Arts Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In L'Étranger: How an Absurdist Chooses to Live Life Fully Arts Share Wieroo Park 2023/11/27 Works Cited > News 1 11/27/2023 “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm. This path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the “why” arises and everything begins in hat weariness tinged with amazement.” - Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus “Is life meaningless?” A question so grand in depth to warrant an answer, yet something that many, if not all of us have asked ourselves at least once in our lifetime. This was no different for Albert Camus, the Nobel Prize-winning French philosopher best known for his literary works; The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, and The Fall. Camus theorized that humans have an inherent urge to understand how the world works–the who, what, when, where, why, and how’s of life. Yet what we often fail to realize is that in the grand scheme of the universe, it’s essentially unreasonable for one to strive to not only understand but find meaning and inherent value in life. To this, Camus presents us with two choices. The first choice is to simply deny the unreasonability in understanding life, and believe that one has a deliberate reason for living–in simpler terms, gaslighting yourself into believing that you know what you’re doing with your life. The second choice would be to ‘live with the absurd’, as Camus puts it. While accepting the meaninglessness of life and the incomprehensibility of it, rather than falling into a pit of despair, Camus believed that a meaningless universe is actually an opportunity to free ourselves and experience existence to the fullest extent. In Camus’s most well-known novel, The Stranger (Originally L'Étranger), he tells the story of Meursault, a man who goes through trial for murdering another man. At a glance, Meursault almost strikes as a sociopath, devoid of any emotion or empathy. He is completely unmoved and unaffected by his mother’s death, expresses little to no affection to his lover, kills a man without much reason, and even shows no emotional response when his death sentence is announced. He is completely detached from society–perhaps, like a stranger. Meursault is a clear depiction of the absurdity Camus is best known for, as seen by his indifference in response to the meaninglessness of life. Yet, he is also the absurd man who is yet to embrace the absurdity of life the way Camus tells us to. So if Meursault fails to embrace the absurd, what does an absurd man living life fully look like? I had the exact same question when I finished The Stranger earlier this week. Although I was aware of what absurdism is on a surface level, I didn’t know whether or not to see Meursault as a prime example of an absurd man. Accepting the fact that life has inherent value is quite exactly what Meursault was doing in the book, yet his life was not in any way virtuous or even moral at the very minimum. Was this really what Camus wants us all to be like? The answer is simple. Not really. With a deeper understanding of Camus’ philosophy, I soon realized that an absurd man–an absurd hero, as he puts it–is one that accepts the meaninglessness, the absurdity of life, yet sees the silver lining. When there’s no point in living this life, instead of looking at some ultimate goal or a purpose in it all, it means all our focus can be driven solely in this very life that we are living. Rejecting the hope for a greater future, and instead embracing the lucid experience of what’s happening in the moment. It’s the ultimate carpe diem, it’s how to suck the marrow out of life, it’s how you truly seize the day–because tomorrow has no meaning. Perhaps the 20th century French philosopher’s magnum-opus of a theory is after all what’s most needed in the modern world, a world where it is so easy to get lost in the turbulence of the 9-to-5 life that we often forget to question the “why” of it all. “To live solely with what he knows, to accommodate himself to what is and to bring in nothing that is not certain. He is told that nothing is. But this at least is a certainty…it’s possible to live without appeal.” - Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. 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Weekdays, Month Day, Year 00 °c Log In Economics The Middle Income Trap Economics 3/2/2024 Share Juan Lim The middle income trap is a term to describe a situation where a country struggles to maintain rapid economic growth once they reach a certain level of income. Currently, many Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are at this level, each having economic growth rates of 3.1%, 1.5%, and 2.6%, which are far lower than their expectations. Before these middle income countries reached their current levels of GDP per capita, they could utilize their low wages to focus on the production of manufactured goods for sustaining their economies. However, as their economies developed, the wages eventually increased, thus not being able to compete with the newly developing nations. Currently, India is the main nation that has taken over this role with a far lower GDP per capita of $2,500 and a healthy GDP growth rate of 8.7%. To escape the middle income trap, the country needs to find a way to keep up with the more developed economies in markets that have greater values. These markets often involve technology, which needs proper dedication and investment to catch up to countries that have decades more of experience. One primary example of a country that made this breakthrough is Korea. By developing profitable industries such as semiconductors and automobiles until they were able to compete in the global market, Korea was able to reach a GDP per capita of $30,000 without any major difficulties. Luck was also a part of this breakthrough as China, one of the fastest growing markets in the early 2000s, was responsible for more than half of Korea’s exports during this time. However, with China also having a hard time escaping the middle income trap nowadays, other Asian nations that had a slower start than Korea are failing to make large profits in their exports to China. Problems are emerging in countries stuck in the middle income trap, with one of them being low birth rates. Low birth rates are usually a problem of developed nations that have achieved enough economic growth. However, with the economic growth stunned, the Asian middle income countries are facing low birth rates as well. China and Thailand are in the worst situation with a birth rate of just 1.09 and 1.16, respectively. This is especially crucial for these countries because having a young population that can provide enough working force is the key for developing industries. With global recession occurring, the economic struggles of the middle income countries are getting worse every day, further increasing the gap between themselves and the developed countries. To move out of this trap, they will have to swiftly find a solution for