Are human beings better than animals? Professor emeritus Yu Jong-ho replies with an emphatic “No!” to that question. He poignantly points out that human beings are the only species that pretends to concede defeat while waiting for the right moment to strike at the victor. Only human beings slaughter their enemies even after they have surrendered. “Animals never do that,” remarks professor Yu. “The fight ends when a dog or a cat yields by displaying its vulnerable belly to the enemy.”

Indeed, we human beings can be incredibly deceptive and cruel. We lie, slander and betray. We conspire and plot to stab others in the back. We conjure up means to put others in harm’s way. When someone is better than we are, we become jealous and speak ill of him behind his back. We seem to be surrounded by untrustworthy people. In fact, our pets often seem far more reliable and faithful than human beings.

We are frequently disappointed in humankind. The young people of today’s “Millennial Generation” are so shallow: always stuck to their smartphones and obsessed with superficial things such as “brand names,” “fame” and “idol stars.” These youngsters, whose ages range from 18 to 29, inflate and advertise themselves on Facebook and even disclose private matters online. Addicted to the Internet, they seem more concerned with “followers” than actual real-time friends. Detached from reality, they interact only through a screen.

What if the power goes out and the screen turns black? Without a screen, this generation will be left screaming in frustration, unable to do anything. For these youngsters, who grew up amid the rise of new media, a “black screen” is perhaps the most dreadful nightmare. Indeed, these young people illustrate “the unbearable lightness of being” (to borrow Kundera’s phrase), but only through their superficiality.

The older generation has its own problems, too. People in their late 40s and early or mid-50s are referred to as the “386 or 486 Generation” in South Korea. Those who belong to this generation experienced military dictatorship and experimented with Marxism and socialism in college as a strategy to combat right-wing tyranny. These people harbor grudges and resentment against authority and against people who are richer and more privileged than they are.

Saturated with leftist ideology and self-righteousness, they indulge in the fallacy that they are apostles of justice and so whatever they do can be justified. Haunted by the specters of the military dictators of the ’70s and ’80s, they think they are still fighting for democracy and try to overthrow legitimate governments by disseminating hate and violence in our society. Intoxicated by self-righteousness and ultranationalism, these people firmly believe they are doing the right thing and thus are willing to sacrifice “anything” for the grand cause, that is, their political ideology. Fully charged with leftist ideology, these people have an ostensible air of profoundness about them. In fact, however, they are as shallow as the Millennial Generation.

Then there is the much older generation, that is, those in their 60s and older. These old-schoolers are disappointing as well, because they tend to be incorrigibly old-fashioned, incompetent and obstinate. Even though they have political power and authority, they seem to be unable to cope with a rapidly globalizing world. As a result, they can neither guide people in the right direction nor provide a fresh vision for the nation. Oftentimes, they are afraid of social change and electronic revolutions. Many of them are unfamiliar with YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. They cannot communicate through KakaoTalk, FaceTime or Skype, either. Some of them do not even know how to send text messages. These old-timers wield heavy, rusty swords at a time when their opponents are firing laser guns. They, too, look sagacious but are hopelessly shallow inside.

It is children who give us hope. While the grown-ups in Korea and Japan were childishly engaged in an ugly fight, our children put us to shame. A few weeks ago, a group of Japanese children wearing Korean colors cheered the Korean athletic team in a stadium in Japan. Perhaps, those children were mocking us childish adults who never really grew up. Wordsworth rightly wrote, “The Child is the father of the Man”; we should learn from our children.

When we were children, right after the Korean War, we had virtually no toys to play with. So the village kids gathered in an alley and played the “forbidden game” ― a territorial expansion game. At that time, we thought the world was divided into two: our country and bad countries. And so we played the game of encroaching upon the territory of others. We are adults now, and yet are still haunted by childhood memories of “our country vs. bad countries” and territorial disputes. Our children, who have been raised comfortably, are no longer interested in such childish games. Looking at the recent territorial dispute between China, Japan and Korea, our children will be disappointed with our immaturity and childishness.

Ashamed of our shallowness, I often ask myself, “When will we ever grow up? When will we ever learn?”

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. ― Ed.