3 ms·

Company hierarchy: Sociopaths at the top > Clueless middle managers > Losers at the bottom. That's a bleak view, but I've worked in organizations that fit the

Company hierarchy: Sociopaths at the top > Clueless middle managers > Losers at the bottom. That's a bleak view, but I've worked in organizations that fit the model. To think that this could be the norm.. What if the model could be applied to human society in general! With such power dynamics, no wonder we seem to be barely hanging together with tense, mutual disrespect.

k__ 4y ago
I think, it's only bleak because of the names. Sociopath are very lonely and losers can be very happy in comparison.
photochemsyn 4y ago
Some governments also adopt this kind of hierarchy. Faux democracies in particular look like this - the actual power sits in the hands of autocratic oligarchs (largely sociopathic in outlook), the 'elected politicians' who are in reality selected by the ruling oligarchs serve as the clueless middle managers, along with appointed bureaucrats who sit atop the various state agencies. These levels are rewarded with various kickbacks (hence they attain millionaire status, while the oligarchs have billionaire status). Sitting at the bottom of the pyramid are the so-called losers - the prison guards, the tax collectors, the local politicians and bureaucrats, etc. Their socio-economic status is pretty low, but it's at least a step above those who live in the slums and shantytowns. This model characterized, for example, Brazil during the fascist dictatorship era of the 1950s and 1960s, Indonesia and Chile under similar regimes, the Philippines under Marco, probably much of India, a great many African countries, and increasingly it's what the United States seems to be falling into.
TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
All of human society is like this. We dress it up and call it different names, but it's just feudalism all over again and again. People who grew up in the US, in luster and afterglow of the post-war boom, thought that our 50's, 60's, and 70's was the way of the world. But we've fallen back in line with the rest of the world now, and the forced shift in the American perspective is jarring.
- mach1ne 4y ago
  In the Nordics, the welfare society was built during those decades. However, the system is steadily on the decline, though most don't see (or don't want to see) it yet. Perhaps there was something in the second world war which pushed idealists to the ruling classes of the society, allowing them to restructure it in the actual mutual interest, above self-serving sociopathic interests. Could it be that existential crisis prompts the elite-selectors to favor actual competence over political machinations? In any case, it seems a common theme in the West that the society built during the height of the cold war is currently being milked in every way possible in the interests of the ruling class, with nothing new being built in its place.
akomtu 4y ago
This aspect of human nature has been known well before ancient Egypt was a thing. The traditional allegory, which you may find in all major religions, is that every human is driven by "priests" of ambition and desire, who are empowered by the demon of ignorance. The priest of ambition wants power over others, he wants to be feared. The selfish priest of desire wants to be loved by everyone, but will love no one in return. Ambition dominates desire. Most successful men are servants of the two. Sociopaths are driven by inhuman ambition. Clueless - by selfish desire. Losers are the weak, indecisive crowd. There are two outcomes for most: some will manage to kick out both priests and expell the demon, while others will become its slaves, appearing powerful to the crowd, but miserable inside.

k__ 4y ago

I think, it's only bleak because of the names. Sociopath are very lonely and losers can be very happy in comparison.

photochemsyn 4y ago

Some governments also adopt this kind of hierarchy. Faux democracies in particular look like this - the actual power sits in the hands of autocratic oligarchs (largely sociopathic in outlook), the 'elected politicians' who are in reality selected by the ruling oligarchs serve as the clueless middle managers, along with appointed bureaucrats who sit atop the various state agencies. These levels are rewarded with various kickbacks (hence they attain millionaire status, while the oligarchs have billionaire status). Sitting at the bottom of the pyramid are the so-called losers - the prison guards, the tax collectors, the local politicians and bureaucrats, etc. Their socio-economic status is pretty low, but it's at least a step above those who live in the slums and shantytowns. This model characterized, for example, Brazil during the fascist dictatorship era of the 1950s and 1960s, Indonesia and Chile under similar regimes, the Philippines under Marco, probably much of India, a great many African countries, and increasingly it's what the United States seems to be falling into.

TheRealDunkirk 4y ago

All of human society is like this. We dress it up and call it different names, but it's just feudalism all over again and again. People who grew up in the US, in luster and afterglow of the post-war boom, thought that our 50's, 60's, and 70's was the way of the world. But we've fallen back in line with the rest of the world now, and the forced shift in the American perspective is jarring.

mach1ne 4y ago
In the Nordics, the welfare society was built during those decades. However, the system is steadily on the decline, though most don't see (or don't want to see) it yet. Perhaps there was something in the second world war which pushed idealists to the ruling classes of the society, allowing them to restructure it in the actual mutual interest, above self-serving sociopathic interests. Could it be that existential crisis prompts the elite-selectors to favor actual competence over political machinations? In any case, it seems a common theme in the West that the society built during the height of the cold war is currently being milked in every way possible in the interests of the ruling class, with nothing new being built in its place.

akomtu 4y ago

This aspect of human nature has been known well before ancient Egypt was a thing. The traditional allegory, which you may find in all major religions, is that every human is driven by "priests" of ambition and desire, who are empowered by the demon of ignorance. The priest of ambition wants power over others, he wants to be feared. The selfish priest of desire wants to be loved by everyone, but will love no one in return. Ambition dominates desire. Most successful men are servants of the two. Sociopaths are driven by inhuman ambition. Clueless - by selfish desire. Losers are the weak, indecisive crowd. There are two outcomes for most: some will manage to kick out both priests and expell the demon, while others will become its slaves, appearing powerful to the crowd, but miserable inside.