Stability in Society can lead to Stagnation

Stability in society can lead to stagnation.
Describe a specific situation in which stability in society might not lead to stagnation. Discuss what you think determines whether or not stability in society leads to stagnation.
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Stability is a state of being coveted by many human beings but sometimes is unattainable due to internal and external forces. The former may include a person being accustomed to extreme changes during his entire life. The latter may include lack resources or a foundation to address problems of instability. Stability is also desired in a macro level, for instance, by society in its will to survive and succeed. While stability is generally viewed as a positive state, it may also lead to negative circumstances. This may include the people's inability to face and address more volatile situations in the future. This could also lead to a lull in society where people do not challenge themselves to promote positive changes.

If a society experiences a relatively long period of stability (e.g., economic and social realm), they could lose ability to deal with more volatile circumstances. When people are used to a constant state of balance, they stop worrying about adverse situations and fail to prepare for a sudden lows. For example, during President Clinton's administration, the US experienced a relatively long period of economic stability. The population experienced very low unemployment and many people started to place all their eggs in one nest---that is, investing in the housing market and depending on the value of their house to keep on rising. People mistakenly did not diversify their portfolios and relied solely on the housing market to continue providing them with security in the present and future. Once the housing bubble burst, many aspects of the economy also suffered, including employment numbers and the deficit. Indeed, long periods of economic stability tends to prevent people from thinking about the possibility of adverse circumstances. In turn, they assume that the situation will continue to be stable indefinitely and fail to address unfortunate swings before they occur.

Stability can also lead to a sense of complacency in society. People become listless after long periods of stability. Lacking the incentive to plan for more adverse situations, people settle for their situation and do not challenge themselves. As a result, a society experiences less innovation, entrepreneurial efforts and new modes of thinking. Indeed, lack of stability (or rather, a need for something that is lacking) helps drive people forward to resolve the situation. Currently, instability in the Middle East has led thousands of people to join together in the effort of promoting democratic change in society. While several factors have led to the multiple uprisings, the lack of stability in the social and political realm has been a major factor.


Undoubtedly, stability has mostly positive consequences. For instance, people's basic needs of food, water and shelter are met in relatively stable society. When the basic needs of people are met, society can begin to explore more advance thinking and ideas in public life. They, for example, start to contemplate ideals of human rights and societal issues that promote an improvement in the quality of life of society. Indeed, stability is usually preferred over volatile situation---both on a personal and community level. However, the downside of long periods of stability may include the inability to be resilient and confront more difficult situations. Stability also may lead to stagnation and less output of innovative thoughts and ideas in society. As with most things in life, too much of a good thing will always carry negative consequences.