As soon as we take for granted that there are better and worse ways of doing things, we create a hierarchy that implies perfection at the top. I’ve written that “modern society has a predilection for centralization;” modernity obsesses over perfection by collecting what are perceived as the best ways to do things into what is perceived as the best structure. The result is a “crippling singularity [that] does not reflect the complexity of the human experience.”

This is monolith culture–contrived singularity legitimized by the assumption that the best will rise to the top. This assumption is dangerous because it is self-legitimating and therefore disconnected from experience. If the idea that the best rise to the top is at the top then it is taken for granted as the best idea about how things work. But widespread belief is no indication of validity. Further, we have plenty of evidence in the wrongs of society that the best do not rise to the top. So the main function of this idea is not to actually describe reality, but to legitimize authority. 

Those who happen to be in power become those who should be in power.

This is monolith culture. Let’s use celebrity as a concrete example: a relatively small number of entertainment professionals are idolized by a relatively large portion of society. Their positions of power are taken for granted as evidence of their virtue. But, again, this is self-legitimating and therefore disconnected from experience. Popularity is no indication of talent. Celebrities are not the most attractive people, the most talented people or even the most entertaining people. But this idea of the best rising to the top has given birth to the phenomenon of superstardom.

Those who happen to capture our attention becomes those who should capture our attention.

This is monolith culture, and it exists at the cost of the vernacular. We have a corrupt republic instead of community forums. We have Coca-Cola instead of local flavors. We have struggling state schools instead of community education. We have Safeway instead of farmer’s markets. We have police instead of tight-knit neighborhoods.

We have Brad Pitt instead of a local hero.