it's like the opposite of Jenga

Having been watching Running Man nonstop over the weekend, I've been immersed in the general-Asian-culture specific-Korean-culture attitudes towards social hierarchies and the carefully delineated relationships of respect between people of different ages, or between people who essentially "came first" and "came later". Much of the older-sibling/younger sibling as well as the sunbae/hoobae relationship originates from one idea: respect for those who have more experience than you, as in those born before you or those who, for example, debuted before you. It makes sense to me in a lot of ways. It makes me envious in a lot of ways, as I've posted about before, oh, five years ago or so. Some part of me wishes for that kind of structure because it comes with an ingrained sense of knowing where you belong: between those who came before and those who came after. You know what to expect: respect from those younger, respect for those older; giving advice and taking care of those younger, following advice and learning from those older.

I'm not so blind to realize there are restrictions to that kind of system that I wouldn't be blissfully happy with, such as the difficulty in making friendships across age (or other) barriers, or being faced with obligations one may not actually enjoy (e.g., holding your tongue against people you don't actually like, unable to be honest, restricted by social mandates from nonconforming, etc.). So I only wistfully think about how I'd like a culture like that while retaining all the benefits of living in a culture like mine (whatever that is) and trying to remind myself to be grateful for what I have, because it wouldn't be until I lost certain freedoms that I realized just how precious those freedoms were to me. Really, I promise am not so blind.

( More indulgence in musing aloud. )