Ch 11 — The Greatest Good

(One who runs after the whole, leaving behind the part, loses both the part and the whole).

This is why, although these nations launched their initiatives with great enthusiasm, they ended up as failed states. They could neither achieve what they had set out to do nor were they able to retain what they already possessed.

A contrary example is the respective achievements of Japan and Germany. After the Second World War, both nations lost areas of land they had possessed before the onset of the war. Germany lost to the Soviet Union the eastern part of its country, the total area of which, including part of Berlin, was 108,333 km. A similar case is that of Japan, which surrendered the Okinawa Islands, with an area of 1,206 km, to the United States.

However, both countries made plans for their future economic development by first setting aside what they had lost. The result was miraculous: Germany, led by its first post-war Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, emerged as the industrial leader of Europe. Similarly, Japan, under the wise leadership of Emperor Hirohito, rose to be the economic superpower of Asia.

This is the miracle of planning based on remnants or planning based on the remaining part of a whole, unlike planning, which entails the pursuit of an erstwhile whole. The best formula in life is not to concern oneself with what has been lost but, by wise planning, to avail of what is still extant. Sooner or later, you will emerge as a super-achiever. This holds for both nations and individuals. Another good example of the above principle is to be found in the history of Singapore.

Previously part of Malaysia, Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 and became an independent state. Under the leadership of its former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore likewise adopted a planning policy based on remnants. Although Malaysia is more than 400 times greater than Singapore in area, today, in development, the latter is far ahead of it.

All individuals and nations have certain ambitions which they seek to fulfil. Wise planning for the fulfilment of a goal requires adjustment between two things: personal ambition and available resources. The secret of truly successful planning lies in the correct weighing up of one’s ambitions vis-à-vis the available resources. No one can change the course taken by the external world. No one is the master of nature. We have only one option: to find a way of making a realistic adjustment between our ambitions and the resources available in the real world.

The Japanese followed the realistic approach and endured the unendurable. As a result, they were able to reconstruct their nation as an economic superpower in the post-World War II era.

One can achieve one’s target only by taking into consideration what lies beyond oneself. That is the only realistic approach and is, therefore, the wisest approach. What is the greatest good for a man or a woman? Justice is generally regarded as being the greatest good in human life. Theoretically, this would appear to be the right answer, but in any practical sense, it is an adjustment that should be regarded as the greatest good.

To illustrate this point, I would like to cite the example of Pakistan and Japan. Pakistan had its inception as a separate country after the Second World War. More than sixty years after its establishment, Pakistan is commonly regarded as a failed state. Why? This is because Pakistan has adopted a confrontational stance with its neighbouring country. Such an approach yielded nothing for Pakistan except further loss.

The same holds for individuals. A certain banker of my acquaintance, who was in a senior position in an international bank, had a heated exchange with his immediate superior. He was so upset by this incident that he resigned from his post. But what was the result? He is now unemployed and living in a state of frustration.