Thread by @scafaria

At the heart of society lies a paradox.

Total disorder and total order are not opposites.

By failing to understand this, we fight about the wrong things and repeat the cycles of history.

A 🧵 about power, institutions, and life itself…

(or on medium)
scafaria.com/the-paradox-at…

Imagine a society without any institutions. It’s not even a society at that point, really… no family structures, no schools, no police, no stores. It’s total disorder, breeding chaos, violence, and every man for himself.

Now imagine a system with absolute order. Everything is predictable with total conformity. This is an unnatural state, which can only be maintained by tyrants and their henchmen. North Korea comes to mind.

So if each extreme is undesirable, perhaps we want 50% anarchy and 50% rule by iron fist? No, you get a society more like Afghanistan.

The opposite of zero institutions is not rigidly autocratic institutions. The opposite of *both* of these is a society with *healthy institutions*.

This is not only a paradox of society, it’s a paradox of nature. The opposite of total disorder is not total rigidity. The opposite of *both* of these is… life! The essay of which I’m most proud (in my life) discusses this here.
scafaria.com/universals-of-…

Life contains complexity. "I contain multitudes." The complexity, the vibrance, the surprising diversity, this… Life! … is the opposite of order-less outer space blackness and also the opposite of a perfectly ordered (inert) salt molecule.

Powerful people know that only healthy institutions can hold them in check. Whether you’re a fossil fuel billionaire or a multinational crime syndicate, healthy institutions get in your way. No wonder the last 50 years have seen a deliberate onslaught vs functioning institutions.

Tearing down broken institutions doesn’t create healthy institutions; it merely creates a power vacuum. Powerful cynical actors foment disorder because they will retain advantages to coalesce power in that vacuum.

And so the cycles of history comprise (a) people coming together to create institutions and societies, followed by either (b1) corruption of those institutions from within or (b2) dismantling of those institutions by actors who don’t hold as much power as they want.

Breaking government was the whole point for those who want no institutions at all in their way.

If the state performs all services – there is no private sector – the system will inevitably be inefficient and corrupt. Someone is in charge completely and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

If the private sector performs all services – there is no public sector – the system will not be economically efficient (see Myth 2 in video below). Moreover, it will also become corrupt and broken.

History’s most famous example is the privatization that ensued in transition from the USSR to Russia. Charter schools, sale of public lands, and sale of water rights in deserts are just repeating this experiment in steps.

In the US, today is #GroundhogDay, a day associated with repeating the same thing over and over. This post won’t stop the cycles of history from unfolding over and over. But...

...we can remember to guard against false opposites. The person holding the opposite of your point of view might actually… not. (thread👆)

Cc @MMBrussell @Ozonebassist @positivesumnet @MySharonaBrown @DempseyTwo @embeeshea