How Bad Is the World? (2010년 8월 28일)

Korea was ranked 15th on a list of the ``Best Countries” that Newsweek wrote up recently based on a survey of 100 countries. How come? Is the world outside Korea so bad that the nation could reach such a high position in spite of all its problems? Did Newsweek get the relevant information from the right sources?

I am asking these questions because I don’t think Korea meets the criteria of a ``good country,” let alone ``best country.” For the survey, Newsweek reportedly looked into five categories of national well-being ― education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment.

In my opinion, the simplest way to measure a good country is to see the quality of life of people who don’t have any power. If the powerless are happy, the country is a good one. Korea is a country where the powerful, not the powerless, are happy and that is why I can’t appreciate the survey result and I am not alone in this.

By age group, it is generally believed that the young ones below 20 and those over 60 have less socio-economic and/or political power than those between 20 and 60. And those young and old ones happen to be having the hardest time surviving in the nation.

Last year, as many as 202 elementary and secondary school students committed suicide, recording an alarming 47 percent increase from the previous year. It was the first time student suicides surpassed 200. A hundred and forty suicides (69 percent) were high school students, followed by junior high school students (28 percent) and primary school students (3 percent).

Among the 202 suicides, 29 percent or 59 students were thought to be the last to choose to end their lives prematurely, as they fared well with classmates and others and were not poor performers academically. They didn’t give any hint of self-destruction, the officials at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said. They opined that the young ones killed themselves impulsively and that they often died in a pact or by copying others who committed suicide.

The officials’ comment is disturbing, to say the least. Happy youths don’t die on impulse. A teenager commits the real act of killing him- or herself impulsively only when he or she has harbored the wish to die. That 29 percent didn’t give any hint at suicide means the majority of 71 percent did, yet they were not saved. A ``Best Country” wouldn’t allow such a thing.

If I were an 11-year-old living in Seoul now, I would think of killing myself more frequently than I did in my time. I wouldn’t be able to survive the heavy load of studying, the heated competition and the lack of freedom. If I were an 11-year-old of a poor family, I would be even more tempted to die. When I was young, lives of the rich and the poor were not so different. Now, they are as different as heaven and earth. Living as a poor person often means a struggle against an unbeatable foe for young hearts.

When it comes to suicide among the elderly over 60 years of age, the situation is truly worrisome. The number shot up by 3.5 times from 1,165 in 1998 to 4,029 in 2008. As people age, they tend to take their own lives in increasing numbers. In 2005, the average suicide rate of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries was 14.5 per 100,000 people for the age group between 55 and 64 years, and the figure grew to 16.3 people for the group of 65~74 years, and to 19.3 persons for those over 74.

In Korea, not only was the overall rate astoundingly high but the growth was also overwhelming. The rate was 42.7 for the 55~64 age group and it leaped to 81.8 for those aged between 65 and 74 years, and to 180.4 for those over 74 years of age. No wonder Korea shows the fastest increase of elderly suicides among OECD members.

People may think suicides among the elderly deserve less sympathy than the younger deaths, that they should be more responsible for their lives than the young ones. Well, you can say so easily if you are young or if you, though old, are living elsewhere. In Korea, particularly Seoul, where life rushes at full speed, old people’s lives are an uphill battle.

Under these circumstances, I think my question of how Korea was ranked 15th on Newsweek’s list is legitimate.

 

뉴스위크가 세계 100개국의 교육, 보건, 삶의 질, 경제적 경쟁력, 정치 환경 등 국민 복리 요소를 조사하여 순위를 매겼는데, 우리나라는 15위를 차지했다고 합니다. 그 소식을 접하니 기쁘기보다는 의아합니다. 우리나라 상황이 말씀이 아닌데 15위를 했다면, 다른 나라의 상황이 얼마나 나쁘단 말인가, 도대체 '세상이 얼마나 나쁘길래 우리가 15위를 했단 말인가?' 하는 생각이 들기 때문입니다.

 

뉴스위크는 'Best Country (가장 좋은 나라)'를 선정하기 위해 5개 부문을 조사했다지만, 제 생각에 좋은 나라를 가르는 기준은 간단합니다. 힘 없는 사람이 행복한 나라가 좋은 나라입니다. 그러나 우리나라에서는 힘 있는 사람들만 행복합니다. 그러니 우리나라는 '가장 좋은 나라'는커녕 '좋은 나라'도 아닙니다.

 

연령별로 보면, 20대 이전과 60대 이후가 그 사이 연배들에 비해 힘 없는 사람들입니다. 이 사람들의 자살이 엄청나게 빠른 속도로 늘고 있습니다. 작년에 자살한 학생(초, 중, 고교)의 수는 처음으로 200명이 넘었습니다. 202명, 이틀에 한 명 이상이 스스로 목숨을 끊은 겁니다. 2008년에 비해 47퍼센트 증가했다고 합니다. 

 

책을 읽으며 혹은 친구들과의 대화를 통해, 무엇이 옳은 삶인가, 어떻게 살아야 하는가 고민해야 할 나이에, 친구도 경쟁 상대라는 교육을 받으며 온 종일 제 시간이라고는 가져보지 못합니다. 가난한 집의 아이들은 저희 시대보다 훨씬 노골적인 빈부격차를 겪으며 절망적인 생각을 하게 됩니다. 이러니 자살하는 십대가 늘어나는 건 당연한 일입니다.

 

1998년에서 2008년까지 10년 동안 60세 이상의 자살은 3.5배나 늘었습니다. 그렇지 않아도 세상의 변화 속도가 너무 빨라 적응하기 힘든데, 이 나라는 젊음을 최고의 선으로 추앙하니 늙은 사람은 늙었다는 사실 하나만으로 '루저'가 됩니다. 게다가 일할 수 있는 노인조차 일할 기회를 갖지 못하니 좌절감은 배가됩니다. 젊어서는 배우자나 자녀에 대한 책임감 때문에 죽지 못했던 사람도 늙으면 대부분 그런 면에서 자유로워집니다. 노화가 수반하는 여러 가지 고통과 노인으로서 겪어야 하는 좌절은 '어차피 죽을 텐데 뭘 기다리느냐?'고 자살을 부추깁니다.

 

뉴스위크는 이런 사정을 알고도 한국을 15위로 선정한 걸까요? 우리보다 더 나쁜 나라가 그렇게 많은 걸까요?