Cops and Robbers
This post doesn't actually have anything to do with Janggeum and Jewel of the Palace, but I saw this short article and thought it was interesting enough to mention to the class.
South Korean gangsters get more satisfaction from their line of work than the police, according to a survey published on Tuesday in local dailies.According to the survey conducted among 109 jailed mobsters by the Korean Institute of Criminal Justice, 79.3 percent of gangsters said they were somewhat or very satisfied with their life in organized crime.
About 65 percent of police said they enjoyed their profession, according to a separate survey.
South Korean gangsters make on average about 4 million won ($4,255) a month, which is typically higher than the pay for police.
The criminal justice survey said crime syndicates in South Korea get most of their money through traditional methods such as extortion, prostitution and gambling.
But mobsters have been looking to diversify their operations and are trying to muscle their way into shady stock deals or earn a share of corporate mergers and acquisitions, it said.
While the article doesn't exactly go into the details and the methodology of how they exactly compiled this data, I thought it was interesting to see such a high "job satisfaction" with gangsters. When I read this, two things popped into my mind.
The thought that such a drastic shift in cultural ideas (such as moving from a education-centric view of success to a quick-money-and-fame) was surprising and, to be honest, a little worrisome. With an increase in globalization and technological advancement, can this shift be attributed to, if at least in part, to Western ideas of immediate gratification and instant success (American Idol, Survivor, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, etc.)?
posted by 123fakestreet @ 1:22 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks Eddie for this article. I agree that it is very interesting that it appears that there may be a cultural shift in ideaology of success. The only thing that I wanted to comment on was that eventhough such an ideology is not pop culture in S. Korea, yet, I feel like a growing number of the young generation are making and striving for these what you might call "American Idol" dreams. I think a lot of this has to do with the competitive nature of Korean society. I know that it is very common for students to go to various tutorial classes after school so that they can have that extra edge on their peers. Unfortunately, almost EVERYONE goes to these tutorial classes so it's almost expected that students go to these tutorial classes and that extra edge aspect is dissolved. Eventually, some of the students who aren't as academically driven will not take on these extra classes and they will fall behind. With time, there will be more and more of these types of students which leads to the emancipation of the "American Idol" ideology.
Does Korea have American Idol-type shows? (Or is American Idol shown there?) If so, I can definitely see how kids' aspirations could be affected by this. If you see pop stars becoming fabulously famous and rich and traveling all over the world, that's a pretty glamorous lifestyle which has always appealed to a lot of people. In the past, most people just wrote off those kind of aspirations as dreams and instead settled for a more practical job (like doctor or lawyer or business) which could offer some of the same benefits. Shows like American Idol, however, make that star lifestyle seem more attainable than ever before, so I can see why more kids would actually think it's realistic to strive for it.
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