This article contrasts the fairy tale with the competitive structure of Korean society and explores the goals society pushes on individuals and the meaning of true happiness. Starting from the fairy tale of a shard of glass that never loses its dream and is reborn into a new form, this article critically examines whether South Korea’s education and workplace culture takes into account an individual’s true happiness.
It’s a story from a children’s book. The story begins in a trash can in the living room of a house. In the trash can is a piece of glass that was shattered by a baseball a few days ago. The living room was neatly organized, with all the furniture and decorations in place. But even in this seemingly perfect space, there are things that get thrown away when they’re no longer needed. The yellow vase screamed at the glass sculpture, “You’re useless now, you’re a discarded piece of trash!” And the glass sculpture was disheartened to see that others didn’t even want to touch it. She wondered if she had really become useless. Among the colorful decorations in the living room, the glass shard looked smaller and shabbier, but it was not sad because there was hope. He still believed that he could be used again in some way, and in the back of his mind, he knew that there was another opportunity waiting for him somewhere.
Then one day, an old man with a pressed hat placed the shard of glass in a sack with other shards of glass, and the shard of glass was off to somewhere. The shard of glass was traveling to a strange place and didn’t know where it was going, but in the back of its mind, it was excited for a new beginning, and together with the other shards, it became a clear, transparent jar. The shard of glass, once again exposed to the light of the world, was able to forget the hopelessness he felt when he was thrown away. This new appearance gave him new meaning and value.
This story was published in a children’s book titled “Do You Have to Have a Dream?”. The heartwarming ending, in which the piece of glass was thrown away as garbage and was pushed aside by other objects, but never lost its dreams and finally became a shining glass bottle, emphasizes the importance of dreams for children. The message of this story is not just for children, but it is an important lesson for everyone in the world to remember. Dreams are what drive us forward and give us the strength to find light in the darkest moments of our lives.
However, South Korean society pushes these children to dream in a different way. When these children grow up and become teenagers, the goal that schools and society push on them is college. The reasoning is that if you get good grades, you can go to a good university, and if you go to a good university, you can get a good job and make more money. Schools teach students that if they don’t go to a good college, they’ll be in trouble and ruin their lives. From a young age, students are pushed into a constant race to meet these societal expectations, and in the process, they lose sight of their true dreams and aspirations. It’s not uncommon for students to spend 12 years of their schooling focused solely on the SATs, and to study for years to get better SAT scores.
The primary goal of our education is entrance exams, followed by employment. Once you’re out of the academic competition, you’re in the job competition. The goal of getting into a good university has been replaced by the goal of getting a good job, and college students are obsessed with building their resume. Students are managing their grades, studying abroad, entering competitions, and even getting plastic surgery to look good in interviews. Just as a school that is recognized by others was the top priority, a big name company has become the top priority for everyone again. Society constantly sets new goals and doesn’t allow individuals time to reflect on their true values and desires.
Even after you get a job, your studies don’t end. The term “salaryman” has even been coined, and cram schools are in high demand among working professionals who study after work. From studying English to learning a second language, including Chinese, Japanese, and other languages, to taking exams to get certifications and more. They don’t want to be left behind, so they work hard and pull all-nighters in order to get a good HR review and get promoted. In the bookstores, self-help books like “20s, Study Crazy!”, “30s, Study Crazy Again!”, and “40s, Study Crazy Once Again!” urge people to constantly improve themselves. However, in this frenzy of self-improvement, the search for essential happiness often takes a back seat. People run for material fulfillment and social status, but lack deep reflection on what awaits them at the end of it all.
But no one is happy. A prime example is South Korea, which for years has carried the stigma of being the number one suicide country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Korea’s suicide death rate was 25.2 per 100,000 people in 2022, well ahead of the OECD average. It’s also heartbreaking that 47.2% of all deaths in the 20s are by suicide. Stories of middle and high school students with bright futures ahead of them attempting suicide because of poor grades are not uncommon.
This reality makes us think deeply about the values and goals that our society pursues. Is it really desirable to sacrifice everything for a single goal of societal success, with individual happiness and quality of life ignored? Many people blame the structural problems of our society for these shameful indicators. They criticize a society that forces everyone to push themselves to survive, to make their place in the world a little more secure. Modern society is based on competition, and being a winner can give you more, and being recognized by others can make you a star. The material rewards of winning a competition are also one of the reasons why many people compete.
In an age of convergence, where new industries rise and fall every day, and fields of study converge across disciplines, there are countless possibilities for individuals, and the one-size-fits-all culture of competition that pervades Korean society is a shortcut to individual creativity and individual expression. It is difficult to give a chance to someone who is exceptionally talented in a certain field and enjoys doing it when the same standard is applied to everyone. Even when these people discover their talents, there are many obstacles that prevent them from following their path.
I would also like to ask each individual who competes: should material rewards and social recognition be the primary goal of life? Is it right to evaluate people based on the same criteria of who is better than me and who is worse than me? Do people think about these things enough to compete in an endless race? I dare to say no.
These are important questions we need to ask ourselves. On an individual level, there are many reasons why going to a good university, getting a job at a good company, or making a lot of money shouldn’t be the end goal in life. The relative happiness that comes from achieving these goals is short-lived. Once you get into a good university, you’ll be competing to get a job at a good company, and the competition you’ll face in this regard is endless. Even if you choose a career with a promising outlook and a high-paying job, the material rewards that come with it are temporary and not eternal.
It is also worth noting that many people who are living the life of their dreams actually suffer from mental distress, suffer from depression, and choose to commit suicide. For example, at Seoul National University, there are often reports of students making unfortunate choices every year, and it makes no sense why they would choose to take their own lives if they are able to get into a top university, as many high school students dream of doing, with much better opportunities and a higher quality of life than those who do not.
In the end, we need to reevaluate what is truly important in life. It’s been said that if you don’t live as you think, you think as you live. What you think about in your life determines the direction of your life, and if you’re not directing your life in the direction you want it to go, you’re constraining your thoughts to the way you’re currently living. The material abundance or social status that many people dream of is not eternal. They don’t bring infinite satisfaction. There are unhappy people who have them, and some of them suffer from extreme depression and take their own lives. We must remember that social success and material abundance do not guarantee ultimate happiness in life. This is something that people who are envious of what they have and who never stop competing for it today have to struggle with.
