A movie in South Korea is very popular recently called Parasite. It is a story about how a family living in a sunken basement attached to a rich family. The protagonist is a family of four, trying everything to work in a rich family: the son is an English teacher, the daughter is an art teacher, the father is a driver, and the mother is a housekeeper. In order to enter this house and earn more wages, they used various "despicable" methods. The son and daughter forged college degrees, and they framed the former driver and former housekeeper which cause them to lose their jobs. To take advantage of the situation, they went to work in the mansion as expected.
They are not ordinary poor people in some aspects. Their son's English level is far higher than that of college students; their daughter is knowledgeable, eloquent, and can forge various kinds of documents skillfully; their mothers are good at cooking, and used to be a shot putter; their father is a skilled driver who can take you to any places in Korea without GPS. However, no matter how capable they are, and how they well-behaved, the rich family always said they have "the musty smell in the basement", even if not intentional.
When the four chased away the original driver and housekeeper and gained the trust of the house owner, they said, "This family is so rich and so kind." To a certain extent, it makes little sense. The rich have a superior life and have been well protected since childhood. By receiving a good education and having a high level of morality, they become a seemingly elegant person. With their huge wealth advantage, they don't need to fight or grab anything, so they all look "kind". And as the poor who live in a world with scarce resources and unfairness, they have to do their best to survive. Where else can he care about what is " elegant"? Every moment, they are competing with others for resources to survive.
When we put this issue in sociology, one can think of an old topic: is the rich feeding the poor, or the poor feeding the rich? Should the capitalists feed the workers, or will the workers feed the capitalists? Who is the "parasite"?
Recently, a scholar named Xue Zhaofeng put forward a point of view, saying: "It is not the capitalists exploiting the workers, but the workers exploit the capitalists! Because capital cannot flow freely when it is invested in enterprises, but workers are free. They can leave if they want and they can make their own personal gains. So, it is the workers who are exploiting the capitalists. " However, in my point of view, laborers are always in a disadvantaged position, because the means of production are occupied by capitalists, and laborers can only sell their labor power in exchange for remuneration. The value they created are far higher than the wages they receive. The worker seems to be a free man, but under the pressure of survival, they cannot leave the capitalist and the means of production to make a living independently. Even though laborers have strong abilities, their still can be replaced easily in their work place. Therefore, they do not have the freedom to come as they wish, and to leave as they wish.
Comments
I loved "Parasite"!! The movie involved a lot of problems in the Korea where the corporate is taking over the entire country, and there are no room for small and middle sized businesses to compete as they are out-competed almost immediately.
Great cultural post. Parasite was so good and enjoyable to watch, and the more I stop to think about what happened during the movie, I notice myself going deeper and deeper into my own thoughts about this world. I also thought your analysis of capitalism was very interesting, and I can see both sides of the argument.