Balance is a state of equality, a system in balance is an optimization of sometimes just two parts, but often among many, gently positioned such that no one element supersedes any of the others. Ideally the elements are positioned so that minor shifts in one can be accommodated and adjusted to by the others.
How able a system is to accommodate these shifts, how large a force it can withstand, defines the resilience or fragility of the balance.
Are our institutions organized in delicate balance? Are they frail? The pandemic has been quite a blow, a once in a century force.
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