April 1, 2020 – Osasu Oviawe

People profit from the weaknesses in a system, not from its strengths.

I am surprised when people are repulsed at other humans that are profiting from a weakness in a system. It is just cheap virtue signaling. Choosing which weaknesses are good to exploit and which weaknesses are bad to exploit is just plain naive. If you do not like humans profiting from a particular weakness, instead of going after the human that is just being human, strengthen the system.

There are many ways to strengthen a system. Innovation and transparency are my favorite paths.

With innovation, you create alternatives to the weakness. As people see alternative weaknesses, their attention gets thinned out and ultimately they no longer see the weakness. Masked weaknesses look no different from strengths.

With transparency you shine the light on that weakness, so that more people can see it. Naturally, they will crowd around it, compete aggressively and unwittingly strengthen it.

Humans have always and will continue to profit from weaknesses. It is the only way society finds the weaknesses requiring attention. For those that pay attention, it creates opportunities for anti-fragile growth.

– Osasu Oviawe

Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them: “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.” Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Assuredly, O king,” they answered. “But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.” Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Homily:

King Nebuchadnezzar did not believe that his own god would be able to save anyone from a white hot furnace. By his words, and the actions that followed, he put a limit on his god. Rightly so, because he created his god in his own image and likeness.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego believed in God. Not hinged on what God will do for them. They believed in God to be God in all circumstances – at peaks, in valleys or on slopes. They placed no conditions or limits on how they will know that God is with them. They understood that nothing happens to God’s children without God’s authorization, and if he allowed it, it is for a good end, for He made them, in his image and likeness, to prosper.

Do you serve the god you created or the God that created you?

Day: April 1, 2020

Profits

God