Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dave Chance]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303506404577445841573895570.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read

SEOUL�Political philosopher Michael Sandel teaches one of the most popular courses at Harvard University. This past weekend, that popularity led to him throwing out the opening pitch at a South Korean pro baseball game.

Great teachers are revered in South Korea, but Mr. Sandel's celebrity status here is being shaped by a bigger, swiftly changing force�the economic uncertainty of the moment.

His latest book, "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets," published two months ago in the U.S., was quickly translated into Korean. When he visited Seoul this past weekend to promote it, huge crowds followed.

On Friday, 15,000 showed up at a university's outdoor amphitheater for one of his audience-centric discussions on ethics.

For two hours, Mr. Sandel presided as students and adults debated some of South Korea's hot-button issues, including the cost of education, growing income disparity and the fairness of mandatory service in the South Korean military.

South Koreans, like people elsewhere, have coped with an uneven recovery from the 2008 economic crisis and, as the perception grew that the rich have fared better, started to wrestle with big questions about fairness and opportunity.

Over the past year, some business and media figures have gained popularity by focusing on fairness themes. A software entrepreneur who is now a professor, Ahn Chul-soo, has become so popular with his outspoken criticism of South Korea's politics and economics that he is considered a prospective candidate in the country's presidential election in December.

"After a period of remarkable economic growth, Koreans are now stepping back to reflect on big questions about values, including questions about what makes for a fair society, what role should money and markets play outside of the material domain," Mr. Sandel said. "There seems to be a great hunger right now at this moment to think about these questions and debate them in public."

In a survey conducted last month by Seoul's Asan Institute with questions from Mr. Sandel, 74% of respondents said Korean society was unfair.

In the U.S., Mr. Sandel's own survey found 38% felt American society was unfair.

"We developed very fast and we just valued money and material things for so long," said Yoo Myung-jong, who attended one of Mr. Sandel's book signings. "Nowadays, we are strengthening our emotions and ethics. His books and his questions are really helpful for Korea."

Kim Seung-wan, a university student who attended Mr. Sandel's big lecture on Friday, said, "People often think money is most important, but we need to think about other values."

[Paddycakes]

[madoka]

America may have six times the population of Korea, but I can't imagine 15,000 Americans coming out to hear a professor lecture on economics.

[sml7285]

[northway]

[No_hite_pls]

[atwood]

[madoka]

[DejaVu]

I'm not sure why but I absolutely despise the weight Koreans put on Ivy league schools...

They assume all universities are like the universities in their country I suppose, where every single person in country tries there hardest to reach Harvard...

As another poster said, this professor hasn't said anything that other people haven't thought of many times.


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On topic, do you think that a more open-minded Korean society would mean more crime? It seems that questioning morals will either lead people to intellectualism or justifying crime.

[atwood]

[toby99]

Kinda creepy. If Sandel told Korean gents to shove their wee-wees up a light socket, they'd do it with a smile.

[northway]

[happiness]

well, its all a result of zero-sum thinking, i.e. theres only one right answer (when everyone follows the same path). Hes from the NUMBER ONE school and hes famous, so they love him.

Also, his ideas about love and not money being a marker in society is appealing to those who dont have money, ala why I think Christianity appeals to the Koreans (for one reason).

Hey, if it works for him. I hope he got laid as well...

[radcon]

Same guy, same book, same message yet if he was from University of Michigan that would mean about 15 people in Seoul, not 15,000.

[atwood]