When they jail you
You wear prison clothes
You eat according to their schedule
You sleep according to their schedule
You think according to their schedule
You lose all agency

In hospitals
They dress you in a hospital-gown
You eat according to their schedule
The bright lights make sure
You don't sleep at all
You are ill or well
Not according to what you feel
But according to what their tests tell you
You are treated as if
Your brain doesn't function
You lose all agency

In school
You wear a uniform
The time-table is king
And the bells are its page-boys
You have learnt things (or not)
Not according to how you feel
But according to what their tests tell you
You are treated as if
Your brain is empty
And needs to be filled
You lose all agency

At work
There is a dress code
Some things are done
Some things are not done
You do what your boss tells you
He does what his boss tells him
He does what his boss tells him
You lose all agency

Every institution does its best
To steal
Your agency from you

The Nation State
Mother of all institutions
I bow down to thee:
What choice do I have?