As I am typing away frantically on my laptop
to meet an impending deadline, I look up from
the dull powerpoint slides into the distance.
Why am I feeling anxious from trying to meet
this deadline? I don’t even really care
enough about this deliverable. I won’t die
if I never delivered. I would just ensure
my monthly income calibrated at the precise
amount just enough to support my lifestyle
will persist. I look around. I am surrounded
by cramped desks and glossy yellow plastic
walls. Dayum those glossy walls. When did
my favourite yellow signifying joy and happiness
turn into this dead mustard dread glossed
over with cheap resin? As I watch my life
literally slipping away with every single
word I type, I am reminded that only the grave
is our mutual trajectory. Why am I working
on these slides that I literally give zero
fucks about? These slides that are not consequential
enough for me to feel motivated, yet crucial
enough for me to ensure my sustenance on this
planet. Seemingly important enough for me
to continue so as to remain a normal white
collared individual respected as I rise through
these constructed, artificial ranks of corporate
status. Am I wasting my life on Microsoft
that is making me micro and soft? Bound by
this capitalist conformity?
Maybe Foucault is right. Maybe everything
is analogous to a prison. We are damned to
be governed, even in the most implicit of
ways. We signed the social contract that we
are too timid to opt out of. Did we get socialised
so well that we are imposing rules on ourselves?
We are self-governing entities walking through
life, so well disciplined. The most insidious
form of power and control is the least obvious
and noticeable. They are conditioned notions
that we have stopped questioning. We have
curfew at work. We are expected to arrive
between7am and 10am and get out of the office
between 6pm and 2am, depending on how hard
we are willing to sacrifice our lives for
better appraisals and promotion guarantees.
When we deviate from these expected hours
and practices of having lunch at the desk
to be efficient, we will be judged by the
majority of the people at work, even if no
one really explicitly says anything. Everyone
touts that it is an open workplace and people
can work at their own pace without conforming
to any strict timings. However, the reality
is not so as everyone still has a standard
corporate expectation towards everyone within
the organisation, and these people will turn
extremely critical toward individuals that
deviate from the norm. How can we really be
at the top if we don’t deviate from the
mean of the normal distribution? We can’t.
So we have to escape this system. Discipline
instilled into everyone within the system.
We are analogous to prisoners and prison guards
at the same time. When people’s actions
deviate from what is commonly accepted, the
rest of the population will immediately show
their disapproval, further enhancing the self-governing
system in place. Order and discipline, the
manifestation of the power of the sovereign,
the agents in power. Hierarchical surveillance,
judgement and examination. The three key ingredients
in maintain power and control. This phenomenon
does not confine itself to corporates, schools
or prisons. In corporates, Foucault’s observation
manifests in the following ways. The hierarchical
surveillance of the team through reports,
timing expectations, judgement and appraisal
by peers and superiors, and how well you correspond
with corporate appraisal/ promotion criteria.
When feedback from your peers show that your
behaviour or deliverable falls away from what
is being expected by the company’s central
goals, you will be reformed through performance
management protocols. You will follow the
directions to change your behaviour and output
in the workplace as you think you should optimise
your actions and words to put you in the best
position for the next promotion. We are not
just prisoners, but we are also prison guards
at the same time. This three step procedure
of controlling human behaviour is the dominant
method of enforcing power and control within
our modern day society. As this form of order
and control extends to almost every other
organisation and group, we have evolved into
a self-governing obedient system. We can extend
this concept to almost any organisation. From
schools to religious groups. I am both the
controlled rat and one of the contributors
in maintaining this order and discipline.
As I am typing away frantically on my laptop
to meet an impending deadline, I look up from
the dull powerpoint slides into the distance.
I am surrounded by beautiful yellow glossy
walls. Dayum those walls. Yellow is my favourite.
As I looked around at my colleagues, they
seemed extremely enthusiastic about analysing
the client’s data to resolve their cost
issues. It is a project that can affect tens
of thousands of people’s lives and billions
of dollars are involved. We are making such
great impact in the business world. I feel
energetic and fulfilled at work most day and
I can’t wait to end work so I can be greeted
by my lovely husband and daughters when I
get home. They bring me so much joy entertainment
and the occasional stress from their little
tantrums. How blessed I am, I always remind
myself. I have everything. A stable job, great
pay, a sizeable house, an understanding partner
and the most adorable daughters who are self-disciplined
and hardworking just like me.
