All institutions will eventually fail because institutions comprise gatherings of fallible people. Any institution can only be as successful as the combined strengths and weaknesses in each individual member as described and moderated by the set of the strengths and weakness of their belief systems, mental health, and power within the institutional process. Great institutions of government may fail more spectacularly, and with more severe consequences than small institutions because the kinds of individuals attracted to the greater power and influential positions of high office carry their personal needs for power, entitlement, mental illness and greed along with them into official positions. As an institution grows it gathers like-minded powerful cronies to it’s bosom, As it grows the probability for failure increases proportionally because if is also gathering the flaws, illnesses and weaknesses of all into the process of the institution. It follows from this that the more powerful the institution, the greater will be the probability that it will fail dangerously and do harm to all of us just when it is needed most.
Make a mental list of institutions in your city or town, your state and region and your national government. Try to think of an exception to the rule of eventual catastrophic failure, or at the minimum, nearly ruinous scandal. These are about half of the events comprising what we call history.
Now a further caution: individuals who seek or demand great power (and who are sometimes referred to as ‘an institution unto [himself/herself])’are apparently likely to display greater rates of mental illness as ‘ordinary’ people. But among the power-seekers we may reflect upon the high number of individuals even within living memory who have demonstrated tragic psychotic or psychopathic personal characteristics. It they had worked as gardeners their destructive influence would have had less catastrophic impact.
Individuals of note and power will fail and become notorious in direct proportion to the increasing number and dependency of their admirers (even as their failings and weaknesses may destroy our precious collective government principals and institutions).
Is a collectivity of secretive paranoid anarchists and ‘every (man) for himself’ survivalists a reasonable alternative to participating in organized society with it’s institutional benefits and burdens? Must we learn to absolutely mistrust and ignore leadership and ‘leaders’?
Independence—not anarchy, educated healthy self interest—not hero-worship, information sharing—not top-trickle-down management, can help us as a counterfoil to soften the otherwise inevitable blows brought upon us by mentally ill, abusive super-star politicians, corrupt institutions, decaying or incompetent governments, and chaotic society.
When the heroes and their managers in the halls of power inflict their personal confusions upon us, the electorate, at least we will have ourselves our neighbors and our buddies to help us think and vote our way out of our troubles.
No harm can come from sharing information with the superstars in government, if they will set up channels of information that enable them to listen and interact with us, the masses. Standing in the way of this open two-way communication for many powerful people is their own delusional self-entitlement that at least in their own minds, and in the minds of whatever political cult may have developed around them, has enthroned them and allowed or encouraged them to become dictatorial. Probably a saner view of civic and personal responsibility for health, education, welfare, and survival lies in less reliance (and more oversight) upon public institutions, and more independently conceived actions for national, individual and family good. Education about noticing the signs of mental illness in political candidates may also help.
Information shared among independent thinkers without the formation of formal organizations can influence our functioning faster, and with better effect, than can government agency. But we cannot function without government agency, and these informal communications cannot function if each communication is not secure. Governments must never spy upon their own populations. Systems and organizations are essential if we are to remain orderly and in touch with one-another. This is a dilemma for all of us, whatever roles we play in society. It is also a long-standing challenge to all democratic institutions.