Prof. Dr. Likhit Dhiravegin
Fellow of the Royal Institute
Things are transient and even a piece of solid rock can break into pieces. Indeed, Albert Einstein contended that what we saw as solid consisted of particles without a solid state but just energy with neutron, proton and electron in constant moving and hence changing. The Himalaya mountain we saw a minute ago would not be the same mountain again because all the components of the mountain have already changed. But in reality and what is taken as a fact of life is a mountain is a mountain, changed or not, and will remain a mountain for a long time until one day, and who knows when, it will crumble and turn into dust. This is a state of mind that human beings have been conditioned otherwise all things around us will become meaningless including ourselves.
The above belief notwithstanding, things, all things can break and what is viewed as permanent will one day come to an end by natural course or by men's own-doing. A society is likewise a structure which may last for thousands of years such as the Roman Empire but eventually crumbled and remained just part of history. Things will break or crumble if they are no longer relevant as to their function at a particular point in time. When the timers change, the existing social organizations either will have to modify themselves to suit the new situation and environment or run the risk of breaking up. But human weaknesses would dictate otherwise in many cases. There is always hope although it is hope against hope that the status quo can be maintained and attempts would be made to keep the old structure intact at all costs but often to no avail. Cases of failures of such tenacious efforts to maintain the existing structures which have become irrelevant abound in human history.
Traditional China is a case in point. Faced with challenges from the Western powers which were superior in terms of science and technology as well as social technology, instead of trying to adjust and reform, China assumed a supercilious attitude with costly consequences by losing the Opium War in 1839-42, to be followed by a series of humiliating events subsequently. The rest is history. Many nations of Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America fell prey to Western imperialism because of the unwillingness or the inability to change to adjust to the new milieu. As a result, the belief in the invulnerability of their system has become an illusion when they were colonized.
Many societies tried to ward off the challenges by adamantly clinging to the old method of operation but only to lead to more grave consequences. This manner of an ostrich-like self-defense mechanism is indeed destructive. Wishful thinking may serve to console their psyche temporarily but will fall short of solving problems. Things that outlive their usefulness and relevancy need to make adjustment. Indeed, Charles Darwin gave a warning long ago, in effect, that it is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change. Either change or perish, pure and simple.
Daoism ordains that things are in a state of constant "flow and change." For organizations which are becoming dysfunctional, adjustment is imperative. All organizations have to adapt to the changing parameter. New situations would call for new perspective and new modus operandi. Clinging to the old world-view is digging one's own graveyard. Attempts to row against the tide or fighting winds of change are self-defeating and self-destructive. Indeed, such acts will become their own funeral. Hence, the choice is simply adjust or break. And break it will if inflexibility is the order of the day. One can thus see the writing on the wall what is going to happen. Alas, human folly usually turns up human tragedy.
The irony is that the harder one tries to resist thing, the stronger the force for change will become. The efforts usually turn out the opposite result. All attempts to row against the tide will become counter-productive and accelerate change as required by the changing times. Indeed, no one with a sane and sound mind would masochistically bring about one's own downfall. But there existed such individuals who through their own-doing brought about destruction. Many societies ended up in a disastrous eventuality by the tenacious acts of those who suffered from political myopia.