Resilient democracy? Or antifragile democracy?

Does The Economist’s November 28th 2020 cover question overlook a fundamental problem?

Do we want or need a democracy that is merely resilient – i.e. remains strong during and after shocks and stressors? No, I suspect not! This is the mistake many commercial enterprises also make: the desire to merely ‘survive’ rather than long-term learning and evolution.

The question ought to be: How antifragile is democracy? The difference being that rather than merely remain strong during and after shocks and stressors, an antifragile element welcomes, embraces and actually desires them because they make it stronger.

Anything resilient or robust may survive one or two stressors, yet it does not learn from them for long-term evolution and growth. I favour and champion commercial enterprises – and democracy – that learn and have the capacity to learn to learn!

Contact me if you are interested to understand antifragility more, or how you and your endeavours can learn to gain from future crises, shocks and stressors.

Images: https://www.economist.com/