💡 Late stage institutions generates a schizophrenic feeling that the system will collapse imminently but also will last forever. Late Stage Institutionalism Part 2
In the previous post I wrote about the idea that we are in the late stages of the institutions that we have inherited from the Industrial Age. I compared our society to an ant colony that had exhausted an existing food source and were now straying off the beaten path and searching for new sources. One thing is clear though. That we haven’t found the new thing that will replace the existing institutions.
In this post I will explore what it feels like to live in a late stage system.
The end stage of any institutional system becomes the most schizophrenic. On one hand, the obvious shortcomings of the existing systems can make it feel impossible for the system to continue.
On the other hand, the institutions are often at the peak of their power and control over society. This makes it incredibly difficult to imagine an alternative to what already exists.
Right and wrong. Accelerator and Brakes. Doomed to fail and to exist forever. All at the same time.
The Soviets coined the term “hypernormalisation” to describe the feeling of imminent failure and lack of control within a system that claims to have everything under control, while at the same time being unable to envision a viable alternative.
We live in a hypernormal reality created by the transition between the existing industrial age institutions in society, whilst the Internet native institutions have yet to be created.
Everything was forever until it was no more
Alexei Yurchak