General obstacles to problem alleviation


  • Obstacles to social change
  • Obstacles to structural change

Nature

People are inclined to despair of the feasibility of structural change because of the cumulative weight of obstacles impeding it. Arguments in favour of this perspective include: structural change is associated with radicalism, and radicalism with violence; local changes do not seem to accumulate into global changes; the world system tends to stifle local change; polls indicate that significant proportions of any population remain conventional and conservative; advocates of change on one topic tend to oppose change on another; strong government initiatives in favour of change tend to lead to that government's loss of power; when change is implement through a strong government, this is often perceived as repressive and achieving more harm than good; collective, nationalized industries tend to be inefficient; people and groups tend to perceive that they will succeed best by cooperating with those having vested interests in the status quo.

Incidence

Le Chatelier's Principle as applied to social systems: Reformers, critics of institutions, consultants in innovation, people in short who "want to get something done", often fail to see this point. They cannot understand why their strictures, advice or demands do not result in effective change. They expect either to achieve a measure of success in their own terms or to be flung off the premises. But an ultra-stable system (like a social institution)... has no need to react in either of these ways. It specializes in equilibrial readjustment, which is to the observer a secret form of change requiring no actual alteration in the macro-systemic characteristics that he is trying to do something about." (Stafford Beer, The cybernetic cytoblast - management itself, Chairman's Address to the International Cybernetic Congress, September 1969)

Counter claim

  1. Concern with structural change is misguided because most of the world's tyranny is the petty tyranny found in small-scale interpersonal relations. Example: peace activists promote world order while forgetting the needs of their friends, lovers, work associates and families.

Narrower

  1. Wicked problems
  2. Unwillingness to resolve problems
  3. Unfinished imperfect universe
  4. Unethical practices
  5. Underreported issues
  6. Uncritical thinking
  7. Shortage of financial resources for action against problems
  8. Shortage of equipment and materials needed to act against problems
  9. Shortage of adequately trained personnel to act against problems
  10. Restrictions on freedom
  11. Psychological pollution by mass media
  12. Proliferation of information
  13. Preservation of obsolete systems
  14. Preoccupation with isolated problems
  15. Polarized protest against problems
  16. Oversimplification
  17. Over-specialization
  18. Obstacles to the development of multidisciplinary approaches
  19. Obstacles to effective international nongovernmental organizations
  20. Obstacles to education
  21. Non-recognition of problems
  22. Multiplicity of problems facing society
  23. Monopolization of information within organizations
  24. Minimization of problems
  25. Limited individual attention span
  26. Lack of international cooperation
  27. Insufficient translation into minority languages
  28. Inefficient public administration
  29. Increasing pace of life
  30. Inadequate technical cooperation on problems
  31. Inadequate standardization of procedures and equipment
  32. Inadequate research on proposed solutions to problems
  33. Inadequate rehabilitation facilities for the disabled
  34. Inadequate public information concerning problems
  35. Inadequate organizational mechanisms to act against problems
  36. Inadequate legislation relating to action against problems
  37. Inadequate leadership
  38. Inadequate global consensus concerning problems and prospects of humanity
  39. Inadequate education concerning the nature of problems
  40. Inadequate delivery mechanism in response to problems
  41. Inadequate coordination of action against problems
  42. Inadequate buildings, services and facilities for organized action against problems
  43. Inadequate application of available knowledge to solve problems
  44. Inadequacy of the committee system of decision making
  45. Inaction on problems
  46. Ignorance
  47. Human destructiveness
  48. Geopolitical vulnerability
  49. Excessive complexity of intergovernmental organizations
  50. Disorders of freedom
  51. Differing conceptions of time
  52. Deterioration of stored documents and archives
  53. Deteriorating quality of life
  54. Delays in elaboration of remedial legislation
  55. Dangerous building construction
  56. Crisis-oriented funding
  57. Constraint of time on individual and social development
  58. Conflicting international priorities
  59. Complex interrelationship of world problems
  60. Community under-fulfilment
  61. Antiquated world socio-economic order


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