ARE YOU INSTITUTIONALIZED? Are you institutionalized? I'm not asking if you are in an institution. I'm asking if you have been influenced by them (and thus have an institutional mindset). Chances are, you have been. Did you go to a public school? If you did, you are very likely institutionalized. Do you go to a church of some kind (or attend a church-supported "private" school)? If so, you are no doubt influenced by it. Churches are organized religious bodies, a form of institution. The Roman Catholic Church is an institution. So is every other church. So is Judaism and Islam. Most everyone in the world is institutionalized. It is a form of socialization. You can be socialized without being institutionalized, but you can not be institutionalized if you haven't been socialized. You are socialized if you know how to speak the language and are thereby pretty much aware of what is going on in your culture. You are institutionalized if you are socialized and essentially acquiescent with respect to the beliefs and practices of the subculture you happen to be a part of. Nearly everyone who is socialized is also a member of a particular subculture, like, for example, the Baptist Church. If you are involved in that Baptist Church and don't challenge its beliefs and practices, you are institutionalized by it. Same if you are involved with the Roman Catholic Church or Judaism. The vast majority of people in the world are followers, which means that they are easily influenced by the culture around them, but especially their subculture. People who are not influenced by their surrounding culture are rare birds indeed. And usually leaders of some kind. It is entirely possible that they are leaders who don't have any followers. But whether or not they have followers is irrelevant. The fact that they themselves are not following is what is significant. Some leaders of course do have followers, but quite often are not real leaders, because they are very likely heavily immersed in the institution in which they have somehow managed to place themselves (or simply find themselves) in a leading role. They are thus just another one of the followers. The current leader of these here United States of America (by god) is a prime example. He is a leader and a follower at the same time. He is of course literally swamped in the values of the culture and wouldn't think of questioning its prime directive. As such, he clearly demonstrates to us that he is helplessly institutionalized by that culture. A true leader is not institutionalized, by definition. A true leader is not necessarily chosen by the followers to be the leader. A true leader is the leader whether the followers want him (or her) to be or not. The desires of the followers have nothing whatsoever to do with the authority of the leader. Followers are institutionalized. Leaders are not. Socialized, yes; institutionalized, no. It is nigh impossible for followers to choose a leader. What do they know of leading? They are followers. The leader they choose is very likely to be the most intense follower in their midst. It is no wonder that they always seem (eventually) to be so disappointed by him/her. It is difficult for large nations not to be filled with institutions of one sort or another, such institutions being, for the most part, very effective tools for organizing large populations. It is therefore not surprising that so many of its citizens are thus institutionalized, and carry an institutional headset around with them every where they go. Even when you point something like this out to them, they are still reluctant to part with their institutional habits. Most of them will simply put their headset back on and go their institutional way. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? It'll Put the Fear of God in You, Boy
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