The Elite, the Thugs, the Majority

"Society is, always has been and always will be a structure for the exploitation and oppression of the majority through systems of political force dictated by an élite, enforced by thugs, uniformed or not, and upheld by a willful ignorance and stupidity on the part of the very majority whom the system oppresses." Richard Morgan

This was the sign off used by one of my online friends. I just can't agree more with this statement.

Well, the statement may sound too strong for some to accept & I do admit that at times, I'm part of that majority. Do we have a choice then? Yes. But how many dare to make a choice?

It applies to the workplace too.
Systems, frameworks, procedures are created by man, yet, we are the very ones being trapped by something that we've created. Some managed to break through, while some continued to be trapped & moving in circles, hoping to see the light someday.

We have the choice & there are implications after making a choice. Do we want to take the risk? What if it affects others? What if it becomes an even bigger problem after making that choice?

Most of the time we complain about the way bosses treat us. But sometimes it's also how we respond to the bosses that affect how they treat us. I remember having a boss (aka the non-uniformed thug as described above) who would sms or call us late at night or over the weekends when it was nothing particularly urgent. We were like her PDA where she could enter the info anytime she remembered she needed to do something. I didn't know why I had that rebellious streak in me with this particular boss cos usually I'm an obedient staff who would conscientiously follow what my boss require me to do.

I didn't reply all her smses if I don't see the urgency to do so. It's not a life and death issue & it's just tomorrow that she could convey that message to me. At least an email would be less intrusive. It worked. She commented that she realised that I kinda 'switched off' during the weekends & that was why she didn't sms me that often. My other kind colleagues tolerated her nonsense until one day when they gave her the feedback that they would prefer not to receive smses, the boss asked as a matter of factly "Do you mean you prefer me to call instead?"

We all came to the conclusion & I'd prefer to put it as 'She's lonely' rather than 'She's got no life'.

After working in various organisations, I came to realise that sometimes we just need to speak up. Certain issues which we thought it's impossible to solve, may actually turn out to be easily solvable. Of course when to say it, how to put it across & the personality of the boss matter. I might not have left my 1st dream job if I had been more open about the issues I faced. But fortunately, he has now become my 'advisor' cum lunch kaki who shares with me lots of stories about the army.

Sometimes, I don't mind to be the majority just to enjoy that 'wilful ignorance' once in a while. Ignorance is bliss afterall :)