The Generation Gap

Korean media gave a lot of space to the fact that almost 90 percent of those over fifty voted in the presidential election, and were considered by many to be the reason the first female president of the country was elected. On the open forum page of the Catholic Times, a Jesuit  professor at Sogang University reflects on what this means for our country.

The media did consider the difference between the young and the older generation in this election. The older voters experienced the Korean War, seen the industrialization of the country, and had been leaders in the democratization of the country. They took care of their parents but did not expect the same from their children. They were concerned about their old age and tended to be progressives; they now want security.

The professor believes there is a difference in thinking and sensitivity between the generation of the 20s and 30s, and the over 50's. A gap between the young and the old is not new. However, Korea is becoming older, the government can't help but be concerned about those who voted for them. The difference in the voting by the young and the old  has to be remembered for the future of the country. A great number of the voters are  over fifty, and that means that the future of the country, which shortly will be in the hands of the young, will be the ones who will have to deal with the results  of what the older think important now.

There is also a difference in the sensitivity to our problems felt by the old and the young. The interest that the young have about environmental problems and employment is not the same as it is for the older generation. The young, from the time they were children, have been hearing about global warming, while the older generation has an interest in development and industrialization and less concern about the environment.

The young are concerned with employment while the older generation is  concerned with the industrialization of the country. They had no difficulty in accepting the blue-collar and the white-collar difference in society. However, over half of those in their twenties are either in college or are graduates who have to consider that half of them will face the possibility of being a non-regular worker. The older generation has difficulty in understanding what this highly educated, young generation feels about the future. The older generation tends to feel that the young are lazy and want to avoid the difficult  jobs in society, while looking for the easy life.

Without understanding the sensibilities of the young, the professor says we will continue to look back to the past and fail to see the future. We will continue to push the interest of the young into the  background  and just be concerned with the issues of the elders in society. This means not only that there will be a generation gap but that the young peoples' rights will be exploited.

The professor recalls that Jesus began his public life when young. "He is not yet fifty" was heard by Jesus. The ones who followed our Lord were the young. With these young people, he changed the world.  The world of the young is the world of the future.  A society able to see the joy, hope, tears and frustrations of the young will be a society with hope. What the society of today needs is the wisdom and sensitivity to be concerned for the younger generation.