[Opinion] Right to Work

It’s becoming more and more difficult for young people to get a job. Even after taking language courses abroad to get prepared for work, they often fail to land on decent jobs. They may well feel `It’s all over now./I don’t know what to do from now on./I don’t want to meet people/I feel guilty thinking about my family/I might have to change myself.` This memo written by a young man who failed to get a job shows frustration and despair the young and unemployed are experiencing. They seem to grow tired of complaining about and appealing to the society that rejects their participation. American singer Bob Dillon used to sing in his song that a man who gets up in the morning to do what he wants to do is leading a fulfilled life,` but the lyrics are a mere dream for young people in this country, not a reality.

▷Young people are not the only ones suffering from the unemployment problem. The middle aged and seniors are now facing earlier retirement although old people live longer than before. They have little to resort to after retirement in terms of pension and family support. After forced to quit their jobs, most retirees, therefore, go through poverty, living desolate lives. Unlike young ones who spend much time on the Internet, the middle-aged and seniors have few things to do. They are increasingly marginalized unable to become a part of the ever-changing society.

▷Just as lions and tigers continue hunting for their livelihood right before their deaths, humans are made to continue working throughout their lives. According to scientists, the key to longevity of mankind is working. In primitive ages, humans, regardless of their ages, had to run across fields and mountains searching for food. Labor is a part of God’s province and the law of nature. The fact that old people stopped working in line with evolution of the society might not benefit mankind as much as we think.

▷The constitution also stipulates the right to work for everyone. People are increasingly deprived of the constitutional right, and the government is to be blamed in much part. The British government, in contrast to ours, ensures that people can work until they become 65 years old. It is advocating the dignity of the elderly. We cannot but wonder, then, what our government has been doing while people aged 55 were forced to quit jobs. The DJ government must have been the people’s government only by name. Are we still far away form the day when people get up in the morning and do what they want to do?

Hong Chan-shik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com