Bolster the pitifully weak social capital

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Bolster the pitifully weak social capital

Published: 01 Sep. 2024, 20:08

Cho Yoon-je
The author is a professor emeritus of economics at Sogang University.

British think tank Legatum Institute publishes the Prosperity Index every year, tracking 167 nations across 12 pillars and 300 indicators. South Korea was ranked 29th this year, down three notches from 10 years ago. Korea’s education level has stayed the third highest over the last decade and its health standard also elevated to the third highest, up two notches from 2014. But its social capital, which represents the strength of personal and social relationships, social norms and networks, civic participation, interpersonal trust and social tolerance fell 12 notches to 107th. In the social capital assessment, it was 15th among 18 East Asia-Pacific countries. Most countries show similar levels of education and social capital, but Korea does not. The reading underscores the fundamental problems stifling our country.

South Korea has made staggering strides on individual and corporate levels over the last 70 years. But its community asset remains underdeveloped. Collective prosperity is as important as the individual. Without it, individual prosperity and happiness remain limited.

The sustainability of prosperity hinges on the growth of collective resources. Korea’s trust in the legislative, judiciary and executive branches hovers at the bottom. Despite the unprecedented superfast economic growth and democratization the country has achieved, its extraordinary success came with extraordinary setbacks — the world’s lowest birthrate, divisiveness, strikes, criminal litigations and false accusations, materialism and infant exports.

Our society has moved on with the inheritance of endogenous conflicts from its tumultuous modern history — the rigid, stratified society in the Joseon Dynasty, the colonial rule under Japan, the post-liberalization Cold War divide and the Korean War. After enduring the race for survival, deep-seated ideological conflict and persecution and oppression under authoritarian regimes, Koreans have come to doubt one another and hate the opponents out of their survival instincts and insecurity.

But we cannot entirely blame the currents of our time when we think back on what we have done to correct the conflicts along the way. In fact, many exploited the conflicts to strengthen their position by stoking the fight and riding on hostile partisanship.

Democracy has decelerated, and people have lost trust in politics and government as their hopes for co-existence and co-prosperity have been dashed by the endless greedy and divisive power struggle and shameless politics warping the regional and factional divide for gains. The public can hardly have confidence in the executive, judiciary and legislative branches when each ruling power whips at the law enforcement authorities and media as their workhorse to butt against and remove the opponents.

What should be done now? We first must restore public education. The gigantic cleft between education and social capital stems from the collapse in public education and over-reliance on private education. Private academies do not teach us how to live alongside and among one another. Through radical improvement in rewards for teachers, classroom standards must get better. The college entrance exam system must be overhauled to normalize public education.

The remedy in conflict and trust buildup should trickle down with the changes in social elites. The selective groups in politics, administration, business, finance, media and academia must stop keeping to themselves, their network, and exclusivity, and instead exemplify fair competition, openness and reasonability. The state governance structure, political system, administrative operation, appointment, reward and evaluation systems must all change so that public entities can design and execute public policies with long-term vision and farsightedness.

But citizens must do their part to make ripples for a current of change. When the public themselves are immersed in dividing, hatred and conflict, they can’t demand correction in the politics of divisiveness and hostility. History shows no states have come to reap the democratic politics of reason and engagement without going through intense debates over rights, freedom, equality and justice and a rigorous enlightenment campaign.

We must embark on deep discussions to work out our problems to build trust and engagement through empathy. Politics, media, culture and academia all should host as many debating forums as possible to explore solutions to our problems. When the social capital level elevates to our education standard, our education assets can truly play their role and drive sustainable prosperity.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.