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NY Times article on suicide increase among Korean elderly.

 
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Sector7G



Joined: 24 May 2008

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:42 pm    Post subject: NY Times article on suicide increase among Korean elderly. Reply with quote

As Families Change, Korea�s Elderly Are Turning to Suicide



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/world/asia/in-korea-changes-in-society-and-family-dynamics-drive-rise-in-elderly-suicides.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp
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Fox



Joined: 04 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Move back to the extended family model instead of everyone living in tiny apartments in Seoul and it will stop being a problem. Caring for elderly people in Korea is not especially expensive, and your elderly parents will help with housework, cooking, maintenance, and child care, which in turn would save the nation quite a bit in child care costs.
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Leslie Cheswyck



Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everyone should watch Marty. With Ernest Borgnine.

Great subplot, addresses this issue somewhat.
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slothrop



Joined: 03 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

edit

Last edited by slothrop on Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:41 am; edited 1 time in total
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jvalmer



Joined: 06 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fox wrote:
Move back to the extended family model instead of everyone living in tiny apartments in Seoul and it will stop being a problem. Caring for elderly people in Korea is not especially expensive, and your elderly parents will help with housework, cooking, maintenance, and child care, which in turn would save the nation quite a bit in child care costs.

Not gonna' happen these days, especially with the new generation of Korean girls. No way they'll put up with a b#$%hy mother-in-law.
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Fox



Joined: 04 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jvalmer wrote:
Fox wrote:
Move back to the extended family model instead of everyone living in tiny apartments in Seoul and it will stop being a problem. Caring for elderly people in Korea is not especially expensive, and your elderly parents will help with housework, cooking, maintenance, and child care, which in turn would save the nation quite a bit in child care costs.

Not gonna' happen these days, especially with the new generation of Korean girls. No way they'll put up with a b#$%hy mother-in-law.


Yes, the westernization of young Korean women has really thrown a kink into an otherwise very practical and proven system. It's also torpedoed the Korean fertility rate. Koreans should reflect on that. Importing western feminism has been a very unwise choice. Traditional Korean society was capable of respecting women as women (there's a reason 신사임당 is such a renown and respected figure here), while modern, feminist western society is only capable of respecting women by stripping them of their femininity.
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Leon



Joined: 31 May 2010

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fox wrote:
jvalmer wrote:
Fox wrote:
Move back to the extended family model instead of everyone living in tiny apartments in Seoul and it will stop being a problem. Caring for elderly people in Korea is not especially expensive, and your elderly parents will help with housework, cooking, maintenance, and child care, which in turn would save the nation quite a bit in child care costs.

Not gonna' happen these days, especially with the new generation of Korean girls. No way they'll put up with a b#$%hy mother-in-law.


Yes, the westernization of young Korean women has really thrown a kink into an otherwise very practical and proven system. It's also torpedoed the Korean fertility rate. Koreans should reflect on that. Importing western feminism has been a very unwise choice. Traditional Korean society was capable of respecting women as women (there's a reason 신사임당 is such a renown and respected figure here), while modern, feminist western society is only capable of respecting women by stripping them of their femininity.


Lets not forget the higher living standards vrs. Traditional lifestyle. Living with parents, especially parents in law sounds dreadful.
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Fox



Joined: 04 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My mother in law has lived with us for about a year and a half now. Sure, she can be mildly annoying sometimes, but there's more to life than avoiding mild annoyance. I strongly suspect it's good for the kids to have her around, and it's certainly good for her. But yes, if one thinks in purely hedonistic terms, it's pure loss and should be avoided, which is both why Westerners avoid it, and why Koreans are increasingly avoiding it.
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Leon



Joined: 31 May 2010

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fox wrote:
My mother in law has lived with us for about a year and a half now. Sure, she can be mildly annoying sometimes, but there's more to life than avoiding mild annoyance. I strongly suspect it's good for the kids to have her around, and it's certainly good for her. But yes, if one thinks in purely hedonistic terms, it's pure loss and should be avoided, which is both why Westerners avoid it, and why Koreans are increasingly avoiding it.


Consider yourself lucky, because mild annoyance seems to be a rare exception. No advanced economy lives like you describe. I'll take this over mass poverty in the villages where people had to live together out of necessity.
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NohopeSeriously



Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:55 am    Post subject: Re: NY Times article on suicide increase among Korean elderl Reply with quote

Sector7G wrote:
As Families Change, Korea�s Elderly Are Turning to Suicide


Don't worry. Old South Korean people love the new president. Even though I'm a leftist, I can tolerate Park Guen-hye.
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