fundamental flaws in their economic structures. Works Cited Moss, Daniel. “Malaysia Needs More than Economic Growth.” Bloomberg, 10 July 2023, www.bloomberg.com/opinion/features/2023-07-10/malaysia-needs-more-than-economic-growth. Accessed 03 Mar. 2024. Setboonsarng , Chayut. “Thailand Bids to Avert ‘population Crisis’ as Birth Rate Crashes .” Reuters, 7 Mar. 2022, www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-bids-avert-population-crisis-birth-rate-crashes-2022-03-07/. Accessed 03 Mar. 2024. Wigglesworth, Robin. “The Implications of China’s Mid-Income Trap.” Financial Times, 27 Feb. 2023, www.ft.com/content/a998c1bc-7632-47c1-baba-6ccd6aaef96e. Accessed 03 Mar. 2024. > News Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights As the Birth Rate Issue Emerges in China, CNN’s Recent Report May Shine Light on a New Vision of Politics Seoun Kim The New Fossil Fuel: Lithium Yubin Cho Yubin Cho Trending on Robinson Review As Economic Growth Slows, Retail Sales in March Decreases Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Right Vaseline on Your Face? Four Tips That Others Don’t Know The Controversy Behind Netflix “Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” General About Us Staff Events My account Popular sections Politics Economics Science Arts Other sections Opinion Magazine Games Contact Us Contact Us Social media Advertise With Us COOKIE PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © Robinson Review 2023. R and ‘Robinson Review’ are trademarks of Robinson Review. Robinson Review and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the Robinson Editorial Code of Practice.

Arts Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared: From Viral Videos to Television Series Arts Share Seoun Kim 2023/11/27 Works Cited > News 0 11/27/2022 The famous Youtube series created by Rebecca Sloan and Joseph Pelling, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, otherwise called DHMIS, is returning as a television series. Such expansion in the platform is significant, especially considering the theme DHMIS conveyed throughout its former Youtube series. For a quick introduction, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is a series of short videos created from scratch by Sloan and Pelling, earning its viral popularity for its eerie atmosphere, the quality of the production, and the bitter end that brings thoughts regarding its message. Its form of media DHMIS takes isn’t fixed to one category, therefore doesn’t define itself to a single stylistic form. The complexion of the medium ranges from puppeteering, stop motion, live action, and digital visualization resembling children’s education animation, like Sesame Street but more twisted and satirical in its nature. In fact, considering the general message it manifests, it would stand in the opposite of Sesame Street. DHMIS raises social issues into the spotlight through a seemingly naive layout, drawing out a drastic contrast with a familiar layout. As any children’s educational show would, each episode of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared starts with the main characters, the Red Guy, the Yellow Guy, and the Duck sitting in a room. What is interesting about such an arrangement is that these characters show awkwardness toward settings and don't fit into such an oddly artificial environment. The characters exchange dialogue regarding ‘what they are supposed to do’ in such a situation, oblivious to what must be done. That is when ‘the lesson of the day’ starts, with either a notebook or a clock suddenly appearing to teach the characters about ideas such as love or creativity. Through those lessons put out in a song, the characters seem disturbed especially as the lesson turns to a gory scene in the end, with the lesson for creativity ending with crafts with real hearts, and the lesson about time ending with the characters facing their ends. From the oddly discontinuing sequence of situations and in the introduction of each episode, it can be inferred that DHMIS’s characters are actors of a show. Especially actors that don’t really know what they should be doing. The characters aren’t given the freedom to do the things they want to do and keep being interrupted by other forces that keep straying into unwanted situations. Because the show that features these three characters is sponsored, it is altered and created for the commercial purposes of those firms. Due to such financial support, the information within the ‘lessons’ also changes for the branding. For example, episode 5, where the lesson is about health, significantly indicates the sponsoring. The lesson promotes the products from the sponsor company, Roy's, that are the healthiest and exploits the nature of the program. In the last scene of DHMIS, the Red Guy realizes that they can create their own stories and become free of such manipulation if they go low budget on their own platform, by discovering the process of the creation of their TV show. He pulls the electrical code from the cameras filming the TV series, and the three characters reappear in the last scene in the room that they started off in the first episode, with fewer props and space, but with the freedom to decide. From such an ending, DHMIS manifests the current media being exploited and manipulated to speak up only for commercial reasons and purposes, maltreating the casts. Since Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was featured as a Youtube series independent from the sponsor and financial support of firms, speaking up for such issues effectively raises awareness of the issue. Now with the new series of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared being aired on a wider platform with higher quality, they are showing how a series without the financial blow of a firm can go so far. In the new series, the content has extended from a 6-7 minute video to a whole 22 minutes for each episode. With the lengthened time, the series is now able to show deeper into their sense of humor, their gory style, and the unchanged theme of social criticism and black humor. The new DHMIS features the stories that moved from the last series and tells the background stories of the individual main characters, especially Yellow Guy who had represented children and innocence throughout the series. Now, how he would be enlightened to recognize the social issues for himself would be a viewpoint for the new series. How the plot of the series would be carried on, and how these independent media would be able to stand a position in society would be the significance of the new series Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights As the Birth Rate Issue Emerges in China, CNN’s Recent Report May Shine Light on a New Vision of Politics Seoun Kim The New Fossil Fuel: Lithium Yubin Cho Yubin Cho Arts Trending on Robinson Review As Economic Growth Slows, Retail Sales in March Decreases Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Right Vaseline on Your Face? 