America, Cutting Back

So now in America we are in the midst of a full-on economic (and political) crisis. The failure of Wall Street and our financial system has been compared to that of a third-world country, the kind that have to get bailed out by the World Bank and IMF. I've heard that many retirees have already had their 401K's and savings cut 20%.

Given the high, and increasing, cost of living in the United States, I think we might start having to ask the kinds of questions, and making the kinds of sacrifices, that they make in other less-rich parts of the world. Maybe not the kinds they make in Peru, where they put their children to work collecting scrap metal out of trash heaps. But maybe the kinds they make in Korea, where my family is from.

For instance: living with your extended family. My grandmother lives with one of my aunts in Seoul, and all of her children help take care of her. I saw a news report recently that says an increasing amount of elderly in America can't afford to live on their own and are moving in with adult children. I think this kind of sacrifice is probably a good thing. Americans don't honor their family obligations nearly as much as either Koreans or Peruvians, and I think not having the money to live on our own might force us to deal with family relationships that have long been strained or just inactive. (I think a big part of the problem is that we move out of our parents' house at age 18, so our relationships with our parents remain frozen in an adolescent, rebellious-teenager state.)

Another possible sacrifice (for those not doing so already) might be living in an apartment instead of a house, and taking public transport instead of driving your own car. This will be a tough transition since so many of our cities are built around cars and sprawl. In Korea they've built massive condo towers throughout Seoul and other cities which allow millions to live in modern, comfortable, affordable units and either drive or take their excellent subway system.

I wonder if we'll also see some emigration. The US has already seen immigration drop off and some immigrants have even returned to their home countries as a result of the bad economy. Despite South Korea's economic success, competition for schools and jobs is still fierce, and many young people move abroad for better job opportunities. Might we start seeing more Americans work abroad during the coming recession, where economies are growing and the cost of living is lower?

America is over two generations removed from the Great Depression; South Korea is only about one generation removed from poverty, and accordingly South Koreans still work incredibly hard to avoid falling back into it. (You pretty much miss out on your youth in South Korea; when my cousins were in high school they went to class around 7am-4pm and to "cram school" from 5-10pm.) Hopefully America won't quite go to that extreme, but we can probably no longer assume that we'll be more successful than our parents without even trying.