The Jenga Tower

I remember playing Jenga and getting a tower pretty high. Then the table got bumped and the whole thing collapsed. I was thinking that the socio-economic foundation of the world is getting bumped and those who in habit the top of the Jenga Tower are in the wobbling mode.

We take so much for granted. The ideas of nations, republics, kingdoms, corporations, seem to set in stone. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that all is constantly in flux. What was a good idea and social stable 200 years ago may not be such a good idea now. Progress in lots of little areas tends amount to upheaval overall.

Those closest to the table feel the movement first. They are whipped off their feet and though they see the effects first are powerless to do anything about it. The people at the top can last longer, but this is an illusion. If the wobble is severe enough the top swings beyond the point where the structure can self correct and down it goes.

History is full of this constant changing landscape of society. Always those on top are the last to accept the new normal. Those on the bottom have no choice to accept or reject it. The top really has no choice either. It is not as if the top can simply say "we do not want things to change so they will not!"

I will give two examples of this process. The first such example is Rome. Rome was not just a city. It was a way of life. The reason Rome became the dominant organizing factor in the its time was that provided a stability and harmony that allowed for socio-economic expansion. However things change and after several centuries the underpinnings of Rome ceased to foment this expansion.

Another example is the ending of feudalism in Europe. Like Rome the social and economic system that had allowed expansion in Europe ceased to work. Technology, and the location of money changed the way the expansion could work.

In both cases lots of people, primarily on top, tried in vane to pretend like their organization was "eternal", or ordained by God. I would say that I would rather live in the monotonous and predictable middle of these societies than in the times of flux. I seriously think we are in a time of flux. The institutions and structures we have relied on in the past to allow expansion are under enormous strain and progress is making many aspects of our civilization anachronistic.

Examples:
Global finance: Does anyone really think that any nation is in charge of its economic destiny?
Global communication: Does anyone really think that they can control the flow of information?

These two are making the very ideas of the old nation-state model obsolete. Communities and commerce is now organizing globally in a way that is out of any nations control. Nations that are used to democratic thought will have it easier than the nations that are totalitarian.

I was listening to World Have Your Say (BBC) and the topic was athletes free speech regarding the Beijing Olympics. Two Chinese people were saying that the athletes should focus on competing and not using their status to speak out on world affairs. All the callers from Democracies thought this was a stupid argument since China itself is using the games as a political statement. China, and nations like it, is well behind the times. China should never have wished the games on its soil if it did not want such controversy.