Another Year, Another April Fools' Day in East Asia

So, it was April Fools' Day over here in South Korea.  All day, I asked all my little students if they knew what day it was (beyond the actual date, April 1st), and interestingly enough, only the older ones knew what April Fools' Day is.  They called it, "Liar's Day."  WHAT?  Why does it always seem like everybody in this region is always looking for a good reason to lie about something?

Oh!  CULTure again!  Well, that excuses EVERYTHING, doesn't it?  Either way, it's been quite an uphill battle, trying to get my students to understand that playing practical jokes on a given special day of the year does not necessarily equate to "Liar's Day."  I mean, does anybody in the West really think that April Fools' Day is a special day when you have carte blanche to lie?  SHEESH!

Okay.  Fine.  I'm just supposed to look at this all with "an open mind."  You know, all "liberal," and all that good stuff, right?   Different people in different countries have different ways, after all, right?  Sure!  That's why, given that Nazism grew out of generations of old world European and Germanic CULTure, it was perfectly normal and okay (at least for a while) for Hitler's government to pass legislation to strip European Jews of their property.  And then... later on, it must have also been perfectly okay for those first simple laws to progress to DEATH CAMPS! RIGHT?   'Cause, see, "different people in different countries have different ways!"

Uh-uh.  No, you're not fooling me!  No way, no how!

Somehow, I don't think that "CULTure" can, or EVER should, supersede basic human common sense and morality.   'Cause a bunch of people slowly starving to death in a concentration camp is still a bunch of people slowly starving to death in a concentration camp, whether it's in Nazi Germany or North Korea.  Nukes or no nukes, facts are still facts, you see.   I mean, as human beings, we all bleed the same way, don't we?  We all come into the world the same way, and pass gas the same way, so... how can CULTure really alter what is best (or ultimately harmful) for ALL human beings?

Good "liberal" Jedi mind trick there, but... I'm not buying it.  Nope.  Uh-uh.  April Fools' Day or not, I mean, "what's good for the goose is always good for the gander, right?"   In other words, lying over here on this side of the globe, despite any and all CULTural practices, is still pretty much lying over in some other corner of the globe - no matter how you slice, dice (or spin) it.  After all, a falsehood is a falsehood, and just twisting it around in your "open minded" head doesn't really change the facts.
 

But what am I saying?  "Different people in different countries have different ways of doing things."  Guess I'll just keep telling myself that.  Until I actually believe it, right?  Nah. I think it'll be a cold day in Hell when I buy into any of that copious, shameless bull crap.  'Cause here's the thing; I KNOW better.  I was simply raised better than that.   And all the clever Jedi Mind Tricks in the world can never really change any of that.
Of course, I think it's good to be open minded.   I'm pretty open minded about a whole lot of things, myself.   Like the paranormal, for example. I figure anyone who believes in what Fox Mulder of The X-Files often referred to as "extreme possibilities," has got to be pretty darned opened minded.   So yes, I truly believe in being "open minded."  I just think that some people are, perhaps by nature, so open minded that, their brain sort of starts rolling around in their head.  You know, in all that vast open space up there.