I
decided to use this as the end of my series of blogs. Because this, from my
point of view, is the attitude we should have to deal with the problems in
investing, policy making and life. It is a way to solve most of the problems in
any kind of conflicts.
And it
is the Doctrine of the Mean. “The Master [Confucius] said: The virtue embodied in
the doctrine of the Mean is of the highest order. But it has long been rare
among people.” The Doctrine of the Mean is a
text rich with symbolism and guidance to perfecting oneself. The mean is also
described as the 'unwobbling pivot' or 'chung yung'. Chung means bent neither
one way or another, and yung represents unchanging. In James Legge's translation of the text, the goal of the
mean is to maintain balance and harmony from directing the mind to a state of
constant equilibrium. The person who follows the mean is on a path of duty and
must never leave it. A superior person is cautious, a gentle teacher and shows
no contempt for their inferiors. They always do what is natural according to
their status in the world. The Doctrine of the Mean represents moderation, rectitude, objectivity,
sincerity, honesty and propriety. The guiding principle is that one should never act in excess.
And here are two stories to help to
interpret it:
Once there was a person who lives
off on planting the trees. His trees are of very good quality and can be used
as rooftree. And thus he was very wealthy by selling the wood. His
neighbourhood mimic it and also plant a lot of trees. But what he did is just
cut the tree before it is fully mature. And the product of him can only be used
as firewood. As a result, he never became rich.
A black horse was walking along the
river and he saw a bout flowing on it. The horse laughed at it because the boat
was flowing very slowly. He began to run very fast as a kind of flaunting. But
after a long time the horse was so tired and died. The boat, on the other hand,
travelling peacefully, passing by the corpse of the horse and walked away.
From the dot Com Bubble, we can see
the traces of many crises during the past. And without any doubt, it will
repeat again and again in different forms. And that is because of something
unchanged deep into the humanity. The current financial system, from this point
of view, is fragile. It is inherently unstable. Although the Doctrine of the Mean cannot provide a practical solution to solve the
many paradoxes in our financial system. But it should be an idea that we need
to keep in mind when rethinking the economic policy to ensure long term growth
in the future.
