Cure is (Sometimes) Better than Prevention

"Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution."
- Clay Shirky

That sounds cynical. It also sounds true. But ever wondered why things are that way? It’s not only because of the preserve-the-problem-and-keep-making-money mindset at work. Things are a lot more complicated than that.

Take the example where a company can eliminate the problem instead of just fixing things when they go wrong. If each and every company goes with this approach (eradicate the problem) then, it will make money only until the problem is eradicated. But what does the company do after the problem is eradicated?

They’ll have to find another problem to solve. Will they succeed at finding that next solution? Not necessarily. If they don’t, the company would close down (remember, the older problem they fixed is now eradicated). And then their employees will be without jobs. Which do you prefer? Problem eliminated, but unemployment added? Or jobs retained and cure available, but the problem continues? Not such an easy choice anymore, is it?

Ever wondered how anyone finds a cure or solution in the first place? Through research. Trial and error. All of which requires money. Who’s going to provide those funds? The banks usually won’t since it’s risky. Enter the venture capitalists and the stock market. But why do they fund such entities? Because they hope a few such companies will succeed and then they can sell their shares in the company to other shareholders. But if everyone knows that the company will eliminate the problem and then possibly shut down, would they still buy shares in it? Probably not. And if they didn’t, nobody would invest in that potential new elimination technique in the first place since they’d never find any buyers in the future. No funding, no research. No research, no solution. And the problem would continue.

So the next time you curse those corporations with their “Cure is better than prevention” mantra, remember that things are not as black and white as they seem when you have those idealistic glasses on.

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