t filter your followers as they trust you so you should also be loyal towards them.
  • Don’t create a stopgap – Allow your customers to respond to any query directly so that they can communicate confidently.
  • Spot the target customers – Collecting large followers’ base can be great but it is more important to know how many of them satisfy the criteria of your target customer.
  • Create brand image naturally – Don’t force people to know about your brand instead convince them gracefully so that they get agreed to promote your services naturally.

 

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