Wonki Baek
What do we live for? Today, I saw two videos that about how people response when they meet a family member whom haven't seen for a long and that about those people whose children were born in different ways, such as with physical disability, autism, different sexual orientation or gender identity. They're giving an clear message what family means for you and a sudden question; what do we live for and why are we living for that? We, young generations are forced to be successful by the society and older generations. They distort the definition of success, by emphasising one aspect of meanings: financial aspect. Higher position, higher salary, stronger power, more authorities, bigger organisation and best result are the only evidence and a success of your life can be proved only by these index. What else? According to them, we can't succeed without going to top class university or getting an higher job. Our society teaches young generation that you must be an exclusive or you'll be a loser, in particular in my country. This values, however, cannot be achieved by a majority of people. Old generations addicted to sweetness of economic growth for the last decades want the country to keep running for it. But there are no more growth because they are actual existences holding back the most of economy. It's now just even challenging to live in normal. to be continued...
Dec 15, 2014 2:39 AM
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What do we live for?

Today, I saw two videos that about how people respond when they meet a family member whom they haven't seen for a long time and that about those people whose children were born in different ways, such as with physical disability, autism, different sexual orientation or gender identity. They're giving an clear message about what family means for you and a sudden question arises: What do we live for and why are we living for that?

We, young generations are forced to be successful by the society and the older generations. They distort the definition of success, by emphasising one aspect of meanings: the financial aspect. Higher position, higher salary, stronger power, more authority, bigger organisation and best result are the only evidence, and the success of your life can be proven only by these indexes. What else? According to them, we can't succeed without going to top class university or getting an better job. Our society teaches the young generation that you must be an exclusive (I'm not sure what you mean by an "exclusive.") or you'll be a loser, in particular in my country. These values, however, cannot be achieved by a majority of people. Older generations, addicted to sweetness of economic growth for the last few decades, want the country to keep aiming for them. But there is no more growth because they are actual existences (What do you mean by this? What is holding back the economy? The older generation? The older generations' values?) holding back the most of economy. It's now just even challenging to live in a normal life.

to be continued...

 

Wow. Very deep topic. It is like this a little bit in the U.S. but not nearly to the same extent as in Asian countries. I'm looking forward to reading the continuation. Please let me know if you have any questions about the corrections.

~Andrea

December 18, 2014

What do we live for?

Today, I saw two videos that about how people respondwhen they meet a family member whom they haven't seen for a long time and about those people whose children were born in different ways, such as with physical disability, autism, different sexual orientation or gender identity. They're giving an clear message what family means for you and a sudden question; what do we live for and why are we living for that?

We, young generations are forced to be successful by the society and older generations. They distort the definition of success, by emphasising one aspect of meanings: financial aspect. Higher position, higher salary, stronger power, more authorities, bigger organisation and best result are the only evidence and a success of your life can be proved only by these index. What else? According to them, we can't succeed without going to top class university or getting an higher job. Our society teaches young generation that you must be an exclusive or you'll be a loser, in particular in my country. This values, however, cannot be achieved by a majority of people. Old generations addicted to sweetness of economic growth for the last decades want the country to keep running for it. But there are no more growth because they are actual existences holding back the most of economy. It's now just even challenging to live in normal.

to be continued...

December 16, 2014
Hi man, Yes I agree with the idea that this is a quiet common issue over Asian countries, especially those with radical economic growth in their history for the last century. Personally I assume that is due to the fact that those old generations have experienced their efforts for what-they-call-success had brought the economic affluence. It is, however, not able for those countries to grow their economy as much as before. Ironically, the reason why that kind of success is impossible is because they've got most of domestic wealth and properties. Anyway, cheers. I am still trying to find my way for the future. :) Wonki
December 18, 2014
Good point!It is not only problem in Korea, but also in Japan and China. I am not sure whether it is related to culture or some values. The elder generation stick on success, and they feel honored when achieving goals. It is not bad, at least all should improve. But we need to realize the difference of individuals. Not all of us can be No 1 in ranking, not all of us feel happy when living in a big house. There is always something we can be better at. It is important to keep a balance. Work hard and gain progress is good, but we need to enjoy life. Some people regretted about spending too little time with family while they were working too hard. That's a shame, not success.
December 15, 2014
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