“The traditional institutions of the Western world – the state, the church, marriage and the family, the university, the [trade] union, the political party, the voluntary association, etc. – are being castigated as … structures that inhibit individual liberty, creativity, and authenticity. It is a kind of non-rational mood that has a deep, often unconscious, influence on many individuals in the affluent Western world. …

The philosophies and theories of Western subjectivism have some sort of anti-rationalism in common. … But there is a strong paradox at work here. … Indeed, it is a strange sight to observe businessmen, who in their daily activities are rationally inhibited and mentally constrained, throw themselves at the mercy if an organizational guru, who relentlessly strips them of their individual and personal dignity. … The whole wellness business is a rational business firmly based on rational techniques of psychological manipulation, and on equally rational economic considerations of making profits …

This anti-institutionalist subjectivism … is a dangerous mood … human beings are dependent on well-functioning institutions for their survival as a species. … An anti-institutional mood floating about in subjectivism must affect man‘s capacity to act and interact, and eventually reduce man to resignation and passive, aesthetic quietism. … Anti-institutionalism and subjectivism … can only be indulged in by well-off people, who are blind to the inherent dangers … [It’s] a decadent phenomenon. … ”

aus: Anton G. Zijderveld: The Institutional Imperative. The Interface of Institutions and Networks. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2000, S.13-15.

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