[How about this book] The Rules of the Game Called Capitalism... Increase Your Winning Rate

Inflation, the Government's Legitimate Violence
If Unavoidable in the Economic System
We Must Understand and Navigate the Nature of Capitalism

Sometimes, when browsing in a bookstore, one might wonder if we are witnessing the final stages of capitalism. This is because books occasionally appear that claim capitalism has reached its limits or is facing a crisis, urging the need for alternatives as capitalism can no longer continue. The biggest cause of the capitalist crisis cited by these books is the gap between the rich and the poor and inequality.

The author of You Are Living Life Without Even Reading the Manual views inequality from an interesting perspective. He argues that, given the current global economic structure, inequality is an unavoidable phenomenon and questions whether inequality is truly bad. He claims that we work and strive to earn money precisely because inequality exists; inequality is like the engine that drives the world and the greatest force behind rapid social growth. He also questions whether our life’s goal is inequality itself, asking if we don’t work hard to achieve a higher status than others, in other words, inequality. It’s a somewhat unsettling yet thought-provoking question.

The author is a columnist popular in a real estate community. He is known to have accumulated assets worth tens of billions of won through real estate investment in just five years. In the book, he introduces himself as someone who has had money and also lacked it, who has been both an employee and an employer. He says that earning more money than others and becoming an employer helps one see the world more broadly. He also advises that reading just a few economics-related books in a bookstore can provide an opportunity to change one’s life.

The author appears to have studied economics to some extent and experienced various trials and errors while accumulating assets. Through this process, he established his own economic perspective, which he unfolds in the book.

The word the author mentions most frequently is inflation. He defines inflation as the government’s legitimate violence. Since the government has the authority to print money, it implements populist policies to appease public sentiment, continuously printing money in the process. Therefore, inflation is an unavoidable aspect of the modern economic system, he explains.

In fact, the authority to print money lies with the central bank, and the independence of central banks is usually guaranteed by law. Thus, a typical economics textbook would cover the legal authority of central banks, but this book does not mention it. Implicitly, it argues that the independence of central banks is not guaranteed and that there is a gap between law and reality.

The author concludes that inflation is an inevitable fate and emphasizes that we must ultimately invest. If the rate of increase in your salary or the interest rate on your bank deposits falls below the inflation rate, the real value of your assets decreases. He also warns that if one does not understand the inevitability of inflation, it will be difficult to escape poverty even by diligently saving money. In such cases, dissatisfaction with society inevitably grows. Regarding this, the author advises, "Inflation is a natural law that cannot be avoided no matter what government or outstanding politician appears, so anger and resentment are of no help." He urges readers not to fall into poverty trapped by the unavoidable inflation snare but to study economics and start investing.

The Vietnam War in 1970 changed the global economy and social order. The United States, the dollar’s anchor currency country, abandoned the gold standard due to enormous war expenses. Afterward, the U.S. printed dollars without limit, which led to intensified inflation. Due to worsening inflation, ordinary people found it impossible to keep up with inflation unless they went into debt, and the system shifted to favor capital income over labor income, the author emphasizes.

The polarization caused by inflation weakened the capitalist economic system. This is because one of the three economic agents, individuals, became poorer. This led to changes in social order. As the number of impoverished men increased due to polarization, the need arose for women to fill the gaps, naturally creating an environment where women who had stayed at home could enter society. In short, the author argues that due to the Vietnam War in 1970, wages stagnated in the long term, women had to work, and society became one where marriage was difficult.

The world the author sees is sometimes uncomfortably cold. For example, he claims that the reason Koreans can leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee at a cafe is because of the sweat and hard work of South American laborers, arguing that such inequality is an indispensable element of our society. Sometimes, this perspective raises doubts about its correctness. However, the book shows its value by continuously posing questions about how we should view economic phenomena.

The author’s judgment on capitalism is neither positive nor negative. He simply advises that to live well, one must understand the nature of capitalism and make efforts accordingly. In the final chapter, he offers advice as a life senior based on experience, saying that ultimately, good deeds are rewarded.

You Are Living Life Without Even Reading the Manual | commonD (Kkomongdi) | 344 pages | 18,000 KRW | Page 2

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