People hate to be given direct orders, especially if they will have to visibly follow such orders, and especially if they feel rivalrous with those who give orders.
The observation is sharp — the split between regimented work and autonomous non-work life is the defining structural feature of modern economies. And you're right that it's unstable.
But I think the instability is on the wrong side of your diagnosis. The autonomous non-work life isn't drifting into maladaptation because people have too much freedom. It's failing because the work side of the trade stopped delivering what it promised.
For roughly seventy years, a set of structures made the bargain credible: floors that caught you if you fell, ladders that converted effort into durable wealth, referees that enforced fair play, constraints that checked concentration. Under those conditions, people formed families, bought houses, invested in the future — because the trade was worth it.
Those structures have eroded. When people stop having kids and stop buying houses, that's not cultural maladaptation. It's rational behavior inside a broken architecture. They've noticed, correctly, that the deal is no longer being honored.
The fix isn't less autonomy. It's restoring the structures that made the autonomy productive. Fix the deal — the culture follows.
Very interesting conceptualization but I feel that it needs to reconcile with Schumpeter, creative destruction and the social role of entrepreneurship. Move fast and break things? I’m particularly reminded of Robert Cringely’s military analogy to business growth: https://blog.codinghorror.com/commandos-infantry-and-police/
I appreciate these insights. Such as: "People hate to be given direct orders....And most of our ancestors managed to avoid this despised scenario most of the time." One of my mentors, anthropologist Daniel Everett, has often told me: One of the few rules of the Piraha (amazonian group) is don't tell other people what to do.
It is one of the benefits of a flattened social hiearchy and minimal social complexity. Every culture has made its tradeoffs and has its advantages and disadvantages.
Philosphical different between east and west cultural values. Eastern Chinese culture founded on social order principles laid out by Confucius prescribe obedience and submission. Western Greco-Roman based cultures value freedom and resistance and demand a voice in social order known as “democracy”. One is open to manipulation of the citizen masses and criticizes the other about lack of freedom.
The observation is sharp — the split between regimented work and autonomous non-work life is the defining structural feature of modern economies. And you're right that it's unstable.
But I think the instability is on the wrong side of your diagnosis. The autonomous non-work life isn't drifting into maladaptation because people have too much freedom. It's failing because the work side of the trade stopped delivering what it promised.
For roughly seventy years, a set of structures made the bargain credible: floors that caught you if you fell, ladders that converted effort into durable wealth, referees that enforced fair play, constraints that checked concentration. Under those conditions, people formed families, bought houses, invested in the future — because the trade was worth it.
Those structures have eroded. When people stop having kids and stop buying houses, that's not cultural maladaptation. It's rational behavior inside a broken architecture. They've noticed, correctly, that the deal is no longer being honored.
The fix isn't less autonomy. It's restoring the structures that made the autonomy productive. Fix the deal — the culture follows.
Very interesting conceptualization but I feel that it needs to reconcile with Schumpeter, creative destruction and the social role of entrepreneurship. Move fast and break things? I’m particularly reminded of Robert Cringely’s military analogy to business growth: https://blog.codinghorror.com/commandos-infantry-and-police/
I appreciate these insights. Such as: "People hate to be given direct orders....And most of our ancestors managed to avoid this despised scenario most of the time." One of my mentors, anthropologist Daniel Everett, has often told me: One of the few rules of the Piraha (amazonian group) is don't tell other people what to do.
It is one of the benefits of a flattened social hiearchy and minimal social complexity. Every culture has made its tradeoffs and has its advantages and disadvantages.
One wonders what you mean by "capitalist organization." Could you be clearer about that term?
Not just "capitalist orgs". Every org - government, non-profit, universities (except for professors). It's "employers" generally.
Communist employees too.
Philosphical different between east and west cultural values. Eastern Chinese culture founded on social order principles laid out by Confucius prescribe obedience and submission. Western Greco-Roman based cultures value freedom and resistance and demand a voice in social order known as “democracy”. One is open to manipulation of the citizen masses and criticizes the other about lack of freedom.
Eastern folks also don't like direct orders, esp. from rivals.