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Challenging the Utilitarian Discourse of Developmental States

Classical utility defines the usefulness of something based on whether it can

satisfy the moral judgement of being practical, necessary reasonable and urgent.

Hence, utilitarianism, an ideology that draws its policies from classical utility,

advocating those actions deemed to promote the overall happiness or pleasure of all

the people. The theory of utilitarianism rejects those actions deemed to be harmful or

those that bring unhappiness to the people. In addition, Park Chung Hee in his books

advocates the utilitarian discourse of Korea as a developmental state, after the

revolution. A developmental state is thus a state that is mostly led by

macroeconomic planning, where the state leadership is strongly involved in direct

interventions to the economy through planning plus extensive regulations. The state

focuses most of the capital and efforts on economic development, taking into

consideration the greatest good of all the citizens. This paper examines the thoughts

of Goux, Bataille as well as Arendt on utility, production plus consumption. The paper

then shows that the Last Land, plus March of the Fools challenge the utilitarian

discourse of the developmental state shown by Hee, while the Underground man,

Our Daily Bread plus Cold Water Pass fail to challenge the discourse.
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In her paper on labor, Arendt draws clear distinctions between labor plus work

(Arendt, 85) leading her to criticize how much modern society has been dominated

by economy. According to her, modern humans as consumers who have been

enslaved by necessity. Ancient Greeks disdained upon labor since it was left for

slaves. To them, no human who remained a mere labourer could rise above their

natural state or bondage to necessity (Arendt, 81,82). However, modern scholars

like Karl Marx and Adam Smith changed the perception of labor into being thought

as the most necessary of human actions. Arendt concludes that consumption and

labor cannot be separated, since they are part of one process for reproduction,

hence biological sustenance of humanity. In contrast, Bataille seems to support

unconditional expenditure as a product of unproductive consumption which is

necessary to maintain the societal equilibrium. He argues that all living things must

dispense the excess energy that they do not use for growth, in other things, this

energy is used for destructive actions, such as war in the case of humans. Luxury,

cults, games, lavish gifting plus art in medieval society as the indication of the need

for humans to incline towards unconditional expenditure (Bataille, 120,121).

Eventually, he criticizes capitalism that promotes utility which puts priority on

conservation and acquisition. This kind of capitalism turns people ways from class

struggle which in Bastille’s opinion is the “grandest form of social expenditure”

(Bataille, 126). Conversely, Goux contradicts critics of utility like Bataille for their

simplistic explanation of utility. To Goux, these critics fail to distinguish ordinary

political explanation of utility and utility in economics terms (Goux & Fort, 4). The

terms utility and utilitarianism have undergone modern change. The concept of utility

goes beyond the necessary, to even the luxurious; so long as anything is of demand

it can be deemed to be useful, no matter how useless it looks to others (Goux & Fort,
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17). It is especially important to notice that Goux points out that today, usefulness of

something is connected to its monetary value.

In the film, when the play is over, Byeong-tare, Young-ja, Yeong-cheol and

another female friend go out to celebrate. As they get drunk, Ha Kil-jong tells them of

his dream to make money and buy a mansion, plant flowers, buy a car and go whale

hunting (Kil-jong). The other young girls are impressed by the dreams of the young

man and listen to him go on about his whale hunting fantasies. The film here seems

to gravitate towards the notion of modern utility observed by Georges Bataille. In his

observation, Bataille notes that the goal of material utility is pleasure, but in a limited

form (Bataille, 116). The only limitation to this form of utility is moderation, where

violent pleasure is viewed as pathological in the eyes of society. This notion

questions the utilitarianism policies proposed by Park Chung Hee in The Country,

The Revolution and I. In the book, Hee repeatedly scorns the idea of gross spending

and instead calls upon the people of Korea to embrace thriftiness plus savings (Hee,

187). In addition, the college students do not share the sentiments of Hee over labor

in the farms, fishing or even mining. The film shows the modern thoughts of most

Koreans to get an education and then get into white collar jobs that pay well. This

path contradicts with Hee’s admiration of manual labor over college education.

“You…holding a book of French poetry. Your white hands I abhor!” (Hee, 178,179).

The students spend most of their free time mingling, flirting or binge drinking beer in

bars, actions that Hee shuns in his books. He wages a determined battle against all

“… bystanders, idlers, onlookers, time savers and luxury-pursuers” (Hee,187),

actions that are constantly adored by students in the film March of the fools.

Ironically, when the students are given the option to study or go for cheering practise

for sports, all but two students leave the lecture room (Kil-jong). Even at the drinking
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competition, students seem to participate and cheer on the contestants, oblivious of

the ongoing student revolution as well the fact that those who passed the physical

examinations will be drafted to war. This excitement coupled with useless, overly

consuming actions contradict the utilitarian sentiments of Hee. “We must change our

attitude of singing about freedom, luxury and splendor under the weight of starvation

and debt… We must wipe out this pretension-ridden attitude of riding a taxi and

eating at expensive restaurants just because we are dating a girl” (Hee, 178).

Still, the Last land criticizes the utilitarian discourse of embracing labor as a

holy and fundamental good of the entire society. Chung Hee argues that when the

people’s hands are clean, they cannot survive (Hee, 179), yet the very farm labor

that he advocates is seen as a lowly form of economic activity by the modern people

of Wonmi-dong. The very idea of selling property to send children to college is

passionately criticized by Chong Hee (Hee, 179), yet this is the case of people of

Chomaru. The people sold off their property to get money to send their children to

school in Seoul (Kwija, 560). The book questions the notion of utilitarianism

manifested by Chong Hee’s writings, through the repeated mocking and disdain of

Old Kang’s farming. His labor at the farm is a nuisance to the other residents who

criticize the farm as smelly (Kwija, 51) and out of place in the middle of a thriving city

(Kwija, 52). In the book, people made more money in real estate business than

farming (Kwija, 50); even Old Kang’s wife admits that they would not have lived that

well for so long through the profits from the farm.

