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I compared some passages of articles of [Robert McNamara] in the late 1960s, speeches, on management and the necessity of management, how a well-managed society controlled from above was the ultimate in freedom. The reason is if you have really good management and everything's under control and people are told what to do, under those conditions, he said, man can maximize his potential. I just compared that with standard Leninist views on vanguard parties, which are about the same. About the only difference is that McNamara brought God in, and I suppose Lenin didn't bring God in. He brought Marx in.

Noam Chomsky#7

PowerIdeologyFreedomAuthoritarianismManagement

About this quote

What does it mean?
Management control and Leninist vanguardism claim control maximizes potential.
In plain terms
Control under management resembles control under vanguard parties.
What can you take from it?
Compare control systems across ideologies.

Where it applies

  • corporate strategy
  • political analysis

Putting it to work

  • Question centralized control
  • Check management theory

Questions to consider

  • Is control always bad?
  • How much freedom is optimal?

Another view

Effective management can be benevolent.

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