[Bbanggubneun Tajagi] A World History Lecture Realizing the Meaning of 'Seobryeok'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] "Our point is that planning inevitably leads to dictatorship. Dictatorship is not only the most effective tool for exercising coercive power and implementing ideals, but it is also essentially indispensable for enabling large-scale central planning."

This is from "The Road to Serfdom," published in 1944 by British neoliberal economist Friedrich von Hayek (1899?1992). In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek warns of the dangers of socialism. The Road to Serfdom is known as a book that deeply impressed former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925?2013), who was recently spotlighted during the Conservative Party leadership election in the UK. It was the book that became a turning point for Thatcher to embrace neoliberal economic policies that emphasize the market.

"A New Eye on World History" is a book written based on extensive literature. The bibliography section at the end of the book spans nearly 70 pages. The author, being a former journalist, explains historical facts by citing many figures.

For example, the section explaining the Black Death, which turned 14th-century Europe into a continent of death, is only four pages long but mentions as many as seven individuals. While well-known figures such as Giovanni Boccaccio of "The Decameron" and Thomas Malthus of "An Essay on the Principle of Population" appear, lesser-known figures like English priest John Ball and English poet John Gower are also mentioned. By explaining what these individuals thought and did regarding the Black Death and what records they left behind, the author presents a "new eye" on the Black Death.

In short, this book conveys the true meaning of "seomnyeok (涉獵)," which means "to read widely or to experience by searching here and there."

The author reveals that the reason for writing this book was the 1997 International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. The author points out that the IMF agreement statement was a declaration of economic surrender and that at the time, Korea accepted Western capitalism but did not fully understand its harshness.

Considering the current reality where the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and the Ukraine war have caused an inflation crisis unprecedented for most of the current generation, and where the United States and China are competing for hegemony and dismantling the existing globalization order, the author's explanation that globalization is an ideology of advanced countries is naturally convincing.

The author states the reason for writing the book is to explore world history in order to respond to the harshness of the international community. The book analyzes the economies and histories of the East and West from six perspectives: geography, desire, reason, power, culture, and institutions.

A New Eye on World History / Written by Kim Jong-guk / Saenggakui Chang / 800 pages / 38,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.