润涛阎：文化决定政治与经济（一）：韩国

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【编者按：近些年韩国文化横扫亚洲、并开始席卷全球娱乐业。包括k-pop音乐、电影、电视剧等。这一现象最显著的例子之一就是《鱿鱼游戏》的巨大成功。这部反乌托邦惊悚片于 2021 年在 Netflix 上首播，一夜之间就引起了全球轰动，创造了历史。从老阎观点“社会制度是大厦，而文化才是根基”出发，本文总结了老阎关于韩国文化的特征及其对政治制度、经济发展影响的观点。“ ”内容为老阎原话。未加引号部分为编者总结及延伸老阎观点。

文章编辑及撰写：大智若愚33】

I. 韩国文化特征

儒家文化的继承者。但没有中国人极强的‘内斗内行外斗外行、只看眼前利益’的民族特征。

随着美国的现代文明的影响以及随着社会的逐步开放，韩国的人权与个体尊严的认知逐步增加。但主导韩国文化的依然是儒家文化。儒家文化的核心内容包括等级服从观念而非人人平等的现代文明思想，以及满嘴仁义道德，实则满肚子男盗女娼的虚伪。

II. 文化对大众心理、政治及经济的影响

大众心理: 等级服从观念和男尊女卑思想仍然顽固。在政治层面体现在新总统通过吃前任的人血馒头（让前任总统坐牢）来巩固其地位。在韩国影视作品上，阶级固化豪门恩怨、有权有势者欺压弱者导致弱者复仇的题材屡见不鲜。

政治：“专制政权统治者必须吃人血馒头才能稳定统治。改朝换代就需要把上一代皇帝法办。韩国就找理由让每一个卸任总统坐牢。韩国也是中国(儒家奴性等级)传统文化的继承者。日本在这方面脱亚入欧了。南韩当上总统的，还把旧总统送入监狱以提高自己的威望。这当然过份，但逻辑上是一样的，否则会让人误以为新总统是老总统的傀儡。”

邪教盛行：等级服从文化也导致了在韩国邪教盛行：“台湾也一样，一贯道等五花八门的邪教沉渣泛起，政府置若罔闻，无数的人打着佛祖、上帝、教主、菩萨、真主的名义骗财骗色、搜刮信徒的脂膏，不劳而获。说到底就是精神奴役。被奴役的信徒被威逼、利诱而上当受骗。”

家庭教育：等级服从文化导致家族利益高于一切的以及成为人上人为目标的家庭教育：“ 儒家传统文化是以“家”为单位的，家族利益高于一切。对于政治家来说：诚实，只是对家族而言。对他人，要防、要奸诈、要用三十六计。政治家，要分三步走：第一步就是“修身”，第二步就是“齐家”，第三步才是“治国平天下”。修身，说起来好听，事实上就是要做伪君子，满口仁义道德，满肚子男盗女娼。是“始于作伪，终于无耻”的修身术。而齐家，就是把家庭炼成一个专为男人自己和自己儿子往上爬成为人上人的熔炉。所以才有“不孝有三，无后为大”的说法，读书成家立业的目的还是为了儿子继续当人上人。儒家文化导致” 哪怕是平民，也要千方百计地对孩子严加管教，要让孩子成为人上人，要考入名校。在海外，父母推孩子爬藤。目的只有一个：让孩子光宗耀祖。所以，如果自己爬到了皇帝的地位，或者接近皇帝的地位，给自己的孩子提供接班的条件便是自己份内之事。一人得道鸡犬升天。”

经济层面：因为没有极强的内斗内行外斗外行的文化影响，能够创造三星、现代这样的国际品牌。

“别小看棒子，不论是南棒子还是北棒子，论智商不差中国人、日本人。南边的棒子虽然在科学技术方面起步较晚，可他们不论是家用电器还是手机甚至汽车，都在跟美国、日本的大企业较量。同样是亚洲四小龙，台湾的人口是南韩的一半，但南韩有三星、现代等很多大企业，而台湾只能是靠压榨农民工的给人家打工的富士康一类的企业。基本上还是靠剥削本国穷人的套路，而非赚外国人的钱。中国大陆，很多产能规模包括钢产量都是全球第一了，但还是搞不出三星、现代这样的品牌，表面上看是体制的原因，而深层原因是文化。传统文化造成了内斗内行外斗外行、只看眼前利益的民族特征。”

韩国经济腾飞及国际化企业的崛起也归功于二战后日本崛起后的嚣张狂妄导致美国的打压，从而为韩国创造了机会：“我在美国就经历过两次“一掐脖子就翻白眼、一松手就吹牛逼”的故事了。第一次是我刚到美国时，那时的日本嚣张得很，战狼外交随处可见。导致华人被美国白人用棒球棍活活打死，因为白人分不清华人与日本人，就把华人当成日本人给打死了。因为那时候日本人的嚣张美国百姓都无法容忍了，什么：’用东京的市值就可买下半个美国！’ 什么：’日本车会让美国三大汽车厂关门！’ 什么：’没有日本芯片，美国计算机都造不出来（那时还没有台积电、三星，芯片的制造在日本）！’ 日本还真的买下了纽约地标建筑—-洛克菲勒中心和帝国大厦。是真的买下来了。美国政府不得不迎合民意，对日本掐脖子。并分散依赖日本制造业的供应链，新的高科技发明创造毕竟还是在美国科学界手中。这才有了后来的台积电、三星等芯片制造业，甚至新的家用电器都让日本败给了韩国。”

索引文章：

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Editor’s note: Pop music, film, and television dramas from South Korea have surpassed those from other countries in the entertainment sector. Not only have these shows captured the attention of viewers in Asia, but they have also successfully entered Western markets, garnering praise from critics and accumulating a loyal following across the globe. The phenomenal success of Squid Game is among the most prominent instances of this phenomenon. Launching on Netflix in 2021, this dystopian thriller quickly gained international attention and created history. Its compelling story, gorgeous graphics, and devastating social criticism struck a chord with people from all walks of life.

