When we hear China, what comes to our mind is the brand of one of the world’s most ancient civilisations, the most populous nation and the world’s manufacturing hub, and of course the delicious Chinese cuisine.
However, China is also home to the world’s most impressive superpower turnaround story as well.
This story could serve as a road-map for a paradigm shift in the emerging global world order that we so desperately need today.
A team of mainly two figures, as far back as the third century BCE, the Duke Xiao of Qin and his chief advisor Lord Shang were able to transform a struggling state politically, economically, socially, and militarily into the nucleus of the world superpower that we know today.
The reason why their story is relevant to us today is that our current post-Cold War world order is struggling with preventing our differences from escalating to full-blown conflicts, in all corners of the world, whether in highly publicised conflicts such as the Russian war on Ukraine or the lesser-known ones such as conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The worthy treasure lesson
If you wished to gift away your most precious gem, who would you gift it to? Ideally, we like to share what we prize most with those who appreciate it.
Similarly, national talents and stakeholders will not share their most valuable thoughts and actions for a paradigm shift unless the ecosystem is ready to appreciate their contributions.
In the story of Lord Shang, he refused to share his national comprehensive reform plan unless the ruler guarantees a willingness to roll out a fair, standardised meritocracy ecosystem for national talents, who will lead the implementation of the said reforms.
The significance of this lesson is that without the willingness to be fair with both the haves and have-nots no reform vision will ever work.
The twenty years lesson
There are no shortcuts to paradigm shifts, especially when the purpose is an improved world universal order. Once a fair, standardised meritocracy ecosystem is established it will immediately attract fierce resistance from those who benefit from the status quo, unfairly. Societies that rushed in implementing reforms with the value of fairness failed quickly making the case for the status quo, and those who took too long prolonged their own struggles.
The happy-ending lesson
A true paradigm shift has no happy ending! Lord Shang's reforms were successfully implemented leading to a prosperous superpower, unified even though his own life ended in gruesome dismemberment.
Those who realise how profound reforms are always used their power to punish reformers.
This is the reason why there are so many who talk about reform and development plans, yet so few who are willing to sacrifice and champion them when in the beginning when they are not popular.
Whether we are looking for a paradigm shift in the form of an improved universal world order, beyond the current capitalist democratic order, or for a national vision of economic prosperity it will be successful from learning three historic lessons.
They are those with power who must be willing to engage with stakeholders with merits, real improvements take time, and those with means who are not willing to make sacrifices, do not help in successfully realising paradigm shifts.
khalidalharibi@gmail.com
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