Half of Korean universities ‘could shut’ as population shrinks

I agree with the half-full idea. Social change like this demographic issue will bring challenges, and serious ones. On the other hand, one way that South Korea will almost certainly need to adapt is to loosen immigration. Having a highly homogeneous society (eg, ethnically, culturally) is good in some ways. Social cohesion is relatively high. But it has become clear that the entire human species can only survive very long into the future if we better understand that the serious threats that we face do not respect national boundaries (eg, climate destruction, the risk of nuclear catastrophe—by accident or war). That requires cooperation, and such cooperation in turn requires that we know different kinds of people, giving us a better chance to truly understand the idea that we are all “brothers and sisters.” Our future is deeply intertwined. Consider my own country, the United States. (I now live in Taiwan and have been here for 13 years.) The US suffers internal conflict and serious problems: eg, racial conflict, high crime rates, and high rates of poverty in a very rich country (wealth and income inequality). On the other hand, the US also enjoys many benefits as a highly ethnically diverse society. Although racial/ethnic injustice and conflict remain problematic, we have, from another perspective, learned how to live together and often to enjoy and appreciate different kinds of people. I think we can at least say this with some certainty: Virtually all Americans today accept the fact that we are a diverse/multiethnic/multicultural society, and will remain one. By contrast, many European/other “Western” countries are more “socially progressive” in many ways, but are generally more hostile toward “outsiders.” This seems even more true in many or perhaps all East Asian nations. My own beliefs are that, in general, social well-being, reduction of suffering, greater stability, and—as I’ve said—probably human survival itself, depends on ordinary people thinking and talking together, organizing around our common interests, and pushing against the rich and powerful to influence social policy. The universities are increasingly operating like corporations: inclined to focus more and more on the interests of a small number of administrators and owners at the top, more and more connected with and aligned with big business, and less concerned with the good of the wider society. (For example, cooperating together and with directors that sit on corporate boards, etc., in order to offer lower pay, fewer benefits, and less security to professors/instructors and other staff.) Education is largely financed by ordinary working people, one way or the other. We must fight so that the benefits of education are fairly distributed. Education should be a public good, not a private one. It’s worth thinking about: How South Koreans can continue to maintain the best of their shared values, retain and enjoy and honor and share the best of their culture and identity while also embracing and adapting to others. Not simple. But maybe in another way, as a fundamental goal, maybe it is simple.

I much prefer the East Asian (and East European) model of maintaining ethnically homogeneous societies despite the demographic transition. Perhaps adult education is a way forward for the higher education sector there. It might lead to a revival of interest in the humanities. The USA, France and England by contrast are scarcely unitary nations any more these days, but simply states in which fragments of different nations compete for resources, with limited ideas of a common good to bring them together and elections that are more an ethnic headcount than a contest of ideas.