[W Forum] Beautiful Chorus

King Ying Zheng of the Qin Dynasty first standardized the specifications of the crossbow (mechanical bow and crossbow). The advantage of standardizing all parts of the crossbow quickly became apparent. Any blacksmith could produce parts of the same size, and assembling these standardized parts was easy. This standardized new weapon, mass-produced, allowed both strong and weak individuals to shoot arrows the same distance. In other words, once the target point was determined, it was deadly to the enemy. Later, just as the Mongols swept the world with their cavalry and Germany with its tank units, thousands of standardized arrows from his crossbow units pierced neighboring countries one by one like awls, and finally unified China for the first time. He then made himself call himself the Emperor.

What reminded me of Qin Shi Huang’s standardized crossbow was recently assembling IKEA furniture that has spread worldwide.

I had bought a few small items at overseas stores just to look around, but it was my first time carrying heavy furniture and assembling it myself. Even small parts like screws had unique numbers, and by following the instruction manual made only of pictures, a large piece of furniture was completed, giving the impression of Danish building blocks.

If products are unified and mass-replicated and mass-produced, tremendous power is produced together. (While all economies recorded negative growth due to the plague, IKEA showed sales growth of over 30%.) Putting aside the growth story of founder Ingvar Kamprad, who developed in a peculiar way amid ostracism from existing furniture companies, the power of unified products makes one think of Qin Shi Huang of the global furniture industry.

The unified power is so strong that whether it is right or wrong, and depending on their priorities, it can greatly change the outcome.

The furniture spreading worldwide will become waste furniture in about ten years, and depending on whether it is made of eco-friendly materials or not, our land could suffer greatly.

Qin Shi Huang unified currency, script, wagon wheels, and measurements, but he failed to unify the thoughts of the people, and as a result, the Qin Dynasty, which unified China by force alone, soon collapsed.

Nazi Germany unified the thoughts of its people under the oppression following World War I, but unified them in the wrong direction. They eliminated Gypsies, massacred Jews, and used their power wrongly worldwide.

We developed an economy called the Miracle on the Han River with unified power, overcame the foreign exchange crisis, achieved democratization, and are now responding well to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

However, looking at reality coldly, unfortunately, small countries are divided, and within those divided smaller countries, divisions are multiplying. It is full of people who profit from division targeting immature consumers like the Red Guards. Shamefully, only the interests of small groups are loudly proclaimed and gain attention.

The process of dividing and debating to find the right path must be passed through, but one must not gain only small benefits from division. I want to believe it is a process of achieving unified power, but the voices of division bursting from speakers are becoming unbearable to listen to.

At times like this, I want to be comforted by the words of elders. I want to hear the voices of elders who create harmony. I want to hear wise words that embrace the whole and present a vision despite temporary criticism from immature and short-sighted people like me. If those people are hiding, we must find and listen to them, and if their voices are small, we must give them a microphone. I want to meet a conductor who adjusts the noise of the streets and creates a beautiful chorus. I want to follow such a conductor.

Because our civic consciousness is actively growing now, and I believe the opportunity to show our unified power to the world has come, I feel even more earnest.

Seo Jae-yeon, Executive Director, Mirae Asset Daewoo Galleria WM

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.