Sad portrait of this era

One evening, when I came home earlier than usual, I happened to notice that a neighbor who had lived on the same level of my apartment building was moving to another area.

However, the method of moving was disturbing because it involved a high-volume quarrel between a middle-aged woman and a couple of porters who were dragging her forcibly. Not until I saw a red foreclosure sticker stuck to the furniture and home appliances did I realize that my neighbor had no choice but to move. According to recent news, the number of house poor is on the rise.

We can’t macroscopically presume how steadily the Korean domestic economy has declined without noticing this harsh reality. Frankly speaking, many residents living in apartment complexes can seldom identify who their neighbors are but instead bow or pretend to know them anyway. My apartment complex, with its uniform, utilitarian appearance resembles a giant, upended matchbox.

Such an impersonal and alienating environment makes it more difficult for people to share and understand the core problems that families face such as financial concerns and other complex issues because there is little contact between homemakers and other residents. Most commuters are unaware of the lives of their neighbors unless they find time to listen to their wives at night who tell them what they have heard that day. Most callous husbands don’t come to recognize the symptoms of crisis until they notice that misfortune is happening right under their nose.

Many of them adopt an insouciant attitude because they are also struggling to survive in a harsh reality. Undoubtedly, they have little room to deeply appreciate how much their neighbors are suffering. As the economic depression continues, it seems that such an indifferent attitude also intensifies emotional alienation.

In fact, it seems that those suffering are reluctant to confess what is bothering them. They would rather swallow their pain than injure their pride. Such a disconnection in communication makes it more difficult to sympathize with their misfortune.

Regrettably, those treated indifferently may harbor latent violence or forms of rage. Whenever I get on the subway or a bus, many passengers’ eyes are fixed on their smartphones. Of many reasons for this, it is probably because they are reluctant to meet other people’s eyes because they are fear communicating something unpleasant.

I pondered over why violent accidents frequently happen on the subway or buses. There have been several incidents of people spontaneously bursting into fits of rage at other passengers due to the slightest physical contact or unpleasant eye contact. If they drink too much, their irrational reactions explode uncontrollably. The ticking time bomb of their emotional rage can explode at the slightest insult. Therefore, we are cautious not to meet such cold, suspicious, and vengeful eyes. However, I’m worried if such dedication to indifference may indeed breed violence.

As time goes by, we are becoming worse at communicating with others. Instead of person-to-person contact, we are accustomed to sending text messages at our convenience, which deny human facial expressions that are a fundamental part of communication. More often than not, showing individual concern for others attracts further misunderstanding and suspicion.

Many people who struggle to meet their monthly budget feel stressed, overworked and deadened by the harsh demands of work. Thus, they feel indifferent to everything except striving to survive. However, it is also certain that there are many house poor standing on the verge of life-long debt.

How on earth do many overcome the pressure from banks or worse, from loan sharks? I felt scared when I watched some of the porters mercilessly remove the possessions of my neighbor from her home.

Now, it seems that a huge sifting machine of economic infrastructure is spinning to sort through the rich and the poor. It’s accelerating so wildly that the poor are completely cast aside. Its centrifugal force is now pulling the thinning middle class into the vortex, funneled by the constant pressure of debt. They try to hold out with all their strength but it seems to be in vain due to their penniless state.

Our future lives appear bleak. The veil of sadness shrouding this era grows ever darker.

The writer teaches at a girl’s high school in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. His email address is dicaprik@hanmail.net. <The Korea Times/Oh Jung-hun>

news@theasian.asia