Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr. BlackCat]

[cj1976]

[Steelrails]

I don't mind if people speak in generalizations or in individuals, but they better be consistent. Group credit=Group blame. Individual credit=individual blame. And you must judge others by the same standard as yourself.

So if they say "Koreans are all..." Then they can't get too upset when Koreans say "Foreigners are all..." or Americans say "Canadians are all..."

It's just that it seems that bashers want group accountability for Koreans but individual accountability for themselves. The strange thing though, is when they start talking about western cultural achievements and inventions, their chests start to swell and they seem to act as though they deserve group credit for those things. Of course, these same people will claim "I had nothing to do with that" when things like slavery or brutal colonial regimes are brought up.

I'll through some bones to both sides-

http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-conservatism-racism.html

Apparently racists often have low IQs. It is guessed that they lack the intelligence to be able to conceive alternative explanations or look at complex situations and settle on simple explanations. Sounds like a basher to me.

On the other hand, allegedly Koreans have some of the highest IQs in the world, but the racism statistics sure would indicate quite the opposite.

Or the study is junk.

But I do notice that in many of the incidents that pop up, bashers are often unable to conceptualize alternative explanations and are rather poor at perceiving what the other party's motivations, actions, and thoughts are.

[cj1976]

[Captain Corea]

Who are these "Koreans" you are talking about, cj?

My wife? My daughter? Because they are Korean. Do all Koreans deserve to be mocked? Some? How do you decide? When you make sweeping statements about Koreans, do you ever stop to think about how many people you are sweeping into that pile?

[cj1976]

[cj1976]

There is a huge difference between saying "Korean people are stupid" and "Korean drivers are godawful" even though they are both generalizations - because one of them is 100% accurate.

[Captain Corea]

[joelove]

[spilot101]

Totally agree, joelove. At the end of the day, everyone wants to belong somewhere. It's silly to tell someone that they can't "claim" this or that and vice versa. Wouldn't be surprised if some of the resentment comes from the feeling being an outsider for a number of years, which naturally strengthens the ties to one's own culture. It's a sensitive area, that's for sure.

[joelove]

National identity is kind of frightening too. It's a powerful idea, and it has completely overwhelmed us. It has been part of this world for as long as we know. It's scary when someone is completely absorbed in anything that runs through them so strong as nationalism. The poison of it is obvious. People will take sides and they will be violent to protect this idea. There will always be talk of 'us and them' by people all over the world too. It is taken for granted that there is us, and there is them. People want this, they want the exclusivity it brings. As long as it's comforting somehow it will go on.

[spilot101]

We all have one thing in common - we want to belong and be happy. It's ironic that blind nationalism (as damaging as it is), too, stems from a desire to belong.

As someone how grew up in Russia, moved away for 16 years, and recently revisited back, I can tell that nationalism has one hell of a grip on one's psyche. In a country where nationalism is being used to "cure" the crisis of national identity in the post Soviet Union era, it's become alarmingly apparent how easily can xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of bigotry find rationalization in peoples' minds....

[joelove]

There's nothing really mysterious going on about any of this, or at least it isn't hard to explain. It's just hard to understand beyond an intellectual level, which is too shallow to be of any use. These sorts of things have puzzled me for years, on and off, and it only seems natural to me to wonder about them. You have to feel these things in yourself as well. They are not separate from you. The problem is not only with others, it's in you and me too. It's a basic problem that affects everybody. A very basic human problem. Seems odd that it never gets resolved. Maybe we are too caught up in other things.

[I-am-me]

Nigerian men

[hiamnotcool]

the food is good
the pay is decent, and it's possible to save some
Korean culture is interesting
It's a safe country which makes it a good place to live long term

Korean friends back home told me all about it, it sounded like a fun place to be. They were right.