Stability
One
In 2008, someone placed a chair at the entrance.
A person sat on the chair. That person's job was: to look at everyone who came in.
That's it. Just look.
No one knew who placed the chair. No one knew why that look was necessary.
Some said it was because of the Olympics. For security.
Some said it was orders from above.
Some said it was temporary, would be removed in a few months.
The chair was not removed.
Two
The person sitting on the chair was bored.
Sitting there every day, watching people come and go, nothing happened.
He started thinking: Should I do something?
So he started asking people who came in: Who are you? What are you here for?
No one had told him to ask. But no one had told him he couldn't ask.
If he asked, it looked like he was working.
If he didn't ask, he was just a person sitting on a chair.
Three
One day, someone asked him: Why are you asking?
He said: My job is to ask.
That person said: Who said so?
He said: It's always been like this.
That person said: It wasn't like this last year.
He said: That was last year.
Four
Later, a table appeared next to the chair.
There was a notebook on the table. People coming in had to sign.
No one knew who placed the table. No one knew why signing was necessary.
Someone asked: What's the point of signing?
The person on the chair said: For records.
That person asked: Who reads the records?
The person on the chair said: They'll be read when needed.
That person asked: When is that?
The person on the chair didn't answer.
Five
The notebooks multiplied.
More and more people signed. The notebooks were used up faster and faster.
Someone started managing the notebooks. Someone started counting the signatures. Someone started writing reports, reporting how many people signed each day.
The reports were submitted. Those above said: Good, keep it up.
So they kept it up.
Six
One day, someone suggested: Signing is too slow, can we use a machine?
Everyone discussed it. It made sense.
So a machine was installed at the entrance. Swipe a card to enter.
People without cards couldn't enter.
Someone asked: Why do we need cards?
The person managing the machine said: For security.
That person asked: Wasn't it secure before without cards?
The person managing the machine said: That was before.
Seven
The machine needed maintenance.
So there were people to maintain the machine.
The people maintaining the machine needed management.
So there were people to manage the people maintaining the machine.
The managers needed meetings.
So there was a meeting room.
Meetings needed records.
So there were record keepers.
Records needed archiving.
So there was an archive room.
The archive room needed an administrator.
So there was a person to manage the archive room.
All of this started from a single chair.
Eight
Someone asked: Why do we need all of this?
No one could answer.
Because no one remembered what it was for in the beginning.
Everyone only knew their own part.
The person managing the machine said: I only manage the machine.
The person managing the archive said: I only manage the archive.
The person running meetings said: I only run meetings.
No one knew the whole picture. And no one wanted to know.
What good would knowing do?
Nine
One day, the machine was upgraded.
Card swiping became face scanning.
Someone asked: Why face scanning?
The answer: More secure.
That person asked: Wasn't card swiping secure?
The answer: Face scanning is more secure.
That person asked: Will there be more upgrades after face scanning?
No one answered.
Ten
Face scanning needs a database.
The database needs servers.
The servers need a server room.
The server room needs electricity.
Electricity needs a budget.
The budget needs approval.
Approval needs meetings.
Meetings need records.
Records need archiving.
Look, we're back at the archive room.
Eleven
Someone did the math.
2008: one chair at the entrance, one person.
2018: turnstiles, cameras, servers, server rooms, plus people for maintenance, management, approval, meetings, archiving—thirty-seven people in total.
Thirty-seven people, managing one door.
Someone asked: If these people didn't do this, what could they do?
No one answered.
But everyone knew the answer.
These people couldn't not do this. Because this was the reason for their existence.
Twelve
The door became harder and harder to enter.
Before, you just walked in.
Then you had to sign.
Then you had to swipe a card.
Then you had to scan your face.
Then you had to make a reservation.
Then you couldn't even get a reservation.
Someone asked: Why is it getting harder to enter?
The answer: Too many people.
That person asked: Weren't there many people before?
The answer: Before there was no reservation system, we didn't know how many people there were.
