I was reading an article titled “Why I never want Babies” and it really struck a chord with me. The women around my age in Korea are part of a generation that has been dubbed the “Sampo” generation. The word “sampo” means to give up three things – relationships, marriage and children. In the modern world you can’t survive on only one income. Two people need to be working in your average household and who does the burden of child-rearing go to? The women. We need to take a step back from our jobs or careers in order to do so especially in the first few years of the child’s life and by the time we can get back fully into the workplace, perhaps the positions qualifications have changed or the women gets fired due to poor work performance brought on by the sheer exhaustion associated with night time feedings, constant worry, or post partum depression, or of the like. There’s much more to this point but I want to move on to the next part of Sampo which is Marriage. Marriage is the bond between two human beings in the eyes of ‘God'(I’m using the name loosely), the law, and in the eyes of those surrounding. It’s the bonding of assets, of debts, of minds, of everything. And in today’s world with so many options, opinions, views, s***** desires, and a host of other human characteristics…. who has the time or the stamina to wade through all of that? And especially in the mixing of cultures there’s always tension. And the third point, relationships. I akin them to marriage but this is to put off any desire for human affection or physical desire. Today’s world is much more different than our parents or grandparents world. Divorce is such a common occurrence as well as cheating, lying, infidelity, and the list goes on. It’s definitely not worth the emotional trauma which in term will make performance in other areas in life suffer such as academics, career, finances, etc.
So. I’m 25 years old. And I consider myself a part of the Sampo generation but North Americanized. I don’t believe in relationships. I don’t believe in Marriage. And I don’t believe in Children.
All Comments
its just population and immigration rates shifting like they always do its happened before and it will happen again countries are overcrowded and soon places will need to be built to accommodate new citizens you just got unlicky and put in a time where a shift is starting… oh well… my point is that none of this is permanent and you will more than likely have the option for marriage and children in future (these shifts come and go pretty quickly give it like 10 years at it’ll be fine)
The thing is you’ll reach an age someday when your friends and family are dying around you, and you’ll have nobody who you love to take care of you the way you took care of them. You’ll have no future and only death ahead of you. Will focusing on your career through most of your youth be any comfort then?
Your making the 100% correct choice. Life is expensive and so are children. You have to survive and think about yourself and your needs in today’s society. All you need are good friends who will love you and stand beside you. Your capable of anything you set your mind to, be proud of being part of the “sampo” generation! 🙂