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One issue is that there are many who are not willing to live normal lives and there's this constant battle of trying to outdo one another. People are trying to
by 1-6 3y ago
One issue is that there are many who are not willing to live normal lives and there's this constant battle of trying to outdo one another. People are trying to please even mere strangers standing next to them at the crosswalk. Living mediocre is bad and there's a negative stigma associated to being middle to lower class.
If your apartment isn't a Prugio or Lotte Castle and live in Bangbae;
If your car isn't a AMG, BMW M, or at least a Genesis;
If your bag isn't a Hermes or a LV;
If your morning routine doesn't include an Ah-Ah (Ice Americano);
If your baby stroller isn't a Yoyo;
If your watch isn't an Apple Watch or Omega;
If your shoes aren't won through a Nike Raffle and have high resale;
If your road bike riding through Hangang isn't a Pinarello;
You'll be forever mediocre.
My solution? Spread the population apart such that people will stop comparing themselves with one another. There are plenty of places outside of Seoul where there's fiber internet, good schools that are empty (better teacher to student ratio), and cheap land. People should be more willing to embrace the countryside (shigol) and stop thinking it's bad or without opportunity. I hope there will be more remote jobs that pay well to incentivise new families to go outward. Seoul needs some rest!
- mschuster91 3y ago> My solution? Spread the population apart such that people will stop comparing themselves with one another. Small villages where everyone knows each other can be just as bad regarding bullying and talking behind one's backs, although I do agree - especially as some here in Western countries keep advocating for megacities and accelerating rural flight because of resource usage efficiency - that too dense populations are a hotbed of all kinds of social issues.
- amrocha 3y agoOr just tax the shit out of the rich until they can't afford to flaunt their wealth as status
- boeingUH60 3y agoThe real rich, the capital owners, are not the ones flaunting wealth for status...that's the upper class people with high-paying jobs; rich but not wealthy.
- googlryas 3y agoWell...what would you call Jeff's $500M yacht?
- mensetmanusman 3y agoThe 8th wonder of the world? Ha
- amrocha 3y agoAbsolutely not true, the way they flaunt it is just different. Instead of clothes it's donations and foundations.
- willcipriano 3y agoThe trick they pull on you guys is having you think someone with a pair of mass produced Nike sneakers is rich. Crabs in a bucket.
- amrocha 3y agoNot really, the degree of flaunting just changes. People with a little bit of money have Nikes, people with a bit more have designer clothing, people with a lot more have lavish houses and yachts, and the people with the most have "foundations".
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bachmeier 3y ago> My solution? Spread the population apart such that people will stop comparing themselves with one another. That would fix the problem, but it's not a solution, because there's no practical way to implement it. It's hard to imagine that even five people would willingly move out of Seoul.
- Slava_Propanei 3y ago[dead]
- matthewtse 3y agoHaving spent some time recently in Seoul, the amount of materialism and status oneupsmanship was striking compared to the USA. One hypothesis I have is that it's because of the genetic homogeneity of everyone there, meaning the main way to differentiate between others is through your things.
- mycologos 3y agoYou could also just have different personalities. The idea that differentiation must be entirely visual and object-based seems pretty uncreative.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoSouth Koreans are more homogeneous in personality then Americans even more so then the 6x population difference would suggest.
- cameldrv 3y agoInteresting idea. You see this sort of thing throughout the westernized world, perhaps not as extreme as SK, but I've never been so I can't compare. This is a completely busted system of values though... Almost everything you mention is the luxury version of things that all have functionally very similar alternatives at a much lower cost. The main value is signaling and maybe satisfying some mimetic desire. As signaling, it's a zero sum game, and is mostly just consuming all excess resources. The question is why do people feel that this is the best use of their resources? Do they not have any purpose for their lives beyond consumption? Why are people being judged largely based on the consumer products they can afford instead of whether they're a kind person or whether they have a a lot of friends or whether they're proud of their children or any number of other positive things they could be doing?
- sw104 3y ago> Do they not have any purpose for their lives beyond consumption? A lot of people have no purpose in their life beyond consumption. Truly, this is it. If people put the tiniest fraction of work into their fitness, their personality, their intelligence or any other character-building activity or experience instead of working away to buy trinkets and tokens of vapid displays of wealth, we may actually get somewhere as a species. Exercising is hard, as is resisting junk food, as is reading a book compared to watching TV, or throwing yourself into a new situation. It's so much easier to not do that stuff, sit in an office and collect a paycheck and redirect that money towards things we think make us better than each other. Personally, I'm way more impressed with the people I know who run 100km+ a week, workout hard and study hard, than people who walk around wearing designer clothes or showing off the things they've bought. The latter sounds sort of pathetic.
- cameldrv 3y agoThis is an old thread, but I just saw your response. I think fitness is a fine goal instrumentally, and way better than just buying crap you don't need, but ultimately your six pack abs are still another trinket or token. The question is what your purpose is. For some people, their main purpose is bringing up the next generation. Others try to build big things. Others try to discover something new. Others want to help create or perpetuate useful organizations. Others want to glorify God. Now all of that said, if you want your six pack abs so that you can attract a wife so that you can start a family, great. If you want to be fit so that you'll live longer and with more energy so that you can accomplish other things, also great. My general feeling though is that due to a bunch of changes in the modern world, people have lost outlets for a sense of purpose in their lives, and this is leading to major psychological problems.