[Term prompt] Tyranny of structurelessness

(As a pre-face, Project Europa got delayed again due to image generation issues. To maintain my presence on PixAI, here is an another term prompt). The tyranny of structurelessness is the idea that just because a group rejects formal structures, it does not mean that a truly structureless organization will arise. Power and hierarchy will often become informal and often unaccountable, along with the development of unofficial cliques, and this makes information concealment much easier. This quickly creates in-groups and out-groups, each with its own elites attempting to extract benefits for their own informal network, even if there is significant overlap. As such, there really cannot be a truly structureless group, because human nature combined with time gravitates toward structure, even if that structure is flexible. Some of the most visible examples are failed states where formal government collapses and people create or impose organizational structures of their own. For example, in Somalia after 1991, state collapse did not produce structurelessness: Somaliland and Puntland built quasi-state institutions, Al-Shabaab established a violent insurgency, and within Somaliland itself clans started to create their own courts and taxation. Some of these structures were violent, some customary, and some quasi-state, but all were structures. Similarly, a “laissez-faire” economy did not prevent economic power groups from setting wages and prices and dictating the flow of goods, producing problems akin to severe state centralization. A sound organizational structure can in fact give individuals more freedom, even at the expense of giving up certain freedoms. The most obvious example is slavery: outlawing slavery is a restriction of activity, yet societies as a whole are freer as a result. But on a smaller scale, structure gives a clear direction and clear expectations, including how power is used and distributed; all of this comes with information and a clearer path for requesting resources. Ideally, for a truly freedom-giving structure, leadership is responsible to a broad constituency, positions are rotational to give everyone a fair chance and prevent accumulation of power, and there is equal access to all information and resources. However, a truly free structure is rarely correlated with the efficient outcomes required for governments and companies; thus, in practice, some centralization will be necessary. The conclusion is thus that a group or organization can only choose between a formal structure or informal structure. https://coco-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tyranny.pdf https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Africa/bpsomalia0407.pdf