PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
1.I came across an interesting essay on Foreignpolicy.com, discussing a phenomenon localized to South Koreaā¦.but is actually a condition seen throughout modern society: young people who cannot see a way to a successful financial future.
[ Why Young Koreans Love to Splurge]
According to the author, desperation about their future results in simply giving up preparing for the future, saving, and delaying gratification.
The same can be seen in millennials in our nation.....and I bet throughout Western Civilization.
āWhy Young Koreans Love to Splurge
Sometimes blowing your paycheck can be a rational choice.
2. ā¦in South Korea, a generation of frustrated young people is reclaiming the idea of frivolous expensesāfrom cab rides to expensive sushiāas a psychological survival tool dubbed shibal biyong.
Loosely translated to āf**k-it expense,ā the term is a compound noun combining shibal (a swearword for frustration) and biyong (expense)ā¦. such as āan impulsive food delivery or a cab ride.ā
3. A shibal biyong is an expense that might seem unnecessary but that helps you get through a bad day. Itās the $20 you splurge for a cab home instead of taking the subway after youāve been denied a promotion or the comforting but expensive sushi you buy after youāve been berated by your boss. The term implies that you might as well make yourself happy right now because your prospects in the long term seem bleak. Buy that nice coat, because youāll never get on the housing ladder. Eat that steak, because youāll never save up enough to retire.ā
4. The average Starbucks in NYC is $3.25-$5ā¦..weāre talking about something like $1500 a year. Want a croissant, too? Weāre up to about $2500 per annum.
Now add the extra items aboveā¦.the taxis, the extravagant dinners, the shoes you canāt do withoutā¦.and your journey into poverty is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
5. I claim that this not a Korean phenomenon, but the āMillennial Disease.ā During the last three quarters of a century, Western Civilization has āconvertedā to a new religion, a most attractive and dynamic one, one which replaces an investment in the next world with the search for materialism in this one.
Whittaker Chambers wrote this in Witness:
āIt [Communism] is not new. It is, in fact, man's second oldest faith. Its promise was whispered in the first days of the Creation under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: "Ye shall be as gods." It is the great alternative faith of mankind. Like all great faiths, its force derives from a simple vision. Other ages have had great visions. They have always been different versions of the same vision: the vision of God and man's relationship to God. The Communist vision is the vision of Man without God.
It is the vision of man's mind displacing God as the creative intelligence of the world.ā
The need or desire for āthingsā replaces planning for the future, ours and our childrenās. Objects are moved to a higher level than concepts that once ruled our lives.....responsibility, planning for the future, families...honesty.
When nothing matters but that croissant or those new shoes.....the result is a feeling of worthlessness and desperation.
But.....consumer spending is up, Black Friday and all......
[ Why Young Koreans Love to Splurge]
According to the author, desperation about their future results in simply giving up preparing for the future, saving, and delaying gratification.
The same can be seen in millennials in our nation.....and I bet throughout Western Civilization.
āWhy Young Koreans Love to Splurge
Sometimes blowing your paycheck can be a rational choice.
2. ā¦in South Korea, a generation of frustrated young people is reclaiming the idea of frivolous expensesāfrom cab rides to expensive sushiāas a psychological survival tool dubbed shibal biyong.
Loosely translated to āf**k-it expense,ā the term is a compound noun combining shibal (a swearword for frustration) and biyong (expense)ā¦. such as āan impulsive food delivery or a cab ride.ā
3. A shibal biyong is an expense that might seem unnecessary but that helps you get through a bad day. Itās the $20 you splurge for a cab home instead of taking the subway after youāve been denied a promotion or the comforting but expensive sushi you buy after youāve been berated by your boss. The term implies that you might as well make yourself happy right now because your prospects in the long term seem bleak. Buy that nice coat, because youāll never get on the housing ladder. Eat that steak, because youāll never save up enough to retire.ā
4. The average Starbucks in NYC is $3.25-$5ā¦..weāre talking about something like $1500 a year. Want a croissant, too? Weāre up to about $2500 per annum.
Now add the extra items aboveā¦.the taxis, the extravagant dinners, the shoes you canāt do withoutā¦.and your journey into poverty is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
5. I claim that this not a Korean phenomenon, but the āMillennial Disease.ā During the last three quarters of a century, Western Civilization has āconvertedā to a new religion, a most attractive and dynamic one, one which replaces an investment in the next world with the search for materialism in this one.
Whittaker Chambers wrote this in Witness:
āIt [Communism] is not new. It is, in fact, man's second oldest faith. Its promise was whispered in the first days of the Creation under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: "Ye shall be as gods." It is the great alternative faith of mankind. Like all great faiths, its force derives from a simple vision. Other ages have had great visions. They have always been different versions of the same vision: the vision of God and man's relationship to God. The Communist vision is the vision of Man without God.
It is the vision of man's mind displacing God as the creative intelligence of the world.ā
The need or desire for āthingsā replaces planning for the future, ours and our childrenās. Objects are moved to a higher level than concepts that once ruled our lives.....responsibility, planning for the future, families...honesty.
When nothing matters but that croissant or those new shoes.....the result is a feeling of worthlessness and desperation.
But.....consumer spending is up, Black Friday and all......