Pen/Insular_Notes

Reading David Harvey’s recent book A Brief History of Neoliberalism has made me think quite a bit about how the ideas of neoliberalism have come to be so widely accepted and gain so much currency at many different levels of society in just about every country in the world. Of course there also exist in the consciousness of huge numbers of people opposing ideas about cooperation and solidarity rather than competition, the moral economy as opposed to the free market and the value of the welfare state rather than the technocratic neoliberal state. Our ‘common sense’ is, as usual, a mixture of these conflicting ideas.

But there is no doubt that much effort has been put into implanting neoliberal ideas into our societies, as Harvey writes:

So how, then was sufficient popular consent generated to legitimize the neoliberal turn? The channels through which this was done were diverse. Powerful ideological influences circulated through the corporations, the media, and the numerous institutions that constitute civil society - such as the universities, schools, churches, and professional associations. The ‘long march’ of neoliberal ideas through these institutions that Hayek had envisaged back in 1947, the organisation of think-tanks (with corporate backing and funding), the capture of certain segments of the media, and the conversion of many intellectuals to neoliberal ways of thinking, created a climate of opinion in support of neoliberalism as the exclusive guarantor of freedom. These movements were later consolidated through the capture of political parties and, ultimately, state power.
(A Brief History of Neoliberalism, 2005, p40)

So what of an ex-developmental state such as Korea, navigating a path through the world of neoliberal globalisation that appears to represent a continuous compromise between demands for freer trade and the need for controls and state intervention? The consensus in political circles (with the exception of the DLP of course) is for the need for ‘globalisation’ and the free market, hence the plans to negotiate a FTA with the US in the near future. In reality though, Korean politicians seem to be quite pragmatic and Korea is still regularly accused of having ‘one of the most closed markets in the world’.

But the neoliberal evangelicals do, of course, exist in Korea. I don’t usually make a habit of reading Korea Focus, because, to put it bluntly, it’s rather boring. However, it does get sent to me for free and I happened to spy this gem in the last issue, a commentary originally from Maeil Business Newspaper (매일경제) which analyses the results of a survey of Korean school children:

In addition, the students called for the government to more actively intervene in the market in order to improve economic performance. This means that students do not believe in or are ignorant about the autonomous and self-adjusting functions of market mechanisms. Furthermore, in their view, equity is more important to economic development than efficiency, and environmental protection should be considered as more important than economic growth.

However, the most astounding finding was that a majority of students believed that the primary objective of business enterprises was to promote social responsibility rather than to pursue profits. For the most part, these students responded that if they were to become entrepreneurs they would seek to assist their communities and contribute to an enhancement of social welfare rather than attempting to compete in the global market.

One can only wonder how these young students have become so far detached from the principles of a capitalistic market economy. How can they, after having learning about how to earn and spend money, the importance of savings, and prudent consumption practices, still consider economic equity, social welfare, government intervention, and the social responsibility of corporations to be of the utmost importance?

Poor, deluded students, why oh why have they not seen the light? If the young generation is anything to go by it seems the moral economy is alive and well in Korea.