Our technological infrastructure alienates us from each other. No need to form a workplace community, everybody there will be out in a year or two, and so will you, looking for a better place.
Mary DouglasWhere there is dirt there is system. Dirt is the byproduct of a systematic ordering and classification of matter.
Mary DouglasEnclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off.
Mary DouglasBehind a leader there must be followers, but they should always be on the lookout for the main chance and ready to change sides if the current leader doesn't deliver.
Mary DouglasIf we can abstract pathogenicity and hygiene from our notion of dirt, we are left with the old definition of dirt as matter out of place. This is a very suggestive approach. It implies two conditions: a set of ordered relations and a contrevention of that order. Dirt then, is never a unique, isolated event. Where there is dirt there is a system. Dirt is the by-product of a systematic ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements.
Mary Douglas