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Magazine Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Some Ideas on the Influence of Music on the Efficacy of Academic Performance Magazine 0 The combined perspective of psychology and human history has demonstrated the evident efficacy of music in academics. In addition to the proven benefits of music such as alleviating anxiety and improving concentration researched by Florida National University in 2019, music shares continuity with human beings and many other species around the globe. Although music at its fullest potential can provide efficiency for many subjects, the misinterpretation and misuse of music in academics damage its reputation and possible outcomes that could be cultivated when using music in righteous ways. The following thoughts of mine are a short consideration and criticism toward individuals who are unintentionally neglecting their fullest academic efficiencies by misusing music in their life. If each genre of music could be described as a common taste in foods, most individuals would agree that K-pop music resembles a simple spicy or sweet treat: candy or ginger cookies with the monotonous, one-dimensional flavor of a simple afternoon snack. Meanwhile, classical music can be compared to a fine dining dish like steak or salad which allows for various interpretations of taste. Although dishes and music share similar characteristics of the capitalistic subject of consumption and could be repetitively and differently interpreted by the culture and its citizens, one is usually selected with careful considerations for its influence when experiencing while the other one is, well… music. Why would people choose their music without care knowing that the choice would influence their emotions and conduct for a meaningful amount of time? Awakening vigilance from these “careless” consumers is needed for superior development in academics, as many individuals from my observations were limited to certain categories such as K-pop or “Tik-Tok” based music. My mind is in pure confidence that random students drafted from the crowd in KISJ would prefer this “sweet” music over other genres. This threatening assumption leads to my other worries about student tendencies, as “sweet” music does not provide aid for students to focus on their academics while listening. Instead, it disturbs and distracts the individuals from focus through provocative lyrics and melodies. The overall tendencies of students’ choice of music, developed and influenced by Korea’s media culture, is an evident threat to securing the academic maturity of students. At this point, the issues have been dragged out from the abyss, and all individuals can freely see what the problem is. The allegiance of the students must be directed more toward academics than entertainment and pleasure. Just like the Domino effect, a single distracted individual will work as an origin of contagion and influence everyone inside the community. Therefore, these considerations and worries of mine toward the tendencies of the current community will conclude with an executable proposal that might resolve the misdirected allegiance of individuals. Students must be aware of the catastrophic influence of “sweet” music on academic performance and should start avoiding it. Encouraging the student community to be involved in these inefficient and possibly provocative songs is unnecessary and short-sighted. To build an academic community with healthy academic competition, a limit to “sweet” music is essential. To aid the community’s quality, I propose individuals start listening to classical music or jazz (source on the benefits of classical & jazz music). Sounds a bit extreme? You don’t want the mold to sprout in your walls and diffuse its deadly spore. Music is like a spore and must be controlled cautiously in order to regulate the community’s academic efficiencies. 2023/06/17 Share Sewon Kim Works Cited > News Magazine Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. 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Politics Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Works Cited > News Share Yusang Yoon 2023/02/05 0 These days, the debate over same-sex marriage has grown worldwide. Some people strongly dissent over queer marriage policies, while others keenly consent to. Nevertheless, in 2022, on December 13th, Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, allowing homosexual people to be relieved of their love. The Respect for Marriage Act recognizes same-sex marriage. While it can not stop individual states to prohibit same-sex marriage, it requires all states to federally recognize these marriages even if they happened in different states. The signing of the Act is an unconventional bill that has given a great shock to the world and stirred up a contentious confrontation between people in America. In the early stages, most people either dissented from the bill's passage or felt awkward with the new policy. Nevertheless, Americans slowly realized their close friends; family members also happened to be part of the LGBTQ+. Regardless of their political parties, there were many gay people among Democrats and Republicans. Even the high-profile homosexual woman in the country was the daughter of the Republican vice president. In addition, two years ago, when renowned homosexual man Pete Buttigieg ran a campaign to be the Democratic presidential candidate, nobody cared about his sexuality. Concerning this phenomenon, it was clear that public support of gay marriage has steadily increased from 27 percent to 71 percent. While the support base for same-sex marriage proliferated throughout the states, the campaigners targeted patriotic homosexual Americans. Rather than presenting the LGBTQ+ right as an ordinary revolutionary movement, they have accentuated the commitment to an institution favored by the conservatives, asking for the right to marry and join the army without considering their sexuality. Therefore, myriad patriotic homosexual people wanted to participate in America’s mainstream. Nevertheless, the passage of the same-sex marriage law was not fully endorsed by the public. The conservative backlash over gender issues has further developed as a form of physical violence. In November, five people were gunned down at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs due to hatred towards homosexual people. To prevent such crises, Joe Biden has criticized the Republicans for passing a “callous and cynical” law aimed at transgender, homosexual people. He proclaimed the government would assure their safety and protection from violence and the opposing sides. He congregated the value of racism, antisemitism, homophobia, and transphobia and asserted they are all connected, hence the only solution for this social upheaval is by embracing the opponents with love which all applies to different values of conflict. The population of the president eminently rose, after the passage of the bill. Just over 25 years ago, the preponderance of Americans said marriage between the same