Of Independence and Utopianism

I have a long weekend ahead because tomorrow, Sunday is Merdeka Day and Monday is the replacement holiday. Surprisingly I'm not feeling that tired today even though it has been a very busy week for me. I'm also looking forward to a lunch gathering on Monday with some old friends.

Since we are celebrating our 68th year of independence tomorrow, I'll reflect a bit on affairs related to our country, which I actually dislike writing about because I don't see anything new that I could contribute. The internet is a cesspool of political podcasts and punditry, and many watch simply to reinforce their already entrenched beliefs. 

I see human society as dynamical systems which tend towards specific attractor states. These are stable patterns of behaviour, which any society has a tendency to latch on to. Cultural norms are strong attractor states; so it is inevitable that the different races in Malaysia have a tendency to stick to their familiar habits. 

We abhor racial stereotyping but stereotyping is basically the negative aspect of the mind's natural tendency to recognise patterns. Like it or not, we stereotype all the time. The moment we make general sweeping statements, even innocuous ones like: 'Malaysians are very friendly and hospitable people', we are stereotyping this species of people called 'Malaysians'. This tendency to categorise, classify and pattern recognise is part of our brain's natural intelligence. The brain's neural networks learn by reinforcing recurrent patterns that it sees in nature.

Is it any wonder then that there are racial prejudices in every society? Malaysia is no different and that is the biggest obstacle towards national integration. It is not possible to artificially impose a language and a culture on a society. Communist countries 'succeed' to a certain extend, at great human costs. Society will always evolve its own culture and habits. 

When you put different groups of people together, each with their own attractor states, these states could coalesce to form new ones. There will be dominant states, that will be augmented by foreign ones, sometimes diminishing its original flavours but at times enhancing them too in surprising ways.  

We are often torn between tradition and change. A country has certain traditions simply because these are attractors states of the system at a particular period in time. But with immigration, technological and other global changes, new states emerge. Sometimes new countries are formed because the zeitgeist has evolved. Hegelian dialectics are always at play.

Communism was attractive to intellectuals at one time because it promised a utopian society that appeared to be fair and seemed to be supported by reason. Marxists believe that one of consequences of the Industrial Revolution is the rise of a class of asset owners who own the means of production. They profit unfairly through the exploitation of the labour class, from which the real value of a product is actually derived.  

Why should the means of production be concentrated in the hands of the lucky few who end up enjoying a disproportionately large share of the profits? Why can't society share all its resources and distribute wealth equitably--'from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs'?

But society and markets being complex dynamical systems determine their own stable attractor states.  The free market system, with minimal government intervention has proven to be a better generator of societal wealth than any centralised ideology-based mechanisms, no matter how noble its aim.  The government can regulate, stimulate and sets certain boundaries, but by and large, the complex individuals who form society inevitably find their own zones of comfort, in other words, attractor states.

And that's how it should be. We are the country we are today, due to circumstances of history and geography. The cultural intermingling of diverse peoples, in this land where the trade winds meet--the 'Nusa Antara'--made us who we are. That is our strength and advantage. As long as we continue being open, adaptable and progressive, we'll always prosper. And true independence means that we are free to think on our own, lest we fall into the seductive trap of ideological or religious utopianism.