[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Kim Nuri's 'Competitive Education is Barbarism' <3>

Editor's NoteOne of the areas highly emphasized in German education is ecological education. The reason Germans show great interest in ecological issues in their daily lives is that ecological education has been prioritized and systematically taught in schools. Ecological education is conducted as a method to understand the results of various phenomena occurring between nature and human society and to guide behavior suitable for maintaining ecological order. This is because ecological issues are not confined to a specific area but are comprehensive problems of our society involving politics, economy, society, culture, and all other fields. Classes are also integrated across all subjects rather than limited to a specific subject like environment, allowing students to naturally connect and think about ecological issues intertwined in everyday life. Word count: 976 characters.

Today in Germany, there are quite a few people who go beyond anti-consumerism and engage in the 'Konsumverzicht' (consumption renunciation) movement. When I first went to Germany over 30 years ago, I recall the scene in university lecture halls. Male students who always sat in the front row had a peculiar appearance. They wore their hair long and knitted while attending class. Looking back now, this was a kind of protest. It was like a declaration of 'I will not consume anything' and 'I will make and wear my own clothes.' They routinely demonstrated a declaration of war against consumerism in everyday life.

Many Germans think that 'my consumption is an act that damages the Earth where future life will live for my own desires.' 'Responsibility for future life' is the reason Germans feel guilt when they consume. This is also an expression of their will to pursue a new way of life aligned with ecological order.

Looking at a recently popular book in Germany, one can glimpse their attitude toward consumption. The book is titled Freedom from Prosperity. You may have heard the phrase 'freedom from poverty' many times. But 'freedom from prosperity'? This is an ironic expression of the awareness that unless we break free from the enormous material prosperity we currently enjoy, humanity's ecological future will be bleak. It recognizes the state of overabundance promoted by current capitalism, that is, overproduction capitalism, and warns that unless we liberate ourselves from this, the ecological order will rapidly collapse.

In fact, when looking into the lives of Germans, one often gets the impression that there is a will to free themselves from prosperity. Germany is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, but Germans live very frugally. This goes beyond simply practicing economic thrift; it is a practical act born from a civilizational consciousness that the ecosystem must be protected. They have a habit deeply ingrained in them to exercise extreme restraint in consumption for the sake of future generations and future life.

－Kim Nuri, Competition Education is Barbarism, Haenaem Publishing, 18,500 KRW

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