There are some people who want to achieve social harmony. I see a problem with the concept.
Anything that is new or original is going to be socially disruptive. To maintain social harmony they will need to suppress innovation; and that will render them non-competitive.
So in China we see Confucianism saying that the son must do what the father has done. Where would we be if Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson or Steven Jobs did what their fathers did? These people were disruptive to the orders as they were at the time. But without them we would have a lot less than what we have now. Even in China.
Say you are raised by salesmen, and you have the mind for engineering. You becoming an engineer will be disruptive to the social order. However you will do much more for the world as a good engineer than as a no-good salesman, and your contributions will be a lot more.
Many parents want their children to do what they have done themselves. I have even seen this problem in places I least expected. I once knew a naturally macho man who was raised by Melbourne liberals. He wanted to join the military, and his family wouldn’t let him. If we see this even among Melbourne liberals, how much worse is the problem everywhere else?
Is social harmony a valid thing to strive for? It may make things more peaceful and comfortable, but there are more important things to strive for. Making Earth liveable is a more important thing to strive for. Better relationships among men and women are a more important thing to strive for. Making possible both technology-driven prosperity and cultural blossoming are a more important thing to strive for. The interest in social harmony must take second seat to these interests.
The ancestors of all white Americans – immigrants – came from one country to another. This would have been socially disruptive to their home countries. Yet they have done much more for the world as free farmers and workers in America than they did as European serfs. America especially must be careful of such attitudes. And what a sad state of affairs it is that it takes a Russian immigrant to remind Americans of this.
The movies about Imperial China and Japan have had a lot of influence in America, and they should. Both cultures have a lot to be proud of. However let us not let go of something that the West got better than China and Japan. Innovation is going to be socially disruptive. And it should be embraced even if it is disruptive to the existing order.