I have been invited to speak on moral capitalism at a conference in Jinju, Korea. The organizers sent to me a short paper on the important role of Jinju and its cultural heritage in leading the remarkable economic development of the South Korean people over the last 60 years. Something was different in the regional culture of Jinju, related, as you can learn, to the thinking of Jo Shik, who lived and taught in the 1500s.
Now, a very important lesson taught us by the Korean peoples, north and south, needs to be taken to heart: why has South Korea been so successful and the North not at all?
One answer is governance. Capitalism can’t work its benefits under political conditions of rent extraction (government as landlord) and moral, political and cultural oppressions.
Here is stunning evidence of the difference made by political and cultural systems on the quality of human living:
The darkness in North Korea is more than not having electricity.
Learning about the philosophy of Jo Shik may give us a clue as to the origins of South Korean excellence. Morality might, after all, make a difference in the quality of our living in community.