A Corean Curmudgeon

Cho Se-hyon, a man "hotly chided... for being so sarcastic, even unpatriotic, about fellow Koreans," is "convinced that practically nothing moves in Korea unless there is money to be made by an individual or group" — Greed Rules. It wasn't always this way, he notes:

In the 1950s when the people were less materialistic, we were happier, with full of dreams, even though many of us were forced to go hungry and wear worn-out clothes handed out by the U.S. forces or international aid organizations. But we helped each other whenever we could and although Seoul was not any less chaotic and difficult to live in than it is now, we were courteous to each other.

When I went back to Korea after a long sojourn overseas, I found the country vastly more affluent with high-rise apartments and people driving big, shiny cars everywhere. Ironically, though, life appears to be much tougher and the people have become more selfish and greedier than they were half a century ago.

He describes a practice not limited to his country: "Our politicians get together and form a political party not because they share the same political ideology or want to advance any political ideals they believe in, but simply because it is easier for them to fight for power as a group and make money for themselves by using their influence." He also notes that "democracy is not a cure-all for social ills, least of all, the people’s greed."