ED Elites-grassroots gap

The wealth gap between elites and ordinary people is widening. This is another sign of deepening alienation in our society whose fabric is under strain over an emerging class-based discord.

According to the filings of senior public servants’ personal assets for this year, lawmakers had net assets 12.6 times those of the average. Those of judges were 7.8 times, while officials at the executive branch had 4.6 times. Net assets are debt-minus assets. All told, these elites have assets six times the national average.

Over 2,000 filed their net assets that averaged 1.74 billion won ($1.5 million), up 7 percent from last year. The individual assets average for the nation is tallied at 295 million won this year, up from 284 million won. The elite-grassroots wealth gap stood at 5.6 times in 2015, moving up to 5.71 last year and climbing to 5.89 times this year.

Public servants’ portfolios include undervalued properties so their nets assets will likely be worth more in real terms, meaning the real gap would be even bigger.

True, the survey takes a slice of the upper elites but even with a statistical bias, what is certain is that the gap is widening with little efforts being made to address it.

Worth note is that such a big gap between lawmakers and the people they serve speaks volumes about the dysfunctional National Assembly that has failed to do its job of legislating to protect and promote the rights of the majority. It means lawmakers live in a world totally different from the one where the people live and they can’t fathom what is most needed in the other world.

The disconnected legislature is a burden when members of our society are severely alienated from each other. The young generation is frustrated by the disappearance of upward mobility, dubbing themselves prisoners of “Hell Joseon,” where they give up on the search for decent jobs and marriage and resign themselves to a mere subsistence. One feature that shows their frustration is that many young people throng to become public servants, pushing the competition for entry-level openings to an unexpectedly highly level.

It is time for the elites_ lawmakers, judges and government officials _ to ask themselves whether they have served the people well. In Brexit, Britain’s decision to exit the European Union, and other electoral rebellions, the cause is the elites’ indifference toward the masses. Korea may be next, if it is already facing one.