Starting from Lao Yan’s theory that “The social system is the building, while culture is the foundation,” this article explains Lao Yan’s view on the characteristics of Korean culture and how they affect its political system and economic development.

I. Characteristics of Korean culture

Korea inherits the Confucianism. while it does not have the strong national characteristic of the Chinese, who are good at inflight but bad at outfighting, and looking only at the immediate interests.

With the influence of United States modern civilization and the gradual opening up of society have increased the awareness of human rights and individual dignity, Korean culture is still dominated by Confucianism.  Confucian culture is characterized by its hierarchical obedience rather than human equality and its hypocrisy in acting in a deplorable and shameless manner while pretending to be morally upright and benevolent.

II. The impact of Korean culture on public psychology, politics and economy

The Confucian hierarchical culture shapes the Korean’s concepts of male dominance, female inferiority, and hierarchical obedience. The culture has an impact on both the entertainment business and politics. In politics, the newly elected president consolidated the power by imprisoning the outgoing president. The entertainment industry’s recurring themes in Korean TV dramas and films include the fight for succession among wealthy families and the weak people’s desire for justice from the powerful and wealthy bullies.

Politics: Autocrats cannot stay in power unless they suck the blood of their predecessors. The former ruler of a dynasty must be put to death or imprisoned. South Korea is an autocratic country despite being founded as a democracy because of its strong Confucian culture. Notwithstanding the ridiculousness of locking up South Korea’s former leaders, Confucian culture makes sense. The public would believe that the new president is their puppet if the outgoing presidents were not rejected.

Popularity of Cult: Because of the hierarchical obedience mentality, cults are also prevalent in South Korea. Taiwan is no different. The I-Kuan Tao is one of the cults that has resurfaced, and the government has not done anything to discourage them. Those who lie have made large profits by tricking people out of their money and sexuality by posing as Buddha, God, the leader, Bodhisattva, and Allah. In the end, it is the same as spiritual servitude. The captive believers are coerced into accepting lies by deception.

Family values are prioritized over all else in Korean family education due to the hierarchical obedience culture. Maximizing family wealth and power is the ultimate goal. The “family” is the fundamental unit of traditional Confucian culture, and family values take precedence over all other considerations. Everyone, including politicians, was taught by Confucius to be truthful and loyal to their family. Individuals who are not related to them can be tricked, manipulated, or betrayed. Confucian education is divided into three stages. First, one should “cultivate oneself.” Second is to “manage the family.” The third is to “govern the country and bring peace to the world.” Although it may sound admirable, self-cultivation really refers to acting shamelessly and dishonorably while seeming to be good, moral, and empathetic. Taking care of a family means allocating all family resources to enable men and their sons become successful and powerful individuals who will benefit the family as a whole and future generations. Confucian culture motivates parents of all socioeconomic classes to discipline their kids strictly in order to get them accepted into a prestigious school where they will have a better chance of rising to power or wealth. Asian American parents in the U.S. push their children to enroll in Ivy League universities because of this. The goal is to honor the family, not for the children to pursue their dreams.

Economics: South Korea can create global brands like Samsung and Hyundai because they lack the cultural infighting mindset that are hard wired in the Chinese (Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese). Both North and South Koreans have IQs that are comparable to those of Chinese and Japanese people. South Korea is competing with major US and Japanese corporations in the home appliance, mobile phone, and even automotive industries, despite having a late start in science and technology. With a population half that of South Korea, Taiwan, one of the four Asian dragons, can only rely on abusing migrant workers to manufacture goods for foreign corporations. Foxconn is one example. South Korea, on the other hand, is home to several massive global enterprises. Taiwan and the Chinese mainland still mostly rely on abusing their own labor forces instead of earning profits from foreign customers. Even while China has the world’s largest industrial capacity in numerous areas, including the production of steel, the country is unable to build global brands. The underlying problem is culture, not the social system. Traditional culture shapes Chinese traits such as narrow-mindedness and infighting.

Multinational companies and South Korea’s economic rise are also attributed to the post-World War II Japanese arrogance and the U.S. suppression that followed. “I saw twice how the United States suppressed the Japanese after their arrogant actions. When I first came to the US in 1982, Japanese media outlets boasted about their economic achievements, which annoyed the American. Words like “Japan could buy half of America with Tokyo’s market capitalization,” “American computers cannot be constructed without Japanese processors,” and “Three significant auto facilities in the United States will close due to Japanese automobiles” were all over the media. As a result, a white American mistakenly believed the Chinese guy to be Japanese, causing him to be struck by a baseball bat and die. because the arrogance of the Japanese at the time was intolerable to the American people. Later, Japan bought two well-known New York landmarks: the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center. It enraged Americans as well. In order to placate the people by repressing Japan, the U.S. administration was compelled to decentralize the supply chain that relied on Japanese industry. Since then, American inventors have created all new high-tech inventions. The emergence of chip manufacturing companies such as Samsung in South Korea and TSMC in Taiwan can be attributed to this, which also led to the relocation of modern household appliance production from Japan to South Korea.”