sex was unacceptable and should not be recognized by law. However, Joe Biden became the person who deteriorated the conventional prejudices and declared a law bill ahead of time. He has been acknowledged as the “most pro-equality” president in American history and became the highest-ranking U.S. official to endorse the same-sex-marriage. However, as same-sex marriage has now become legal, the state's recognition of the aforementioned bill differed. In states where same-sex marriage is legal, the federal government recognized these unions. However, in the case of the states which illegalized same-sex marriage did not permit it. The government accepted diversity and individualism only if each state promised not to interfere with their realm. Therefore, the relationship between the political population and the specific groups of people is observed, forming a win-win for both sides. The political parties can take a step further with their policies to break the traditional norm and demonstrate unexpected prospects for the country. This might be a chance determination as people are inclined to show hostility to the new policies. Still, Biden's case has explicitly apprised the benefits of supporting neglected groups of people. Rather than antagonizing the entire nation, Biden has gained many adherents by risk-tasking. 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Politics Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Politics Italy, Meloni, and Fascism Politics 01/20/2024 Share Daniel Jo Ever since the deposition of Mussolini in 1943, Italy had never seen another rule by another totalitarian, Fascistic politician. But as Meloni`s government progresses on, the similarities between the autocratic rule of Mussolini, and the Right-Wing Brothers of Italy, as well as the blurred relationship between the two, have made the classification of the controversial Premier and her political party difficult. Ever since the fall of the original National Fascist Party of Italy, and its successor the Republican Fascist party after the end of the Second World War, there have been several ‘successors’ to the defunct party. The Italian Social Movement, formed in 1946 by Giorgio Almirante, and the veterans of Italian Fascism, espoused and presented itself as the successor of Mussolini's ideas, while presenting anti-communism as its outward slogan to integrate itself into the budding Italian democracy, and to present itself favorably during the era of a deep ideological divide between the political right and the left. Regardless, in 1990, the party had transformed into a big-tent party, and now renamed themselves as National Alliance, or AN. However, after the merger of AN to the center-right party The People of the Freedom, a right wing split, the present Brothers of Italy, was formed in 2012. Although the heritage of the Fascist Party looks slim, it runs deep within the party. The Premier, Meloni herself, has drawn controversy for speaking favorably about Mussolini, and the prominent ‘neo-fascist’ Almirante, who had been a chef de cabinet in Mussolini's Italian Social Republic, a Nazi puppet state set up in the north of Italy. Furthermore, in 2012, it was Meloni, who decided to add the ‘Tricolor Flame’ symbol into the party's flag, which is known for being a prominent Neo-Fascist symbol associated with the Italian Social Movement, and its Neo-Fascist views. Meloni`s own views; opposition of same-sex marriages, zero tolerance policy to immigrants, and her prior support of Russia under Putin, as well as her closeness with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another controversial political figure for his far-right, strongmen views, have made it even more difficult, to not link the two together. Although Meloni tries to show political moderation, and blur away the connections between her party and the defunct Fascist movements of old, it will be a long while, before any decisions and evaluations about her ‘Fascistic’ nature could be decided upon. Works Cited > News News Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights As the Birth Rate Issue Emerges in China, CNN’s Recent Report May Shine Light on a New Vision of Politics Seoun Kim The New Fossil Fuel: Lithium Yubin Cho Yubin Cho Trending on Robinson Review As Economic Growth Slows, Retail Sales in March Decreases Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Right Vaseline on Your Face? Four Tips That Others Don’t Know The Controversy Behind Netflix “Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” General About Us Staff Events My account Popular sections Politics Economics Science Arts Other sections Opinion Magazine Games Contact Us Contact Us Social media Advertise With Us COOKIE PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © Robinson Review 2023. R and ‘Robinson Review’ are trademarks of Robinson Review. Robinson Review and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the Robinson Editorial Code of Practice.

Opinion Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Growing Up From Our Childhood “Neverland” Opinion Share Yechan Kim 2023/04/23 Works Cited > News 0 4/23/2023 The book “Peter Pan,” by J. M. Barrie starts off with the quote “All children, except one, grow up”. Everyone will eventually reach adulthood, and childhood is just a short moment in life. Capturing the essence of childhood, “Peter Pan” and its wondrous stories of Neverland brings back exciting childhood memories of the readers, portraying a world of eternal childhood. Neverland and Peter Pan encourages detachment from reality, and gives an opportunity to experience a world without reality’s struggles. Through describing the vast adventures in Neverland, and the characters’ eventual return to reality, “Peter Pan” makes readers recognize how childhood is certainly a memorable time in life, and highlights the importance of cherishing the magnificent dreams of youth. As an ordinary family, Wendy and her siblings, John and Michael are playful children full of dreams. Their mother, Mrs. Darling, passes on her beliefs towards a magical character, Peter Pan of Neverland. The young boy of the Neverlands, Peter Pan, and his fellow fairy Tinker Bell’s arrival to this family prompts the young children’s minds, and opens up their dreams of the Neverlands. But as the story progresses, Wendy experiences inner conflicts in deciding whether to grow up as a woman or to stay as a dreamful young girl. Such inner conflicts are common amongst children growing up, as they are in the phase of understanding who they are as an individual in life. Wendy contradicts with Peter Pan, who is still a young boy trapped in ‘Neverland,’ blinded from reality. In the meanwhile, the daring adventures of Peter Pan brings Wendy and her siblings to a conflict against Captain Hook, a pirate in the Neverlands. Through these dangerous but thrilling events of the Neverlands, Wendy learns about the reality of having to grow up, although there are wondrous and lively memories in childhood. On the other hand, Peter Pan decides he will