NOTE

“Systems are complete and flawless as long as they have not met reality!”

When a system meets reality

Systems look complete and flawless until they meet reality. A crisis is the moment their hidden assumptions come into the open. The two pieces in this section see crisis from the angle of institution and meaning: when an institution that was meant to give order or support loses trust, what is left?

Pieces

• From order to the appearance of order: three kinds of institution (inherent-communal, state-supportive, order-keeping), the crisis of legitimacy and meaning, and whether worn-out institutions are scaffolding or a prison.
• Grassroots institutions and the decline of the sense of social responsibility: when social responsibility moves from the people’s shoulders to an institution, what becomes of the sense of duty?

To read next

A critique of modernity and a civilisational view of systems sees the same worry at the level of civilisation, and Lipstick on a Pig concludes from it why cosmetic repair is not enough.

crisisinstitutionmeaninglegitimacy

Related: Macro systems and Conflict and conflicting systems.