Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Why Things (Usually) Work
It was my political science professor back at the U. who started me thinking about it, with a very simple question during a class on American government:
“What is the biggest factor that makes things work in a society?”
When no one else popped up with an answer, I ventured that it was a stable government. Others gave answers like “Everyone shares the wealth” (the class socialist), and “An educated populace.”
After the class had run out of steam, he let a few more seconds of silence linger for effect, then, with an emphasis that made us aware that this was one of the great truths we would learn from him, he said:
“The biggest factor that makes things work in a society is that most people, most of the time, want them to.”
Yes, it’s one of those insights that seems obvious in retrospect, like the winning move that you missed in a chess game, but it wasn’t what anyone expected to hear at that moment, and that’s why it’s stuck with me so clearly for so long. The implications are many; what is Thomas P. M. Barnett’s “Functioning Core” but the group of countries where most people, most of the time want things to work? What are terrorists but people who don’t want things to work, instead desiring to replace something functioning with their own mad visions of paradise on Earth?
Anyone who desires to immigrate to the United States should, as an absolute first step, be checked for their record on making the country of their origin “work,” and should be evaluated for their potential to make their new country “work.” Any doubts, and it ought to be “Application Denied.” Much of Europe apparently didn’t consider this in years past and is now reaping the results of such short-sightedness. One wonders how long that continent will continue to be part of the “Functioning Core,” the way things are headed. It’s an object illustration of a simple but vital principle.
I wonder what their political science professors told them?
(Cross-posted at Illumination, Inc.)