stay in Neverland, as he doesn’t want to grow up and become an adult. The process of Wendy and her siblings finishing the adventures in the Neverlands and returning home to face the reality shows the short but impactful memories one may have with their childhood, but also the fact that they will have to grow up into an adult of the reality at the end of this childhood adventure as well. The story expresses both the unforgettable marvels of childhood, and the theme ‘everyone has to grow up once they finish their childhood adventures’. This theme may be hard-hitting, and harsh. But as Wendy’s decision to become an adult shows, it is possible to understand that there will be a new chapter in reality once you grow up. It also shows how one should learn how to cherish these memories of childhood, to base it in their personal growth and become an even more wondrous and hopeful person in life no matter how frightening growing up may be. As a teenage highschool student growing up, it was possible to empathize with the characters who are feeling inner conflicts and hesitation towards growing up. The adventures in Neverland helped me to remember my past memories as a child who thought I could do anything in life. More importantly, it gives bravery to ones who are struggling to grow up, due to their fear towards their future as adults. The book’s stories will encourage and soothe people who are in the process of growing up. I would recommend this book to people who are growing up from their childhood, and are fearful of the future. It will bring tranquility and a hopeful future for everyone afraid of becoming an adult. 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Arts Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Vox’s Documentary “Do I Want Kids?” Aims to Find a Perfect Time for Having Children Arts Share Sieeun Rhee 2023/04/23 Works Cited > News 0 2023/04/23 Vox’s documentary “Do I Want Kids?” discusses the different factors that impact a person’s, especially a woman’s, decision to have children based on interpreting various types of statistical data that helps the audience understand how having children will affect their lives, healths, and careers. It opens a new, more personal window to approaching the recent low fertility rate crisis by embracing the complex nature of the question “Do I want kids?”, successfully achieving its intended purpose of informing the audience of the various implications of having children using an appropriate blend of data and evaluation. The documentary begins with short interview clips of heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ adults with the host, where the interviewees each talk about their decision to have or not have children. While the majority of them say that they are happy with their final decisions and current lives, some of them say they are not. These diverse perspectives effectively illustrate that the question of having children can be a dilemma and that the decision-making process is unique to each individual based on their personal values and beliefs. What makes Vox’s documentary effective is its use of statistical data that is unfamiliar to the general audience. For example, the host introduces the “happiness gap” data, which shows that in many countries, including the U.S., people with children are generally unhappier than people without, and an expert discusses the possible causes of this trend. The “happiness gap” data is not common knowledge among the general public and provides a rather shocking insight for childless adults into the world of parenting. For the purpose of informing, using facts is a compelling way to allow the audience a more thorough understanding of what it might be like to be a parent – especially for non-parents since they lack the experience. However as the hosts evaluate the significance of the data presented, the documentary loses its objectivity, making it seem like Vox is trying to discourage people from having children. This undermines the main objective of the documentary because instead of informing the audience with unbiased information, the hosts’ evaluation of the data puts having children in a negative light. After discussing the career data, showing how having children greatly impacts a female spouse’s earnings, the host, Cleo Abram, says, “...the fertility data tells you that [it is] probably the safer choice to have kids on the earlier side, and the career data implies you might take less of a hit if you have kids later, which is a little frustrating,” leaving the audience to wonder, “then is it better to not have kids at all?”. Additionally, the documentary fails to address the low fertility rate crisis as a major social issue or develop concern and awareness over it. Approaching the parenting dilemma strictly as a personal matter, the documentary does not discuss the devastating consequences that the low fertility rate crisis can have on societies around the world. To a large extent, however, the data presented in the documentary is accurate as they are discussed by experts in the field and allows the audience to realize why fertility rates are crashing: data reveals that parents are generally unhappier and earn less, so it makes sense that no one wants to have kids. The overall structure and information in the documentary allow it to successfully inform the audience of the various implications of having a child and hopefully help them in their own decision-making process. Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. 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Opinion Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Book Review: Aurora Rising Opinion Share Hyundo Jung April 2023 Works Cited > News 0 April 2023 When you are submerged into the darkness of the endless space–filled with exhilaration and the fear of its presence as you glide into the sea of nothingness–you can’t but have to awe at its glory and beauty. As you travel along the mythical 3-story-journey with the main characters of the Aurora Cycle, Squad 312 of the Aurora Legion, anyone will be deeply immersed in the series and into the uniqueness of the heroes of the universe. The series takes place in the year 2380, where humanity has faced galactic wars, alliances, and the establishment of the Aurora Legion; the intergalactic peacekeepers. It all started when Tyler Jones (an Alpha, or squad leader, who is top of his year and has killer dimples) couldn’t sleep the night before an important ceremony called the draft because of his roommate snoring. So he gets his hands on a spaceship and launches himself into the dark space where he rescues the only survivor named Aurora O’Malley from the Hadfield–a Terran exploration vessel that was lost in the rift. This results in Tyler missing his draft and having his squad made up with smart delinquents (excluding his sister Scarlett and best friend Cat). Yet, things go more downhill during their first mission where Aurora claims their commander has ordered her to sneak along with them instead of staying at their base, and