That person said: So you only found out there were many people after installing the system?
The answer: Right.
That person said: So if you didn't install the system, you wouldn't know?
No one answered.
Thirteen
When the door is hard to enter, people start businesses.
Some sell reservation slots. Three hundred yuan per slot.
Some charge more. A study tour group, one hundred and thirty-nine people, ten thousand yuan each.
Someone calculated: One door can generate tens of millions in underground economy per year.
Someone asked: Who makes this money?
The answer: People who can help you get through the door.
That person asked: Why can they help people get through the door?
The answer: Because the door is hard to enter.
That person asked: Why is the door hard to enter?
The answer: For security.
That person asked: Is it secure?
No one answered.
Fourteen
There was a person who, for fifteen years, didn't scan his face, just jumped over the barrier to enter.
He said: Before 2008, you could just walk in here.
Some said he was crazy.
Some said he was a troublemaker.
Some said he didn't understand the rules.
He said: What rules? A chair turning into thirty-seven people, that's a rule?
No one answered him.
Everyone was busy scanning faces.
Fifteen
Someone asked: Can we just remove the door?
The answer: No.
Why?
Because thirty-seven people depend on this door for their livelihood.
Because there's an entire reservation system.
Because there are servers, server rooms, archive rooms.
Because there are budgets, approvals, meeting records.
Because there are scalpers, study tour groups, underground economy.
You remove one door, how many people's rice bowls are you touching?
Sixteen
This is stability.
Not that something is stable.
It's that no one dares to move.
Everyone is in it. Everyone depends on it for their livelihood. No one wants change.
You ask them: Is this reasonable?
They say: I also think it's unreasonable. But this isn't something I can decide.
You ask them: Who can decide?
They say: Those above.
You go ask those above. Those above say: Those below.
You go ask those below. Those below say: It's always been like this.
Seventeen
One chair.
One person.
One question: Who are you?
Fifteen years later, it became an industry.
No one designed this industry.
No one wanted this industry.
But it just grew.
Like a tree. You plant a seed, it grows on its own.
Only this tree bears fruit called absurdity.
Eighteen
Some say this is entropy increase.
Systems spontaneously move toward chaos.
Some say this is bureaucracy.
Institutions spontaneously expand.
Some say this is human nature.
People with power spontaneously expand their power.
I think they're all right.
But I prefer a simpler word:
No one is in charge.
No one was in charge of whether that chair should be placed.
No one was in charge of whether that person should ask.
No one was in charge of whether the machine should be installed.
No one was in charge of whether faces should be scanned.
No one was in charge at each step.
So each step was taken.
Then you look back: What the hell is this?
Nineteen
So you ask me what a system is.
A system is one chair becoming thirty-seven people.
A system is no one knowing why, but everyone doing it.
A system is wanting to remove a door, only to find a thousand people standing behind it.
A system is stability.
Stability is no one moving.
No one moving is no one daring to move.
No one daring to move is moving means death.
The question is: So what if it means death?
Twenty
Before 2008, the door was open.
Anyone who wanted could enter.
No chair, no signing, no card swiping, no face scanning, no reservations, no scalpers, no study tour groups, no thirty-seven people.
Was it secure then?
Yes.
Did anyone cause trouble then?
No.
Then why place a chair?
Because of the Olympics.
Why wasn't it removed after the Olympics?
Because it was already placed.
Why can't you take it away after placing it?
Because someone sat on it.
Why can't he stand up after sitting on it?
Because if he stands up, he has no job.
So?
So he'll keep sitting.
So the chair will become a table.
So the table will become a machine.
So the machine will become a system.
So the system will become an industry.
So the industry will become stability.
So stability will become eternal.
Twenty-One
You ask me what the ending of this story is.
There is no ending.
That chair is still there.
That person is still sitting there.
That door is still closed.
Only now you need a reservation.
Can't get a reservation?
Three hundred yuan, find a scalper.