Thus the World Changes (Post-Wheel)
- 26
• Original title : 세계는 이렇게 바뀐다 : 수레바퀴 이후
• Price : 15,000KRW
• Product Dimensions :
124x195, 224pages
• Publication Date : 2023-09-05
• ISBN : 9791169811545
Book Information & Summary
Wheels appeared out of nowhere a year ago. Every person in the world now has a small wheel floating above their head. Each wheel displays a pie chart of blue and red: blue for virtue, red for vice. These personal morality meters change in real time as every good deed adds to the blue and every misdeed adds to the red. When a person dies, their wheel spins in a roulette of chance that determines their afterlife. If the arrow falls on red, shadows claw the condemned soul away.
The wheels unleash drastic changes in social behavior. Morality becomes the new gold standard. Students flock to study ethics; social media champions charitable causes instead of clickbait; cyberbullying and review bombing all but disappear. Some people reverse engineer blue and red changes to offer consulting on how to manage the wheel. Other people prefer to embrace eternal damnation. These hedonists deliberately turn their wheels red and wear them as badges of pride.
For those in developed countries used to the spoils of capitalism, life in the post-wheel era grows increasingly bleak. Forced to consume less and share more, younger generations blame adults for their excesses that presumably brought on the wheel. For vulnerable populations, however, the world has always been bleak, any possible hell a mere extension of Earth. The wheels have come to their rescue, giving everyone else a vested interest in helping vulnerable others in their plight.
Provocative in its blend of speculative dystopia and biting social satire, Thus the World Changes: Post-Wheel pulls the rug of denial out from under our dysfunctional world. As late-capitalist civilization races toward catastrophe, nothing short of supernatural wheels seems capable of stopping it. Bringing the full costs and injustices of society out in the open and holding each member accountable for their choices within the system, the book offers a brilliantly bitter pill.
The wheels unleash drastic changes in social behavior. Morality becomes the new gold standard. Students flock to study ethics; social media champions charitable causes instead of clickbait; cyberbullying and review bombing all but disappear. Some people reverse engineer blue and red changes to offer consulting on how to manage the wheel. Other people prefer to embrace eternal damnation. These hedonists deliberately turn their wheels red and wear them as badges of pride.
For those in developed countries used to the spoils of capitalism, life in the post-wheel era grows increasingly bleak. Forced to consume less and share more, younger generations blame adults for their excesses that presumably brought on the wheel. For vulnerable populations, however, the world has always been bleak, any possible hell a mere extension of Earth. The wheels have come to their rescue, giving everyone else a vested interest in helping vulnerable others in their plight.
Provocative in its blend of speculative dystopia and biting social satire, Thus the World Changes: Post-Wheel pulls the rug of denial out from under our dysfunctional world. As late-capitalist civilization races toward catastrophe, nothing short of supernatural wheels seems capable of stopping it. Bringing the full costs and injustices of society out in the open and holding each member accountable for their choices within the system, the book offers a brilliantly bitter pill.
Editor’s Note
“A hard, stony look at humanity and its follies, leaving no room for pointless sentimentality.”
_Lee Ki-ho, author of At Least We Can Apologize
“A necessary book for our times. Everyone knows the world is headed toward absolute ruin, but no one tries to communicate or even acknowledge the fact until it’s spelled out in glaring terms.”
_Gu Byeong-mo, author of The Old Woman with the Knife
_Lee Ki-ho, author of At Least We Can Apologize
“A necessary book for our times. Everyone knows the world is headed toward absolute ruin, but no one tries to communicate or even acknowledge the fact until it’s spelled out in glaring terms.”
_Gu Byeong-mo, author of The Old Woman with the Knife