a group of hostile Syldrathi (called the Unbroken) coming towards them in a fleet of warships that aren’t willing to talk things out. Fortunately, the Terran GIA saved them, but they soon understood that these people weren’t here to save them, but to kill them and break the universal peace that was formed by consuming every living organism into the Ra’haam; a multitude of organisms that actually comprise a single being which tried to consume the entire universe in the past. Eventually, they escaped from these infiltrated GIAs, and were officially reported to have gone rogue and were to be hunted down by law-enforcers and bounty hunters all over the galaxy. Now, as they try to get a step closer in saving the entire galaxy from the Ra’haam with Auri’s visions that were hints for what to do for the Squad to save everyone. As the story progresses and major character development forms, along with loss and gain of characters, the story fuses these features in conveying the theme of the book: Love is most special when it is genuine. There are many hints of developments from our heroes that explain the theme, but the most significant is from Zila Madran, as she is the embodiment of this theme as they show it with their whole life. Initially, Zila was depicted as the psychopathic girl who shot her roommate multiple times with a futuristic taser. Likewise, to her depiction, she surely seems to lack emotion as whenever it was her chapter, it was significantly shorter than the others. In addition, she also seemed to lack empathy during the first book (Aurora Rising) as she shot Auri with the futuristic taser without warning in which Tyler responds: “Your problem is that you know how everything works except other people.”. Yet, as the book progresses, Zila falls in love with her squad to state at the end of the series (Aurora’s End) as she explicitly states “‘I have found my family here,’ Zila says, ‘though I will always miss the family I left behind. I hope each of you finds such happiness, over the course of your lives,’” indicating that not only did her personality changed, but her love toward her friends has grew to an indescribable level. Yet, her love towards her friends is special as her love for her friends is unique and genuine. In addition, the theme is most clear as the author uses Auri to express it as she later tells Ra’haam “These stories are about the way each of these people lived and loved… But each of their journeys was their own.”. Hence, explaining to the Ra’haam who believed that everyone will be loved if they become one with them to acknowledge that love is most special when it is genuine. Here are the following reasons why you should read this series. First, it was a thrill to read this book; not a song, but an absolute banger. The twists the book will present to you are something neither that I’ve seen before nor could expect. The stories will drag you along the journey, making you want to keep reading and wishing it didn’t end. In addition, the story will have multiple heartbreaking or heartwarming moments that you will–no joke–have an emotional rollercoaster; you will cry, you will smile, and you will absolutely laugh as you read this book. Second, I love how this book has chapters where it shifts into other perspectives like the book Wonder by R. J. Palacio. This feature makes you more hooked into the characters and become more interested in these people, and when you think you know everything about these characters, you don’t as the authors present dramatic backstories, that are more dramatic than Korean breakfast drama, to keep you interested. Finally, I have to point out that this review wouldn’t have been possible as the whole 3-book-journey itself is one enormous book. The book gradually conveys the story and links it to the last book, where it makes clear the theme and ends the character development just like what a true end would do. Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights As the Birth Rate Issue Emerges in China, CNN’s Recent Report May Shine Light on a New Vision of Politics Seoun Kim The New Fossil Fuel: Lithium Yubin Cho Yubin Cho Opinion Trending on Robinson Review As Economic Growth Slows, Retail Sales in March Decreases Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Right Vaseline on Your Face? 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Weekdays, Month Day, Year 00 °c Log In Politics The House of Lords-An Outdated House? Politics 02/19/2024 Share Daniel Jo The House of Lords is the upper chamber of the bicameral British Parliament. And true to its name, it is composed exclusively of the British ‘Lords’. With currently there being 785 Lords that make up the chamber, compared to the 650 MPs of the House of Commons, as well as its ‘undemocratic’ form of composition seems to give support to the age-old argument that it is a flawed and unneeded body. However, it may still be needed yet. Although the perception of the House of Lords, and its functions may be harsh due to its selection, it is, not, in fact, a purely hereditary body. With the life peers introduced into the House of Lords, many ‘Lords’ that are currently sitting in the House were elevated to the title and rank of a Peer, by virtue of rendering a great service to the United Kingdom, or are professional experts in their fields. Including the military, law, business, economy, education, and more. One example would be the Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, a doctor on palliative medicine. Furthermore, although the creation of life peers were created under Conservative and Labor governments, the House, however, has a significant portion of crossbenchers-Lords that are nonpartisan. 183 Lords and Ladies are crossbenchers, which provides a more nonpartisan and neutral views on matter often discussed in the House of Lords. In this case, the laws that come under scrutiny by the House are met with a diverse, neutral viewpoint that is not subordinated under political affiliations and bias. Additionally, the House of Lords is an invaluable piece in the whole ‘keeping power in check’ without any temporal restrictions. By virtue of their peerages, the Lords sit in the House, not by the sway of electoral opinion which may or may not affect democracy negatively. As democracy is in a constant threat of being converted into blatant populism, or facism, drawing the example from Hitler's Germany, the fact that there is a body to balance the threat out is an important role all in itself. Overall, although the House of Lords does have its own share of criticism, it is over all, a useful body that is one of the protectors of British democracy. Despite its supposedly archaic way of selection, one cannot help but point out how helpful political non-partisanship can aid democracy greatly, and the democratic governments that failed to incorporate such neutrality, and became a populistic, fascist one instead. Works Cited What the Lords Does - UK Parliament, www.parliament.uk/business/lords/work-of-the-house-of-lords/what-the-lords-does/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024. “The Guardian View on House of Lords Reform: An Irresistible Case | Ediitorial.