Squid Game financial

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This article was published 05/11/2021 (900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are two kinds of people these days.

Those who have seen Squid Game, and those who plan to see it.

OK, the ultra-violent South Korean Netflix drama may not be to everyone’s taste.

But the fictional series about a game in which deeply indebted individuals play to win US$47 million, or die trying, likely resonates with a lot of people.

That’s because most of us can at least imagine — if not personally relate to — the characters’ desperation.

Certainly, Squid Game has proven popular among South Koreans because it alludes to ongoing socioeconomic challenges in the highly industrialized nation, says Hae Yeon Choo, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

For one, many individuals there face high debt levels. Households’ collective debt is now about 105 per cent of the nation’s GDP, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

Additionally, Squid Game alludes to the country’s recent, often brutal socioeconomic history.

As Choo points out, the main protagonist Seong Gi-hun’s backstory is that he “accrued a significant debt, after being laid off from his stable factory job at ‘Dragon Motors,’ which took him down to a downward spiral of irregular employment and failed venture at small business.”

To South Korean viewers, his story “is a clear reference to SsangYong Motor, which is a significant event that prompted a militant strike and a violent police raid.”

That strike, by the way, is the focus of Choo’s recent research, appearing in a soon-to-be-published book. She notes the strike was a pivotal historical event that illustrates globalism’s negative effects on the middle class. Among globalism’s more negative outcomes, she writes, has been the rise of “ghost capital” in which money and corporate ownership are no longer are bound by national borders, making it much easier to lay off workers while ignoring the financial hardship they cause.

In the case of SsangYong Motor, many workers committed suicide after the layoffs, Choo explains.

“To many South Koreans, the SsangYong case shows the precarity of the stable working class under global capitalism.”

Squid Game may be an exaggeration of the impacts of globalism, automation and the decline of the middle class in Korea, but many Canadians are likely feeling stung too.

In fact, we’re collectively in worse shape, going by that aforementioned debt metric. In Canada, households’ debt now amount to 112 per cent of national GDP. (In the U.S, by the way, it’s even worse at nearly 126 per cent.)

“The overwhelming stress, anxiety, and relationship problems that come out in Squid Game are a common experience for a lot of Canadians, who also are deeply in debt,” says Laurie Campbell, director of client wellness at Bromwich+Smith Inc., a licensed insolvency trustee firm in Toronto.

Only the experience doesn’t come with risk of bullet holes.

That’s not to say financial troubles here cannot lead to real physical harm, including addiction, suicide and even violence against others in very rare instances. Most people, however, suffer in silence because struggling with debt is viewed as shameful, says Stacy Yanchuk-Oleksy, interim CEO of Credit Counselling Canada.

The organization represents non-profit agencies across Canada, including Credit Counselling Society and Community Financial Counselling Services (CFCS) in Winnipeg that assist indebted individuals struggling to pay bills because of indebtedness.

“Dealing with debt doesn’t have to involve so much shame,” she says.

Nor should people suffer in silence.

Still, a recent study by the organization found many Manitobans are likely doing just that.

“We found 42 per cent of respondents felt their mental health was (negatively) impacted by household expenses.” Recently rising prices for food, gas and housing have only exacerbated situations, Yanchuk-Oleksy adds.

For many, the stress is likely to get worse now that the federal government recently eliminated most of the pandemic supports like the Canada Recovery Benefit, Campbell says.

“The big issue is asking for help,” she adds. Yet people are often reticent to do so. And even if they are ready, they generally don’t know where to turn.

Compounding matters, the internet is ripe with offers to provide assistance — quick fixes promising to significantly reduce or even eliminate debt entirely — by shady, likely criminal organizations that will only make individuals’ situations worse, she notes.

Seek out regulated debt relief providers like licensed insolvency trustees or non-profit agencies like Credit Counselling Society and CFCS, Campbell urges.

These organizations’ services are free. And while they do not offer quick, easy fixes, they can put deeply indebted individuals on a credible, long-term path to get back to financial well-being.

Besides teaching good, old-fashioned budgeting, these organizations also offer something very unlike Squid Game: kindness.

“What you get is empathy first,” Yanchuk-Oleksy adds. “Even though you may feel embarrassed and ashamed, there’s no reason to be.”

Need help with managing your debt? Visits Credit Counselling Canada’s website to find local assistance at creditcounsellingcanada.ca