Isn’t it very easy for society to blame its obsession with pleasure and material wealth on others?
I don’t know where the majority of people in this thread come from or their backgrounds, but despite the problems within Kpop, I can’t tell you how envious I am as someone who is part of western culture of the work ethic, humility and high moral standards I generally see among Kpop artists.
I come from a small town in the UK. There is a high level of unemployment in my town. There is a problem with alcohol and drug abuse in children as young as 11 or 12 years old. There are high rates of underage sex, with teenagers of around the age of 16 having had multiple sexual partners already. Teen pregnancy is high and the babies are born into a cycle of relative poverty they can’t escape. Their unmarried, teenage mother will often be more interested in going to clubs or parties at weekends than staying home with their child. Large groups of very young teenagers hang about the streets on Saturday nights drinking and taking part in other anti-social behaviours and many of their parents won’t care where they are. There is no respect for the law, for the police, for parents, grandparents, teachers or any other person in society. Many of these young people will not attend school regularly and will leave school with no qualifications. They will not work when they leave school but will still feel entitled to designer clothes and cars. Many children - wealthy or not so wealthy - will be handed cars for their 17th birthday and will drive them with no insurance and a total lack of concern for the safety of other road users. Suicide rates are very high especially among males. Mental health is at an all time low because of drug and alcohol abuse, lack of stable family backgrounds etc. This isn’t due to influences from the occult. It is due to the society we live in.
Most of these kids will never have heard of Kpop - or if they have they won’t be interested because 1) the artists aren’t “white” and 2) Kpop is not considered cool. Kpop idols and their clean-living, hard-working ethic is laughed at among many kids on western society. No matter how bad you think Kpop might be, it’s not seen like that in the West. The artists are too pretty, too clean, too wholesome. There isn’t enough sex, alcohol, drugs. While these artists are going home from their concert performances at 9 or 10pm and chatting to their fans on live streams, a lot of western teenagers are heading out to clubs to drink and take drugs. At concerts here, the main performers don’t even come on stage until after 9pm. They have support acts which play before the main artists. That is when SuperM played in America, people couldn’t believe the concerts were finished so early.
How often do you see Kpop artists drink alcohol, take drugs or have sex scandals? Really not that often. They are discouraged from having romantic relationships even when older because their fans don’t like it. They sacrifice so much to follow their dreams and yet people here see their actions as evil. They behave exactly as their culture expects them to behave and have done for years.
Yes, some of them now have started to push the boundaries and be more aware of gender equality, lgbt issues etc. That’s fine. My Christian beliefs don’t teach me to hate homosexuality, they teach me that no matter what my personal views are, I must show love and respect to every one. I don’t want to see gay people marginalised or hated because they are gay. I don’t want them to hate themselves or feel suicidal because they are ashamed of who they are. I want them to know they have as much value as anyone else.
I love that these Korean artists are so hard-working and yet so humble and appreciative of the support they receive. I love that they have so much respect for themselves and others that they show good manners, that they have respect for their parents and grandparents. I love that it isn’t the norm for them to be shown tumbling out if clubs drunk or wasted or that they are not more known for the number of girls they have slept with than the work they do. I love that they are trying to create a more open and tolerant society because they know that there are people who are struggling with many issues in Korean society - just like they are in every society.
None of this makes them evil or under the influence of the occult. Instead of hating on them, go and look at other cultures around the world and actually see what a positive moral influence Kpop could actually have on the Western world. These are not bad people. In fact, Kpop artists have the potential to make positive change in the not only their society, but other societies as well.