Charles Hugh Smith – Most people working within dysfunctional institutions do their best to keep the institution operating, and they naturally resent their institution being labeled dysfunctional, as it calls into question the value of their work. Their role in the institution is the wellspring of their identity and self-worth, and attacks on the institution are easily personalized into attacks on their self-worth.
This is understandable, as the need to affirm the value of one’s work is core to being human.
Several factors work against the affirmation of an individual’s value in centralized institutions. While some institutions are better run than others, hierarchical institutions are ontologically in conflict with the human need for affirmation of one’s value, purpose and meaning.
While each individual seeks to be recognized as a valuable member of a productive community, the institution is designed to enforce obedience to the hierarchy and compliance with the many rules governing the institutional machinery.
To soften the enforcement of obedience, institutions offer various blandishments of recognition: employee of the month, etc. Hierarchical organizations that must compete for workers, such as technology firms, will actively court their employees with Friday parties and various bonding events to generate a sense of purpose and community.
Ethan Indigo Smith – I recently left the steadiness of California to embark on a continental book tour. I, like any writer I suppose, have untapped reservoirs of hope rooted in the conviction that I can change the world, so I left the mountains, my friends – everything I’ve known for many years – in a van packed with only the most basic sustenance – food, books and a sweet but demanding canine.