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Apr. 2023, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/07/the-guardian-view-on-house-of-lords-reform-an-irresistible-case . “House of Lords Needs More Experts, Says Speaker, as Former PMS Line up Allies.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Apr. 2023, www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/06/house-of-lords-speaker-john-mcfall-boris-johnson-liz-truss-allies . > News Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights As the Birth Rate Issue Emerges in China, CNN’s Recent Report May Shine Light on a New Vision of Politics Seoun Kim The New Fossil Fuel: Lithium Yubin Cho Yubin Cho Trending on Robinson Review As Economic Growth Slows, Retail Sales in March Decreases Joe Biden's Signing of the Respect for Marriage Act Becomes A Turning Point in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Right Vaseline on Your Face? Four Tips That Others Don’t Know The Controversy Behind Netflix “Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” General About Us Staff Events My account Popular sections Politics Economics Science Arts Other sections Opinion Magazine Games Contact Us Contact Us Social media Advertise With Us COOKIE PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © Robinson Review 2023. R and ‘Robinson Review’ are trademarks of Robinson Review. Robinson Review and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the Robinson Editorial Code of Practice.

Economics Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In U.S. versus China: It’s the Microchips This Time Economics Share Juan Lim 2023/04/16 Works Cited > News 1 04/16/2023 The 1980s was the peak of Japan’s semiconductor industry, with nearly 50% of the global market share and 80% specifically for DRAMs (Dynamic random-access memory). However, the U.S. was not happy about this growth as it was only possible after the U.S. disclosed its semiconductor patent. As a result, in 1985, semiconductor companies in the U.S., such as Intel, Micron, and AMD, started their retaliation by accusing Japanese companies of dumping, which is when manufacturers export a product to another country at an abnormally low price. The U.S. government signed the Plaza Accord in 1985, the first U.S.-Japan semiconductor agreement in 1986, section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Super 301) in 1987, and the second U.S.-Japan semiconductor agreement in 1991. This series of retaliations was enough to make Japanese semiconductor companies collapse. The U.S.'s attack on Japan’s semiconductor industry interestingly resembles the current hostile relationship between the U.S. and China. With China’s ever-growing manufacturing capabilities, its semiconductor industry is developing faster than ever. To become victorious in the current U.S.-China power struggle and remain the greatest power in the microchip industry, the U.S. is devising policies to halt the growth of China's microchip industry. As China tried to escape the global supply chain of semiconductors led by the U.S., the government had to develop its technology, including essential materials like silicon carbide and precise manufacturing equipment. However, China had a difficult time making up for its enormous deficit that other countries built over decades. As a result, the Chinese government supported companies to begin IP theft in the chip industry, stealing key technology from the trade partners of the U.S.. For instance, Zongchang Yu, a former employee of the Dutch microchip company ASML, became the CEO of his own software company in China with the help of the government. His company had products similar to ASML. Also, China has attempted to hack important information from Taiwanese companies like TSMC, which is well-known to have one of the best semiconductor manufacturing technologies. Although this bold move allowed the rapid growth of semiconductor technology in China, the U.S. started to consider China as a competitor and a threat. In the 1980s, because Japan was an important ally of the U.S. at that time to stop the spread of communism, the goal was to break down the dominance of Japan through one-on-one policy, instead of completely demolishing its industry. In contrast, the CHIPS Act of 2022, a law aimed at pressuring the Chinese microchip industry, states that global semiconductor companies that receive financial support from the U.S. government are not allowed to benefit from the technology or manufacturing in China or any other country of concern for 10 years. This law is called the “China Guardrail Policy” as the goal is to completely isolate China with the help of other countries, including Taiwan and Korea, which would be forced to build their factories in the U.S. instead of cooperating with China. In addition, the U.S. government plans to revive its semiconductor manufacturing industry with its $52 billion budget from the CHIPS Act of 2022. The budget is planned to be used for building a robust supplier ecosystem, R&D facilities, and specialized infrastructure. Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, specifically mentioned, “We sacrificed our manufacturing capacity and workforce in the mistaken belief that we could somehow maintain our technological leadership without them.” The previous Trump administration had the goal of “not losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with” and began the trade war between the U.S. and China. In contrast, the Biden industry is not only continuing the competition against China but also trying to revive the manufacture of microchips that have been slowly losing out to Asian competitors for more profit in global trading. The outcome of this conflict remains uncertain, but it is clear that both the U.S. and China are heavily invested in the success of their microchip industries. As China seeks to become a dominant player in the field, the conflict between the two countries is likely to become worse. Unlike Japan, China has no reason to accept the retaliations of the U.S. as China is rising as the main enemy of the U.S. after the fall of the Soviet Union. The microchip industry is just a small part of the enormous U.S.-China power struggle, and their conflict would take a long time to resolve. Robinson Review Favorites A Review of Alternative Bottleless Water Ooho Dongha Kim Three Reasons Why the U.S. Shot Down the Chinese Spy Balloon Seunghyeon Lee How Truly Significant Is the Collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on the U.S. Economy? Songi Chai, Yubin Cho, Seohyun Jang.. 