One further factor that contributes to the vertical structuring of society is the tendency blindly to delegate personal involvement and commitment.

In a broad, complex society, the mechanism of delegating to representatives functions that cannot be directly exercised by everybody is inherent in its normal functioning. But this process is only justified if it is strictly limited to the functions whose nature requires representation, and if it includes mechanisms to control how it is actually carried out.

However, it often happens that the responsibility of the individual gets ‘shifted’ to others, without caring about the use they will make of it.

This mechanism also applies to the exercise of critical thinking, which means checking facts, information, statements, behaviours, and consistency. When people are not completely careless, they might choose a person who is already known for some reason, turn them into a ‘myth’, and charge them with the task of not only controlling, but also severely criticising power. They have attributed to them the role as collective conscience, and sometimes people gather to listen to them, almost as in a rite. On such occasions, some people temporarily experience strong feelings of resentment and aggressiveness towards the ‘evil’ people who manage power; others become indignant, or lash out at them. Then, little by little, they return to their private lives, leaving it to the myth, the ‘guru’ to think and act, even for them.

People tend to take this attitude not just because it is often more comfortable, but also because responsibility has a price. At first it generates uncertainty, second thoughts, doubts, and later regrets, recrimination, and guilt. If decisions are delegated to others, individual responsibility disappears. Despite these apparent advantages, however, the damage is huge. If people put their destiny into the hands of others, their delegates will not shape it according to the goals and interests of the people who chose them, but according to their own interests, or those of their political, ideological, or religious faction. In short, if you let others do the job, they will act according to their own approach, goals, and in their own interest.