This is a weekly blog of my findings and learnings on my interests. It’s a selfish endeavor that allows me to justify the podcasts and University lectures I watch.
This idea of institution versus anti-institution has been on my mind after deciding to transfer to Cornell this fall. Institutionalists want to keep prestigious organizations, corporations, and universities as the scaffolding for society while anti-institutionalists want to destroy and build more democratic/decentralized organizations representative of the people in them. I follow and look up to a lot of people in the tech scene as well as people who come from more traditional backgrounds. This ideological divide between technologists and academia made me question my own thoughts on the topic, and it wasn’t until a conversation with my mentor that it finally clicked.
In this chat, I was able to see that even though the institutions of today are starting to crumble, the power they hold isn’t going away anytime soon. By not going after the institutions of today, you are just gatekeeping yourself from the inner circles.
One of the biggest mouthpieces for anti-institutionalists is Balaji Srinivasan, the author of The Network State. A decentralized model for the way we live that is much different and further away from becoming a reality. Even though Balaji is one of the biggest critics of institutions, he has gotten a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. A bit hypocritical coming from someone with such a prestigious pedigree.
Why didn’t Balaji just get his Ph.D. from a state school or drop out and start a company right away? It was because of the upper hand that graduating from Stanford gave him. He was able to leverage their institutional clout, to get into Stanford and Silicon Valley networks.
Like it or not, these institutional bastions give regular people the ability to get into the upper echelons of society. For some, graduating from these schools gives grads the ability to jump the line in the corporate ladder giving them the skills and network to succeed in their careers.
Even the Elons of Zuckerbergs of the world were able to use institutions to give themselves some street cred. Do you think so many people would pay attention to Mark Zuckerberg if he didn’t drop out of Harvard? Dropping out of a community college is much different than an Ivy League school. Mark was allowed into the club and then left at his own will instead of never being let in at all.
No one is invincible to the influence these institutions have. Believing that they will one day lose their power could be true, but it isn’t happening anytime soon. Making a decision on the future decades down the line won’t increase your chances of career success today.
The millionaires yelling about how college is a scam, aka making a case against institutions, will still be first in line to hire an Ivy League graduate. Not only does it make sense on paper, but the societal repercussions are much higher. Who wants to be the person to say they chose to hire someone from a state school over a Harvard graduate? Plus it’s a flex to say a Harvard grad works for you. Societal pressures and the urge to seek status are real which reinforces the power of the institutions.
After much thought, I have decided to play the game in front of me instead of daydreaming about a future without institutions. Even if there is a longer-term trend against them it isn’t coming anytime soon. Going to Cornell this fall means more opportunities and the ability to get into pedigree-gated MBA and banking programs. It isn’t fair, but in order to have an opinion or a seat at the table you need the clout that these Universities provide. It is a prerequisite to changing the societial frameworks that institutions provide.
Thank you for reading and I will be back next week with more insights!
Very insightful and very true. It comes from the same old adage “Do as I say, not as I do”. There is a mindset from these folks that go to “prestigious” institutions push the socialist agenda, yet they went to Ivy League schools. Take politicians for example Obama and Hillary went to Harvard and Yale yet they push for socialism. Obama has a house in DC, mansion at Martha’s Vineyard and are building a mansion in Oahu, it’s great to be a socialist. 😊
Continuing to ponder on this topic. Top institutions have endowments to make it more affordable for students that need financial help but they don’t touch the endowment. Most alumni donate money and those alumni don’t want prices reduced to keep it as another gate to get through, that of financial barrier. Instead of writing off student debt, they should make college more affordable but the elites won’t do it especially in the top institutions. The high cost gives the illusion of high quality. Many of the top institutions stifle individual thinking and only permit mentality. Have you also noticed that folks that go to those institutions, upon graduation become very generous with other people’s money. Those are my thoughts 💭