Flexibility, adaptability – and sometimes a dose of moderation – is what has allowed the capitalist system to lead and survive (with different formats) two centuries of technological and social changes.
And it is the same concept that has made it possible for the Chinese system to survive the colapse of Soviet communism. In the past, to prosper, countries used weapons to expand their territories, increase their resources and impose their policies.
As human beings reached higher levels of civilization, that contest moved to markets of goods and services, where economic prosperity is everything.
In the future, progress will be the result of the ways people think about the problems and challenges that we face as a society.
Ways of thinking about problems and solving them, ways of thinking about reality and interpreting it, ways of foreseeing the future and tackling it, ways of promoting coexistence and social progress.
Ways of thinking are affected by cultural and social patterns, influenced by historical circumstances. When they mature and reach consensus in society, ways of thinking about problems should ideally become institutions.
I speak of rules, laws and even generalized practices, understood as uses and customs that society as a whole respects and enforces in order to live in harmony.
Creating and strengthening institutions that help us overcome the social and economic challenges we face is key to the progress of any society, and will be extraordinarily important to build the society of the future.
