"The fact that I took it so personally day in and day out my whole life is a testimony of how severely self-absorbed I was. The prolonged nurturing of the scars caused by casual indignities was a very special pet in my menagerie of craziness. But even I would never claim that the pedestrian oppression of hierarchic systems was my exclusive prerogative.
To be mistreated by those who outrank you (a boss or a critic) - this is just how life is. If you try to make something of yourself in this harsh and merciless reality, no matter what it is, you must be ready to endure scores and scores of hardships. You will have your self-esteem wrung, torn into pieces, thrown on the ground and stamped all over – hundreds of times. There is nothing new, special, or personal about it. You cannot be “out there” without experiencing a continuous inflow of sufferings. The key is to be able to manage it without being traumatized and damaged. Which is quite a tall order.
Generally speaking, as a species, we should’ve evolved to deal with all that shit. How else are we surviving? There are a few rare individuals who, for better or worse, found ways of preserving themselves, of staying away from the garden-variety degradation of the spirit. The rest of us, however, willingly and even strategically - with precision, rhythm and deliberation - stomp our feet straight into the meatgrinder. And it fucking hurts. Being chewed by the metal teeth of the machine (no matter what it may be – business, science, entertainment, arts, anything at all) is painful to everyone – lazy and hardworking, mediocre and geniuses, laid-back and ambitious.
I’ve observed people and their involuntary reflexes in the workplace for thirty years - listening to their complaints, concerns, and rueful ramblings. It is my firm belief that even those who are pre-conditioned for the delusional complacency - perfectly tenderized and well-shaped for the feeder – are unable to remain indifferent to the hierarchic cruelty."
"I Built This Prison", Part I: Etiology of Crime, Chapter 4: Buckets of Tears... and Blood
p. 51 - 52