100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
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Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#2So they've already embraced "you will own nothing, and you will be happy."
Although the "happy" part is looking more and more unlikely.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#3I was not aware the social programs in Seoul were income trapped, like they are in the US.
Isn't this a case against extreme urbanisation? The human density in a lot of cities are way too high.
Another are the ridiculous housing prices. Is it a bubble? Will it pop? Will it decrease in my lifetime?
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#4"But not in our generation, the next one."
The familiar song of the NIMBY knows no borders. What an amazing statement. Younger people must be immiserated because older person has bills to pay. At least demographically speaking the young man in the video won't really need to wait 40 years to get an apartment above ground. Population of SK is believed to have peaked in 2020 and is now rapidly plunging, with total fertility now way below 1.0. They used to project peak population in 2035 but now they are projecting to lose 1 million by that year.
Edit: Sorry, the 1 million is according to the "medium" fertility projection but since reality is already far below the "low" scenario, the projection is for losing 3 million people by 2035.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#5I don't know anything about renting/buying/homeownership in South Korea but to me it seems like you could still have people living in these basements if you could ensure they don't flood above head-level with sump pumps or building a dike around the building or something? Not sure. Seems like it would be a good stopgap solution while still making sure tenants don't get their lives upended by flooding or laws that force them out of their homes.
It's funny because we've been starting to see homeowners of larger houses where I live renovating their basement into a condo/shared living space of sorts then renting it out to younger generations of people who can't afford regular apartments or housing.
I'm fairly certain we're going to see an economic collapse on a larger global scale in the next decade and some governments' complacency on housing availability/affordability/etc. are going to be part of the blame.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#6It is remarkable how the most memorable scenes in parasite (for me) were not any of the crazy plot but the flooding scenes which were nothing but aesthetic symbolism of the movie's message. It didn't matter from a plot perspective at all really, and there was no dramatic sense of danger in it either, but damn did it stand out.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#7I don't know anything about renting/buying/homeownership in South Korea but to me it seems like you could still have people living in these basements if you could ensure they don't flood above head-level with sump pumps or building a dike around the building or something? Not sure. Seems like it would be a good stopgap solution while still making sure tenants don't get their lives upended by flooding or laws that for…
Seoul is hilly enough to put san franciso to shame, and a lot of these poor basement residences are at the bottom. It'd likely be really hard to do this reliably.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#8I don't know anything about renting/buying/homeownership in South Korea but to me it seems like you could still have people living in these basements if you could ensure they don't flood above head-level with sump pumps or building a dike around the building or something? Not sure. Seems like it would be a good stopgap solution while still making sure tenants don't get their lives upended by flooding or laws that for…
Even if the basements were flood-proof, these basements have minimal natural light, and little to no view from the windows. Horrible places to live. The mother at the end of the video says it all:
"I want to move above ground where my children can see the skies, to a place that doesn't have the musty smell of a semi-basement, so we can live together in fresh air."
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#9It is remarkable how the most memorable scenes in parasite (for me) were not any of the crazy plot but the flooding scenes which were nothing but aesthetic symbolism of the movie's message. It didn't matter from a plot perspective at all really, and there was no dramatic sense of danger in it either, but damn did it stand out.
> It didn't matter from a plot perspective at all really
To me this is exactly what made the flood scene so powerful.
When watching the film the flood seems to almost interrupt the narrative flow, "what is this? this isn't what I'm interested in right now. Why do we need this, there's already enough going on for these people?" is your first reaction as a viewer
But that's how real tragedy unfolds, it completely interrupts the story you are telling yourself with something you would really prefer not to deal with but are not allowed to ignore.
Floods, or likewise layoffs, the death of an important family member, etc. never fit the narrative flow we have in our heads. They interrupt our story in a way we really don't want.
I recall years ago getting ready for an important business trip for early stage startup that I had just joined. I was packing when I got a call that a close family member on the other side of the country had died. It didn't fit with my plans, I was going to start a new company, I didn't have time for a funeral, for grieving. Can't we do this next week when I'm less busy?
Of course the next morning the flight I got on was not for a startup but for the funereal.
Tragedy and loss never fit out schedule, not only do they bring their own pain but they destroy everything else we were trying to balance in our lives. Really a brilliant way to convey this idea in film.
Re: 100,000s of people in South Korea live in tiny underground apartments [video]
#10So they've already embraced "you will own nothing, and you will be happy." Although the "happy" part is looking more and more unlikely.
Happiness is a choice. Some of the most miserable people in the world are obscenely wealthy.
Happiness = Reality - Expectations.
You control your own expectations.
Generally, the American Dream of a massive house + massive car + isolated lifestyle away from friends and family is a/ not scalable to worldwide scale, b/ not the universal mode to happiness