|
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/01/south-korea-recipe-for-unhappiness
My native South Korea is something of a star performer. With per capita income of around $20,000 (on a par with Portugal), it is not one of the richest countries, but we are talking about a country whose income was less than half that of Ghana's until the early 1960s. With an annual per capita income growth rate of just under 4%, it is one of the fastest-growing OECD economies.
Once a byword for hyper-exploited sweatshop labour, churning out cheap transistor radios and trainers, the country now possesses the only thing that stands between iPhone and world domination (the Samsung Galaxy). It is also a world leader in industries such as shipbuilding, steel and automobiles.
The country is, per capita, the third most innovative in the world, after Japan and Taiwan, when measured by the number of patents granted by the US patent office. It has one of the world's highest university enrolment ratios, and schoolchildren who rank in the top five in virtually all standardised international tests.
So, when things seem to be going so swimmingly, why are Koreans clamouring for big changes in the run-up to the general election next week? Because they are desperately unhappy.
According to a recent World Values Survey, Koreans are the second unhappiest people (after Hungary) among the citizens of the 32 OECD countries studied. Worse, its children are the unhappiest in the rich world, according to a survey of 23 OECD countries done by Yonsei University in Seoul. In 2009 the country topped the international league table for suicides, with 28.4 suicides per 100,000 people. Japan was a distant second with 19.7. But Koreans never used to be this unhappy. Until 1995 its suicide rate was, at about 10 per 100,000 people, just below the OECD average. Since then it has almost tripled.
The answer to the Korean puzzle can be found in the consequences of the economic reform implemented after the country's 1997 financial crisis. In the UK-US mould, the stock market was fully opened to foreign investors, putting the larger, listed companies under pressure from international shareholders, making them increase short-term profits by minimising investments. The ability of smaller, unlisted companies to invest was severely curtailed by a dramatic reduction in credit availability. Deregulation allowed banks to rush into more lucrative consumer loan markets, reducing the share of loans to business.
The resulting dramatic fall in investments has led to a substantial fall in economic growth from 6%-7% (in per capita terms) per year to under 4%. With lower growth, few well-paid jobs are created. When combined with the relaxation of labour laws after 1997, this has given employers a decisive upper hand over their workers. Many employees were sacked and re-hired as "agency" workers, doing the same jobs at lower wages. The proportion of the workforce without a permanent contract rose from an already high 50% to 60%, the highest in the OECD.
Not that having a permanent contract gives you much protection these days. Most of the companies that used to (informally) provide "lifetime employment" for their core workers have ended the practice, with older staff put under pressure to make way for younger, cheaper workers.
And all of this is being played out in the absence of a decent welfare state – the country has the second smallest in the OECD, after Mexico (measured by welfare spending as a share of GDP). Given this, people live in constant fear of unemployment, forced retirement, and major illnesses, which expose them to a life of penury.
This "fear factor" also partly explains the country's excessive educational zeal. Pupils study hard, thinking that better educational qualification may give them a layer of protection in an unforgiving labour market. But since everyone is studying hard, they have to run faster to stay in the same place. The result is the combination of long study hours (double that of Finnish children, who do equally well in international tests), and enormous mental stress.
Moreover, increased job insecurity has driven the best Korean students into "secure" professions, like medicine and law, leaving science and engineering deprived of top talents. If this trend continues, the country's ability to innovate will be damaged.
The sad tale of my country should serve as a salutary warning to Britain and other European countries that are embarking on major cuts to welfare. They believe that such cuts will reduce budget deficits and make their economies more productive by making people compete more vigorously. However, the Korean story shows that insecurity actually makes people less, not more, productive, and also desperately unhappy. Surely, that is not what they want.
Ha-Joon Chang is a South Korean economist who made a name for himself by criticising the neoliberal 'Washington Consensus' model of economic development, which basically says you want free markets, minimal state intervention, a small social safety net, low taxes and balanced budgets. He used South Korea as one of his primary examples, pointing out that the country's success was built on heavy state investment, protectionism and capital controls, basically the exact opposite of the current economic orthodoxy.
Anyway, South Korea has been moving away from that model since the Asian crisis in the late 90s; this article is an interesting examination of some of the consequences. And it gives a nice bit of background into the culture in which young Korean people grow up, so I thought it might of interest on TL. It makes the decision to become a pro-gamer look even more risky than it first appears.
|
Interesting read... a bit disappointing to hear to say the least. Never woulda guessed S Korea had more suicides than Japan
|
And that's why capitalistic systems like this work so good. You don't need any physical pressure like a whip, all you need to do is install a system were people have to life in fear and out of fear they work their asses off.
I call that slavery.
|
Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Very good read thanks for that. I know there is a thread on the elections on south korea at the moment on TL anyway. Will be looking out even more to see who wins now. Has a strong point for Economic reform though Ha-Joon Chang.
|
Interesting and provocative. I will do more research on the subject, thanks to your introduction.
|
Doesn't the average South Korean work/study somewhere along the lines of 12 to 14 hours a day?
