Can deconstructionism be applied to everything?

This show reminds me of the word “deconstructionism”. Coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology, it grew from literary to other artistic fields, applied to anything that shows “a tendency to subvert or pull apart and examine existing conventions having to do with meaning and individualism.”

This ballet show was genuinely deconstructive. If classical art like ballet, of which history dated back about 300 years ago, can be this ‘deconstructive”, why can’t other things in our life. That should shed some lights into the boring world, where many key things have remained the same for thousands of years.

In the world where modern technology is ruling, we still see the “ancient forms” of many other things. 

In the world where late innovator Steve Jobs successfully turned Apple into the world’s largest company without a single factory, many factories in the world are competing through wage. In Thailand, when the minimum wage is hiked, many businesses are crying foul. The government revealed the plan for months before implementation, but mostly they opposed the increase. They did not spare time to think for the second option: what the government must do, if the plan went through. It is a bit too late particularly to SMEs to call for the government’s attention now.

In the political world, we have seen the boring wrangling for votes. Politicians anywhere in this world can promise anything to win votes, regardless of long-term consequences to the entire population including the voters who vote for their opponents. Getting elected, politicians anywhere are doing anything to please voters, to ensure the longest time in office.

In Thailand, as they hold the cost of living as the top national agenda, energy prices are now frozen. Just when they talk about scarcity of funding, they forget to rethink about the diesel excise tax waiver. Imposed by the Abhisit government, this waiver reduced the government by Bt40 billion during April-September 2011. The Yingluck government maintains the strategy, also at a cost. 

Behind this is the belief that retail diesel price should not exceed Bt30 per litre, or it would spark increases in other products. But politicians forget to think that at nearly Bt100 billion in slightly over a year, the sum is enough to finance a 20-km subway. Forward looking, the subway would reduce the number of vehicles on streets and consequently CO2 emission. Heat from vehicles and concrete roads are increasing heat in the city, encouraging all to acquire air-conditioners. It’s not surprising that this year, Thailand witnessed seven new power peaks though the temperature was lower than some past years.

Politicians repetitively said higher diesel price is to cause a domino effect and inflation, but that is based on the assumption that all would consume at the same rate. Won’t you really cut down consumption when prices go up?

Voters are partially blamed for this, welcoming old-fashioned politicians who heed voters only when they stand for election. Germany’s Pirate Party is changing the approach. They want a high bandwidth connection that is always on and carries citizens’ messages to politicians. 

Still, I admit that not all can be deconstructed. One of the examples is one of my colleagues refused to watch the Trocks, reasoning that she attended a classical ballet class when she was young. She just couldn’t accept this kind of show. Some Thais can’t stand seeing dancers in Thai classical dance costume, dancing along rap songs. 

It seems the world would remain this boring as long as we don’t open our eyes for new things and welcome new ideas.