The Tyranny of Structurelessness

Pretty similar to this is Robert Michels&#x27; Iron Law of Oligarchy [1], which I understand to be a reaction to the trend of Marx-inspired leftist groups supposedly devoted to egalitarianism developing rigid hierarchies and power dynamics.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Iron_law_of_oligarchy</a>

Previous discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7409611" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7409611</a>

At least at small scale, lack of formal structure may work very well. And often better way is no to use <i>democracy</i>, but <i>do-ocracy</i>. Usually some people have higher of lower position, but it is a feature, not - bug. Formalizing power, while gives information to outsiders, also (or: primarily) entrenches it.<p>See: <a href="http://www.communitywiki.org/cw/DoOcracy" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.communitywiki.org&#x2F;cw&#x2F;DoOcracy</a>, <a href="https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Do-ocracy" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.noisebridge.net&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Do-ocracy</a>

Very good article, and pretty true. It also shows that you don&#x27;t need to invent global conspiracies of world domination: the rich and the powerful naturally mingle, and will often do what is in each other&#x27;s interest, not necessarily out of malice. Of course, the end result will not be necessarily different for those negatively affected by the policies created in this context.

Needs a [1970] (or perhaps a [1973]) in the title.<p>This is an incredibly valuable essay on just how hard it is to eliminate hierarchical power relationships within groups of people, and how it pops back up in hidden (and thus unaccountable) ways. I&#x27;ve often wondered whether similar issues occur in flatter open-allocation style organizations.