Let’s get nostalgic with old BTS songs | This ask is about this post HERE

Many find Baepsae as a cool song but how many know the meaning behind it. Here is a good analysis I found about it Cr Emberxfae HERE

I am aware of the fact that one can find different aspects in “Baepsae” also known as “Try-Hard”, “Silver Spoon” and “Crow Tit”. This includes the parrotbill and stork aspect, the job market aspect and last but not least the silver spoon aspect. Now I decided to only concentrate on the silver spoon aspect since this one wasn’t addressed yet, however, if I do receive any requests for the other two aspects, I will make the effort to write about them as well in another blog.

These days, the silver spoon has become a symbol of the worsening social conflict or rather division in the hierarchical country South Korea. This phenomenon is widely talked about in online communities, in other words, it became a newly coined word that is frequently used among the younger generations. It is referred to as “the spoon class theory”.

According to this viral concept, wealth and social status is ranked into four groups of spoons, namely gold (금), silver (은), bronze (동) and soil/dirt (흙). Each spoon equaling a different wealth or social status.

This idea of the silver spoon that is mentioned in the song “Baepsae”, does come from the same western idea of being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

“They were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. This is an old, well-known western saying which describes a person who is born into a rich family.”

The spoon class theory categorizes Koreans into four main classes.

First are the golden spoons. They characterize the wealthiest and most privileged citizens of South Korea. All those who are born from prestigious and affluent families. Therefore, they are preoccupying the most dominant and prominent position within this class structure. About 0.1% of the population embodies this economic status.

The silver spoon represents a relatively wealthy family with $1-$2 million in assets. They are in the top 3% of the population and better off than any other lower class.

The bronze spoon symbolizes 7.5% of the population with an annual salary of $50 -$80,000, so in other words the upper-middle class, the ones from the average, common background.

The soil/dirt spoon signifies the rest of the population. These are low income working class families that are unable to enjoy certain luxuries due to their financially disadvantaged situation. They are forced to confront every hardship and suffer on their own.

They call me a try-hard. Our generation has had it hard. Hurry, chase ‘em, Thanks to those that came before us I’m spread too thin.

Young Koreans born into financially struggling family automatically identify themselves as dirt spoons. Recently these dirt spooners have been voicing their frustration and opinion towards the barriers they face in terms of job opportunities and social mobility since this spoon status prevents them in many ways. They view these labels as offensive towards their backgrounds.

A student of the Korea University wrote on a Facebook account, “I hate the phrase dirt spoon. I am afraid that my parents will find out what it means. My parents gave me good soil with love and support.”

However, someone being a gold spoon has also become an insult. Those who are in possession of this are seen as someone who just has inherited many benefits (mainly wealth) from their prosperous family background. Implying not only that they are being spoilt and not hard working at all but also that the lower classes could have been successful as well if they had the same attributes as these gold spooners. It seems as if despite their hard work, Korean society only caters to the rich.

Ah, stop going on about ‘effort’. Ah, it makes my skin crawl. Ah, try harder, ah, try harder. Ah, you really don’t have a chance, (As expected of them).

In South Korea children are told at a young age that every bead of sweat will prevent every teardrop when they are old. In return, society promises them wealth, happiness, security and freedom if they have sacrificed everything. But then no jobs and no money come their way. And so many feel doomed. It is no surprise that they would then vent their frustration at the successful people who have received a special treatment due to their blood relations.

(As expected of them), they meet your expectations. (As expected of them), they’ve earned their name. (As expected of them), they can just take it all. (As expected of them), those that came before us.

It is a publicly acknowledged opinion that life in South Korea is easy with money since money can solve “all” problems. And so it happens that wealthy Korean children have easier access to expensive extracurricular tuition and therefore can obtain an international education. These factors are all very important to get ahold of a job. Of course, there are also parents with some kind of power who are then able to pull strings so that they can give their children other opportunities and experiences.

Undeniably, parents play an important role in the quality of modern life in South Korea due to the tough competition.

The idiom “The grass is always greener on the other side” is reflected in the Korean idiom “Another person’s rice cake always looks bigger.” Envying and comparing with someone better than oneself is considered as a healthy way to fuel passion in Korean society.

Since South Korea sets great value upon hierarchy, this spoon class theory – that showed up in 2015 for the first time – gradually expanded in such a way that not only these four basic spoons seemed to exist but also:

1. The diamond spoon represents the billionaires of South Korea.

2. All those who are hard-working and have a relatively stable job are known for being a stainless steel spoon. Many young Koreans tend to strive for this.

3. The porcelain spoon used to be a dirt spoon but was “baked” in order to become higher in worth. This symbolizes all those who rebel against the social status spoon concept but they should be careful that they don’t break.

4. The shit spoon portrays all those who are not able to get even the minimum wage, they don’t even have any savings, since most of them are “drowning” in debts – almost 10% of the population in South Korea belongs to this class.  They are also known under the label “working poor”.

5. The non-existent spoon expresses all the unemployed or rather all the homeless.

[I read somewhere that there are more types of spoons, however, I couldn’t find more details]

In 2015 about 200 Seoul University students undertook a survey regarding this spoon class issue and the results speak for themselves.

This phenomenon of spoons is also briefly mentioned in Bangtan’s song “Fire”. The semi-lyrics are along the lines of “What ‘spoon’ are you, to say that? Why do you label me, ‘this spoon, that spoon’? I’m a human.” Thus meaning, “Who are you to label me? Stop labeling me with some social and economic status.”

A Korean blogger once wrote, “Here, the main emphasis is placed on the lucid distinction between the golden spoons and the dirt spoons, or in other words, the growing distinction between the rich and the poor from birth. This structure seems even more ironic within this nation, infamous for its excessive competition in every aspect. To put it another way, the spoon theory sheds light on the fact that the younger generation of South Korea is, ironically, forced through this vicious competitive system out of no reason at all, since advancement within this market system is hopelessly impossible.”

It’s my fault? You’re joking, right? This is fair? Oh, are you crazy? This is right? You must be kiddin’ me! You must be kiddin’ me, you you must be kiddin’ me!

And this negative trend in Korean society is no joke. A student of Seoul National University committed suicide and left his last thoughts on the university internet community “SNU Life”. He wrote, “I wanted to be loyal but the fact that maintains our existence of life was just a color of the spoon.”

Change the rules, change change. The ones who came before us want to, want to maintain. But we can’t do that, bang bang. This ain’t normal. This ain’t normal.

A society that hinders anger and pessimistic behavior, a society that causes psychological disorders such as depression and obsessive-compulsive neurosis, a society that motivates to commit suicide, is that what we really want?