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Some people say BTS did not pave the way because I don’t believe they truly understand the definition of “paved the way”. Also, they believe that by acknowledging BTS it somehow invalidates the successes and progress that other K-pop groups have made before them.
When I say BTS paved the way, I do not mean that other K-artists did not pave the way. People say BTS paved the way because the very definition of “paved the way” is to make progress or development easier, and therefore they paved the way for kpop. It does not mean they were the
first to do something (although BTS has a plenty of firsts under their belts).
Why people doesn't accept that BTS paved the way..?
Well because they can't accept the fact. That's all. Yes SUJU, Big Bang, SNSD broke into the US market but how much significant was that? Even after they broke into the US, how much media coverage they received?
How many radios played their songs? Did they sell out domes and stadiums? No. They just broke into the US market. That didn't help any of the 3rd gen groups to get famous in the US after them. Wonder Girls literally failed to cause an impact in the US market.
Their one song Nobody was a moderate hit.

Then came Psy. Do you know 70% of the people who listened to Gangnam Style didn't know it was kpop? Even I thought that was some Chinese stuff.
The song had good beats but more importantly, the guy in the video was acting funny and weird. Kpop was funny for Americans. They didn't respect kpop, they laughed at it. That one hit wonder stirred the world for sometime and eventually left the spotlight.
Then came BTS. No BTS isn't the first group to break into the US, but the first group to make kpop relevant to the world. People took them seriously and they got all the media coverage no one dreamt of. They made kpop relevant and made people look at kpop in a different way.
Yes, initially everyone was attracted for their looks but after listening to them, following them, people realize that BTS and kpop are so much more than just visuals. They're not considered some manufactured products here, but real artists
Because of them, NCT was invited to AMAs, Blackpink to Coachella. Recently even ATEEZ was promoted by the Grammys. Do you think all this would have happened without BTS' contribution? Their songs are still not played that much in the radios since they're still not completely-
mainstream here yet.

I'm actually amused by the fact that so many people here are commenting that BTS didn't pave the way when Sunmi, a 2ng gen kpop artist didn't even think twice before accepting the fact that BTS did pave the way.
At least we should know that she knows better than us as to who paved the way and who didn't.

More from For later read

Excited we finally have a draft of this paper, which attempts to provide a 'unifying theory' of the long economic divergence between the Middle East & Western Europe

As we see it, there are 3 recent theories that hit on important aspects of the divergence...

1/


One set of theories focus on the legitimating power of Islam (Rubin, @prof_ahmetkuru, Platteau). This gave religious clerics greater power, which pulled political resources away form those encouraging economic development

But these theories leave some questions unanswered...
2/

Religious legitimacy is only effective if people
care what religious authorities dictate. Given the economic consequences, why do people remain religious, and thereby render religious legitimacy effective? Is religiosity a cause or a consequence of institutional arrangements?

3/

Another set of theories focus on the religious proscriptions of Islam, particular those associated with Islamic law (@timurkuran). These laws were appropriate for the setting they formed but had unforeseeable consequences and failed to change as economic circumstances changed

4/

There are unaddressed questions here, too

Muslim rulers must have understood that Islamic law carried proscriptions that hampered economic development. Why, then, did they continue to use Islamic institutions (like courts) that promoted inefficiencies?

5/

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This report when through dozens of edits as different equities were represented. I did not have any meetings with Sheryl on the paper, but I can’t speak to whether she was in the loop with my higher-ups.

In the end, the difficult question of attribution was settled by us pointing to the DNI report instead of saying Russia or GRU directly. In my pre-briefs with members of Congress, I made it clear that we believed this action was GRU.