[How About This Book] The More You Try, The More Anxious You Feel... Modern People Who Can't Rest

Inequality Worsened Compared to the Past
Suicide Is a Major Issue
Most Suicides Driven by Livelihood Struggles
Problematic Perception Unable to Distinguish Rest from Consumption
Vicious Cycle of Anxiety Deepens the More People Try to Live Well

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] It is an era of inequality. According to the research of inequality scholar Thomas Piketty, the global inequality index was 70.7 in 2002, a significant increase from 43 in 1820. The domestic situation is also severe. According to the 2022 World Inequality Report, the top 10% group in Korea owned 45% of the total income.

Such inequality causes many problems, but the most serious among them is ‘suicide,’ as pointed out by social activist Lee Seungwon, author of the book Why We Cannot Rest. According to him, the saying “Even if you roll in a dog’s dung field, life is still good” is truly an old saying. The author asserts that despite advances in science and technology, the extremely forced free will is precisely suicide. This is especially true in Korea, where suicide is the leading cause of death among people in their teens to thirties.

So why do so many choose death? Korea’s suicide rate in 2010 was 33.5 per 100,000 people, about four times higher than the horrific suicide rate during the Japanese colonial period (12.2 per 100,000). Is life really more miserable now than it was then?

The author diagnoses that the current era encourages more suicide. The problem lies in the illusionary labor that encourages self-development and overwork as part of the massive social machinery. The author explains, “People trapped in the desires of others who devote themselves to ‘self-development’ gradually grow farther from their true selves and, at some point, realize that they can never reach the desires of others,” leading them to lose themselves and collapse.

In a situation where even formatting like in the digital world is impossible, feelings of emptiness and loss cause greater anxiety. The lack of recognition for labor results in overwork, and if one is regarded as incapable of consumption in the process, they remain as ‘Homo Sacer’?neglected in terms of life protection?and are driven to livelihood-related suicide, the author emphasizes.

It is also problematic that consumption and rest are equated. The author argues that even the time to rest, which could relieve the stress of excessive labor and debt today, has been transformed into consumer culture. The more this happens, the more people become isolated in consumer culture rather than spending time together, mistaking consumption for rest.

One of the solutions the author suggests is the restoration of empathy. He explains that resting means more than just not working; it is a state where expectations, trust, and excitement surround us instead of anxiety. Empathy offered by those around when someone is hurting or struggling can become a reason to continue living. He adds that such a background enables the ‘Commons,’ which allows free use of shared resources essential for sustaining life.

The author insists that modern people, who become more anxious the more they try to live well, cannot rest properly.

Why We Cannot Rest | Written by Lee Seungwon | 219 pages | Dolbegae | 14,000 KRW