[Long Ago] The Industrial Revolution Begins in a “Nation of Merchants”

Korea’s Industrial Revolution began in the 1960s. China, later than Korea, began in the 1980s. After Mao Zedong died and Deng Xiaoping-style capitalism was introduced, full-scale industrialization took off. Britain, by contrast, began its Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, more than 200 years earlier. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, which advocated liberal economic policies, was published in 1776. Judging by its publication date, the book clearly served as water and fertilizer for Britain’s industrialization, which at the time was beginning to blossom like spring buds.

Why was Britain the birthplace of the first Industrial Revolution? Some people look for the reason in science and technology. They say that because Britain’s level of science and technology was high, James Watt invented the steam engine and Stephenson produced the steam locomotive. But that is a misunderstanding. James Watt was not someone who had ever received a proper scientific education. In today’s terms, he might be compared to the owner of an auto repair shop. Even so, Watt was the better case. Wasn’t Stephenson said to have been barely able to read? Newton, who completed classical physics, was indeed an Englishman of the early 18th century, but his physics had little to do with the Industrial Revolution.

As Napoleon dismissively pointed out, Britain was “a nation of shopkeepers.” Britain’s laissez-faire atmosphere at the time gave people freedom, and as a result its people increasingly became traders. And it was precisely because it was a nation of shopkeepers that it was able to achieve the Industrial Revolution. This is because the Industrial Revolution is essentially a phenomenon that occurs when a modest degree of technology combines with a vigorous desire to make money. It was no different from Korea’s industrialization since the 1960s and 1970s, which was not the product of remarkable science and technology. To make money, one must produce goods that consumers will buy, and in trying to make inexpensive, high-quality goods in order to sell them, industrialization naturally takes place.

In terms of science and technology, Russia had already reached an impressive level long ago. In the 1970s it built spacecraft, and in 1986 it even built a space station. Korea’s first astronaut, to be selected this year, will train at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, then travel into Earth orbit aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and stay at the Mir space station. All of it is Russian-made. It is extraordinary science and technology, but unfortunately it did not make the Russian people prosperous or happy. In 1991, the people of the former Soviet Union, driven by hunger, ultimately brought down the system through violence.

Original title: [옛날옛적에 ] 산업혁명은 ‘장사꾼의 나라’에서 일어난다.

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2006-06-22

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=21&idx=10671