[Opinion] Finding Lost Society

It was an unbelievable shock to hear about the one man`s atrocious crime of killing twenty-something people. What is more shocking is that our society`s reponse to that cruel murder is generally bland. I`m very concerned to see that people don`t think of social problems as something to worry about, with the general social atmosphere going up expremes and being busy in fighting. It is a grave concern that one man`s anger and hostility is so deep that it must be expressed in the most destructive way.

Hungarian-born economic historian Karl Polanyi made a mark in intellectual history with his book “The Great Transformation,” in which he analyzed in detail the process of market economies emerging over the 19th century. He established a thesis of the emergence of the self-controlling market where the mechanism of price is operating. But what is really important is an alarm Polanyi raised regarding the social consequences that the “ideal system” of market economy can bring about. That kind of system is said to inevitably separate society into atomized individuals, like an evil hand mill, cruelly denying human beings’ social status. Therefore, the rediscovery of community and the restoration of the dismantled society is a major concern for Polanyi.

The Kim Dae-jung administration strongly stepped up the neoliberal restructuring policy under the supervision of the International Monetary Fund. As a result, the dismantling of the middle class and the polarization of society were brought about. It was a decisive moment, in which our society was transformed into a Latin America-style society. Society was rapidly disintegrating, and individual atomization suddenly increased. Government pushed forward with policies fraught with moral hazard on the pretext of boosting the economy. The concept of productive welfare was introduced to prepare a social security net, but it was inadequate to divert a wave of social dismantlement and moral danger.

Dismantled society, disappointed individuals, the spread of moral hazard, the shifting of blame, and the country being too slow in restoring a lost sense of community, these are the realities of Korean society today. The second and the third versions of Yoo Young-chul can appear in this kind of society. It is indeed a serious social problem if there are many people having the same opinions. We have to find “the lost decade,” but we have to find “the lost society.”

Lee Soo-hun, guest editor, Kyungnam University professor of international political economy leesh@kyungnam.ac.kr