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Magazine Tuesday, December 23, 2025 00 °c Log In Korea’s Demographic Crisis Is Worse Than You May Expect Magazine Share Hyunuk Bang, Soobin Jang, Harry Jung, Seunghyeon Lee, Jisoo Moon, Jaehun Oh, Chanseo Rue, Hwarim Ryoo, Wonjun Son 2023/04/23 Works Cited > News 0 4/23/2023 South Korea is experiencing one of the most consequential crises that will change the economic trajectory for upcoming decades. As South Korea’s death count surpassed the birth count for the first time in 2020, the country has entered a fragile economic state. With the decades-long, steep decrease in birth rate, Korea will lose nearly 20% of the labor force by 2040. South Korea, over the last decades, experienced one of the most rapid economic growths from the poorest country in the world after the Korean War to one of the most advanced economies in the world. Yet, this rapid change had consequences of its own: over the period of the economic boom, increased prosperity caused a “sharp decline in South Korean birth rates from 6.1 children per woman in 1960 to around 1.6 by 1990,” according to a recent report. Then how does the change in demographics impact Korea’s economy? The decline in the birth rate is causing a significant shift in Korea's demographic makeup, which, in turn, has a ripple effect on its economy. The aging population denotes a smaller labor force, which leads to lower economic output and productivity. This decline in the labor force will also create challenges for the social security system. This system relies on contributions from the younger working population to support the older generation. Moreover, with a smaller labor force, companies will struggle to fill vacancies, which could lead to a rise in wages and higher production costs. Such ripple effects contribute to decreased cash mobility throughout the nation as well as lower profits for South Korean businesses. Not to mention, a decrease in cash inflow may influence domestic companies to become extremely hesitant to invest in advancing technologies, ultimately resulting in the stagnation and loss of worldwide competitiveness of the state's businesses. To illustrate the ripple effects of low fertility rates, consider the case of Japan in the 1980s. During their economic boom in 1989, six out of ten companies with the largest market capitalizations were Japanese companies. However, as Japan passed the economic stagnation of “lost decades” and the individuals stopped making investments, Japan’s companies quickly lost their competitiveness. Currently, in 2023, not a single Japanese company is listed on the top 10 list. What is interesting is that one of the key causes of Japan’s lost decades is attributed to the demographic change of an aging population. From the case of Japan, a lesson can be learned that, if complex economic factors are intertwined, the low fertility rate could lead to instability of the country and even destruction. The business is also significantly impacted by changes in demography. The most noticeable effect is a shortage of young people in the labor force, which results from the disparity in young people’s inflow across the industries. The video/broadcasting and communications industries only saw a 0.1 increase in mean age, whereas the mining and repair industries saw 5.7 and 4.9 increases in mean age, respectively, according to a report from the national statistics office that compared the mean ages of various industries from 2009 to 2017. In addition, enterprises with small and medium-sized businesses experience difficulties due to a lack of young people to fill open positions. A startling 63.4% of the firms questioned by the Korea Economic Research Institute, which included 576 small and medium-sized enterprises, said they hadn't employed as many workers as they had anticipated. As the population ages, it is predicted that more businesses will experience increasing labor shortages. So how should the company adapt to such a demographic shift? The simplest solution is to address the low birth rate issue. The recent story of a prominent company's chairman visiting an employee's house who had given birth to four twins and bowing to the infants has been a huge issue in South Korea. As seen in this case, businesses should pay considerable attention to the issue of the birth rate. They should set up internal welfare programs like parental leave, birthing incentives, or a company-run childcare facility. Making the firm an environment where young workers desire to work is crucial if you want to hire more young people. As the population continues to age, "age-friendly" services and products are another approach a firm should consider for its senior clients. It makes the right sense for businesses to provide products or services that can meet the demands of seniors as more and more of their consumers in the future will be elderly. This process has been referred to as "capturing the gray market" by the business publication "Economist," and the Center for the Study of Aging Society at Korea University published a book titled "2022 Senior Trend" that suggests concepts like senior-focused Internet and financial services, home-care services, and aging tech as promising business items in the future. Yet, domestic actions taken by private businesses in South Korea are insufficient to fully address the challenges they will face in the future. For South Korea’s long-term growth, the country must fundamentally alter its demographic diversity–and at first, Korea’s remedy may seem simple. From a purely economic perspective, the government can accommodate more immigrants, as they would help to increase the size of the labor force, and thus the production levels. Accepting immigrants in Korea, however, introduces challenges in multiple degrees: not only does the policy require unprecedented policy and legal reforms, but such a proposal, as previously suggested by all economists in Korea for more than decades, also presents a unique challenge against Koreans' antipathy towards multiculturalism. In the 2020 Korean Identity Survey by the East Asia Institute, Koreans’ support for a multicultural nation declined noticeably over the decade (60 percent in 2010 to 44 percent in 2020), suggesting predictable dissent even if the Korean government accepted more immigrants. Furthermore, in an article published in Bloomberg, “Korea would need to see the number of immigrants increase as a share of the working-age population from the current 3% to 30% by 2045” just to maintain the size of the current labor force, requiring “a near-impossible task” to reform immigration laws, social norms, and more. If South Korea wants to become global, it needs to become one from the inside out. In a predominantly homogeneous society, Korea’s first reaction to foreign cultures may be hostile. Regardless, South Korea’s competitiveness in the ever-changing global economy will depend on its ability to reform itself to multiculturalism. In the face of one of the most difficult times of the decade, South Korea may need another Miracle of the Han River-- a “miraculously” rapid economic development following the Korean War. However, it is the young generation of Korea that can make the most change in society at large, to lessen the burden that may confront us in the future. 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