Less work, more Starcraft.
|
although i knew korea's suicide rates were one of the highest, idk if this survey portraying korea's happiness is accurate. Since S.korea's demand for plastic surgery is so high, its not surprising that top students choose medicine and law over science and engineering. The average Korean parents say become a doctor or a lawyer, never an engineer. I'm not too surprised about depression being high for students as well since the amount of work prior to university is immense and mentally taxing.
But happiness is just the individual's perspective. Happiness can be an illusion. Is it real and/or can it be measured? Maybe its the standards that the average Korean has regarding their perception of being happy to be too high compared to other countries. Some people are happy with a trailer park and hot dogs while another can only be happy if they looked like brad pit or jessica alba. After all Korea is extremely superficial when it comes to looks hence one of the highest demand of plastic surgery per capita.
edit: Better to say that Korea is unhappy with the current standpoint of its economy much like prior to Obama (who am i kidding) in the US. Unemployment is related to depression/unhappiness. Also Korea has one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
|
Interesting. Sad to hear about this for the South Koreans, but interesting perspective on how a highly deregulated economy can affect the people in a country (though they do still seem to have a productive economy at least)
|
I would be unhappy too if i was a progamer during Flash era.
|
Aotearoa39261 Posts
Im glad Baezzi isn't around anymore ...
|
2 words: North Korea.
6 more words: Dictator with massive amounts of Artillery.
Any societal analysis of South Korea, without taking this into account, renders it completely mute.
Oh, and that regime just happened to recently acquire Nuclear Weapons. That's a true "fear factor".
The hours studied, per student, just means that Korean children are 1/2 as efficient as Finnish children at studying. That strikes me as a failure completely apart from economic.
The opening paragraph just happens to forgets Korean history from 1900 to 1960. Hard to build an economy when you aren't actually a country. Especially when compared to a former British Protectorate and a major world shipping hub (at the time).
Yeah, it's a pointless article that means nothing. But it fits well with the Guardian's political leanings. (I.e. if you think the reason this piece ran is really about South Korea, you're kidding yourself)
|
Not all that surprised with the reports of low levels of happiness. Personally, I have family members living there and the way the education system is set up, it almost forces you to study that much because college admissions there tend to be weighted majorly based on the result of one major test (the Korean equivalent of the SAT). If you don't score well on that test, you're not in a good spot. Lots of pressure and lots of stress.
Interesting how the argument seems to be framed around welfare with its correlation to happiness. Didn't really consider it fully until now.
On April 02 2012 18:41 Taf the Ghost wrote:
The hours studied, per student, just means that Korean children are 1/2 as efficient as Finnish children at studying. That strikes me as a failure completely apart from economic.
Seems to be more of a cultural reason than an efficiency issue when it comes to the difference in hours studied. In Korea and other Asian cultures, the number of hours studied is believed to highly correlate with success. Thus, students tend to put insane number of hours studying thinking they'll be more successful the more they study because of this belief (not to mention a culture which emphasizes studying). It's not so much Korean children are half as efficient as Finnish children at studying as it is that Finnish children probably tend to incorporate the viewpoint that too much studying (i.e overstudying) is not good for you, which tends to be less of a popular belief in Korea which tends to lean more towards the concept that "overstudying doesn't exist."
|
On April 02 2012 18:41 Taf the Ghost wrote:
(I.e. if you think the reason this piece ran is really about South Korea, you're kidding yourself)
The reason it ran is because the author disagrees with the general economic direction that the British government has taken over the past two decades, culminating in the present austerity (which has completely failed to produce any growth for the last two years now despite all the promises to the contrary) and the looming privatisation-by-stealth of the NHS, against the wishes of the majority of the population. But it's not surprising that a British newspaper would publish news about South Korea that claims to shed some light on what's happening in Britain, so I don't really see that as a problem. It also fits his general thesis that neoliberalism is a disaster for the people who have to live under it. I pointed out in the original post that this was the angle he's coming from. P
ersonally I find his broad analysis of neoliberalism pretty convincing (and damning) but that isn't the reason I posted it here, the reason I posted it here is that it gives some interesting insight into what it's like being a young person in South Korea. It's already a tough enough decision to tell your parents that you're going to try to make a living off playing games competitively, and almost all the pro-gamers say their parents opposed the idea. This gives some idea of why they might be so opposed - with the majority of the population not having permanent contracts, with no social safety net worth the name, with a medical emergency potentially leading to bankruptcy, and with the Red Queen race that apparently makes up the education system it's a hell of a big risk to take, even bigger than you might originally assume.
|
I live in Korea, and yeah, times are really bad. It used to be that you come out of a decent university and you can get a decent job as well, but nowadays, even if you graduate out of one of the top three colleges in korea(SKY), times are still tough. from what my parents have told me, back in their times, the korean economy was just starting and so jobs were everywhere, but nowadays, with the economy sort of at a halt without much room for dramatic progress, there aren't any jobs around. Times are really tough in korea these days even if u get into a good university. imagine if you don't...
|
Korean children study twice as many hours as Finnish children? What the hell? Do they have 12 hour days in school?