Contrariwise, Our Daily Bread supports the notion of developmental states to

extensively plan for future economic growth. The building owners of Wonmi-dong

construct their buildings with shops on the first floor, in readiness for the growth of

the district into a commercial city after City Hall was brought near them (Kwija, 186).
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This supports the proposed slogan of “priority goes to construction” by Chung Hee

(Hee, 177). Such planning of property owners in Wonmi-dong can be likened to the

five-year plan for economic development by Chong Hee, in readiness for economic

growth of Korea (Hee, 174). Besides, the book shows the negative economic impact

of selfishness and hatred among people living together through their price wars and

the debt that comes with these useless wars (Hee, 187,188).

Moreover, the Underground Man supports the utilitarian discourse promoted

by Hee, through the boss and his employees. The boss in this book represents the

ideal citizen that Hee pleads Koreans to become in order to prosper. The boss, like

an ideal leader, does not see himself as privileged; instead, he puts aside his own

needs to repay his debts for the sake of the benefit of all his workers. Once the

workers went on strike, the boss took on working just like any labourer. In the same

way, Park Chung Hee desires to live and work among plain people (Hee, 191).

Starting out as a day labourer himself, the boss did not believe that there was

anything special about “being the president of a company in this field” (Kwija, 204).

The boss represents the spirit of service that Hee mentions in Our Nation’s path,

where one comes to the realization that only when the nation is prosperous, will he

live well. Such a person hence may even determine to “sacrifice his own interest in

the interests of the whole” (Hee, 44). Conversely, Motorcycle Chong represents the

former politicians in Korea from Hee’s The Country, the Revolution and I. These

politicians misled the people’s judgement by exaggerating the popular discontent of

the people (Hee, 163). In the same manner, Chong uses the displeased attitudes of

the other employees to fuel a strike for his selfish interests. Mun tells the young man

left at the factory that there was never an offer to employ the other employees at

Yun’s factory; a lie that Chong used to motivate them after they feared losing their
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jobs with the boss due to the strike (Hee, 213). Thus, Yung Kwija’s the Underground

man fails to challenge the utilitarian sentiments of Park Chung Hee for Korea as a

developmental state.

In addition, Cold Water Pass also shows the notion of hard work, to

revolutionize a country. The author’s eldest brother is the ideal hard-working citizen

mentioned by Chung Hee’s books. He is selfless in his work to earn a livelihood for

his siblings. As such, working for the livelihood of his family is the motivating factor

that kept him going at all costs (Kwija, 237). Also, the book shows the struggles of

the people of Wonmi-dong whose scars incurred during the struggle for survival were

evident. Unja’s voice is hoarse from singing at nightclubs to make money to start her

own business, and even loses a baby while trying to make money to repay her debts

(Kwija, 234). The author mentions that no matter how many times the people

stumbled, they always picked themselves up and move on with their match to the

summit of the economic mountain. Perhaps the most significant portrayal of the pain

of Koreans to regrow their economy is the author’s vivid dream. In her dream, she

sees her people climbing a mountain that is barren under a dark sky. They are

exhausted from the heavy loads they carry on their shoulders, yet there is no water

or grassy patch for them to rest. All they can do is match step by step on the steep

slope whose tree branches are thick and unyielding, until they get to the top. This

dream supports the discourse that Chung Hee has in his books, to develop the

revolution at all costs (Hee, 188).

To conclude, the film March of the Fools idolizes the very actions that Hee

abhors and vows to eliminate in Korea, through his books. Hee argues that Korea

will only prosper if the people abort gross spending and instead embrace thriftiness

plus saving, actions that are opposed in the film by the spendthrift and luxury loving
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students. Additionally, the last land vehemently scorns upon the basic idea of labor

in the farms as the basic need of the growth of Korea, instead venerating real estate

and construction of commercial estates, which Hee deems as western policies that

will destroy Korea. However, The Underground man, Our Daily Bread and Cold

Water Pass support the idea of utilitarianism by showing the struggles that came with

people trying to make a living, at a time when Korea was undergoing development.

The Underground man shows the struggles that came when districts turned to cities

and other professions apart from farming emerged, while Cold Water Pass shows

the suffering of Koreans as they tried to make a better country and achieve their

dreams. Besides, Our Daily Bread supports the planning nature of developmental

states, while criticizing selfishness among people, just like Chong Hee’s books.
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Works cited

Arendt, Hannah. “The Human Condition”. Vol. 2. The University of Chicago Press.

Chicago & London. 1998. Pp 77-116.

Bataille, Georges. “The Accursed Share: An Essay on general Economy”. Vol. 1

Consumption. Zone Books. New York. 1988. Pp 5-17.

Bataille, Georges. “The Notion of Expenditure”. (Nd) pp 116-129.

Goux, Jean-Joseph, and J. Fort. "Utility: equivocation and demoralisation."

Discourse Vol. 23. No. 3 Wayne State University Press. 2001. pp3-23.

Park, Chung Hee. “Our Nation’s Path”. Vol. 2. Hollym Corporation, Seoul. 1970.

Park, Chung Hee. “The country, the revolution, and I”. Vol. 2. Hollym Corporation,

Seoul. 1970.

Yang, Kwija. “Cold Water Pass”. (Nd). Pp 220-242.

Yang, Kwija. “Our Daily Bread”. (Nd) pp 178-187.

Yang, Kwija. “The Last Land” (Nd) pp 47-68.

Yang, Kwija. “The Underground Man”. (Nd) pp 196-219.