I can't see how having no hobbies or time with friends is in any way healthy for children.
|
On April 02 2012 18:41 Taf the Ghost wrote:
2 words: North Korea.
6 more words: Dictator with massive amounts of Artillery.
Any societal analysis of South Korea, without taking this into account, renders it completely mute.
Oh, and that regime just happened to recently acquire Nuclear Weapons. That's a true "fear factor".
The hours studied, per student, just means that Korean children are 1/2 as efficient as Finnish children at studying. That strikes me as a failure completely apart from economic.
The opening paragraph just happens to forgets Korean history from 1900 to 1960. Hard to build an economy when you aren't actually a country. Especially when compared to a former British Protectorate and a major world shipping hub (at the time).
Yeah, it's a pointless article that means nothing. But it fits well with the Guardian's political leanings. (I.e. if you think the reason this piece ran is really about South Korea, you're kidding yourself)
Eh...what would North Korea and their military have anything to do with unhappy citizens and high suicide rates? "Oh snap, those North Koreans are gonna kill us! Better kill myself before they do!"
|
On April 02 2012 18:53 Tazza wrote:
I live in Korea, and yeah, times are really bad. It used to be that you come out of a decent university and you can get a decent job as well, but nowadays, even if you graduate out of one of the top three colleges in korea(SKY), times are still tough. from what my parents have told me, back in their times, the korean economy was just starting and so jobs were everywhere, but nowadays, with the economy sort of at a halt without much room for dramatic progress, there aren't any jobs around. Times are really tough in korea these days even if u get into a good university. imagine if you don't...
and the social stigma that comes with it :/
|
On April 02 2012 18:22 Ectrid wrote:
And that's why capitalistic systems like this work so good. You don't need any physical pressure like a whip, all you need to do is install a system were people have to life in fear and out of fear they work their asses off.
I call that slavery.
There are people living in literal slavery, right this very moment.
You might want to hold off on the hyperbole by claiming that working as a doctor and earning a six-digit salery is the same as being sold off into debt slavery from the age of 13 to work in some Pakistani mine, the only release being running or snuffing up the coal that you have to mine with equipment that would make it seem barbaric in the 1820's.
Or maybe some Indian house-maid, working on Saudi-Arabia, where she can't leave because they take her passport and if she happens to die, regardless of the cause, it is deemed a suicide.
It isn't slavery, it isn't nearly as bad as slavery. Slavery has a meaning, and despite what people like to believe, is still a very real problem in this day and age.
You make light of the suffering of others when you pretend that the fate of slaves and office workers are so identical that they deserve the same name.
|
On April 02 2012 18:41 Taf the Ghost wrote:
Yeah, it's a pointless article that means nothing. But it fits well with the Guardian's political leanings. (I.e. if you think the reason this piece ran is really about South Korea, you're kidding yourself)
Really good point. Would want more information on this, especially how ineffective it is compared to finish students who simply practise half the time. Is it really this bad in SK? Get the feeling of slavery from the article, with fear as whip. What happens on SK when someone is losing their job? They have enough welfare for food and shelter I hope.
I also want to shed light on, that happiness is something you can feel in a trailerpark home, but so many people have demands before they allow themself to feel happy.
This article describe a little different feeling, to feel safe of your basic needs, economy for shelter and food regardless of your job situation
|
On April 02 2012 18:45 Apex wrote:Not all that surprised with the reports of low levels of happiness. Personally, I have family members living there and the way the education system is set up, it almost forces you to study that much because college admissions there tend to be weighted majorly based on the result of one major test (the Korean equivalent of the SAT). If you don't score well on that test, you're not in a good spot. Lots of pressure and lots of stress. Interesting how the argument seems to be framed around welfare with its correlation to happiness. Didn't really consider it fully until now. Show nested quote +On April 02 2012 18:41 Taf the Ghost wrote:
The hours studied, per student, just means that Korean children are 1/2 as efficient as Finnish children at studying. That strikes me as a failure completely apart from economic.
Seems to be more of a cultural reason than an efficiency issue when it comes to the difference in hours studied. In Korea and other Asian cultures, the number of hours studied is believed to highly correlate with success. Thus, students tend to put insane number of hours studying thinking they'll be more successful the more they study because of this belief (not to mention a culture which emphasizes studying). It's not so much Korean children are half as efficient as Finnish children at studying as it is that Finnish children probably tend to incorporate the viewpoint that too much studying (i.e overstudying) is not good for you, which tends to be less of a popular belief in Korea which tends to lean more towards the concept that "overstudying doesn't exist."
It's not a cultural difference. With the amount of information that are thrown at them, you really have to study that much. The problem is that everyone wants to get into a few select universities because there aren't that many well paid jobs for hiring. The bigger problem is that most Koreans literally stop their education path once they are in the college.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
