Random Thoughts On Titles

Long ago, corporate America discovered that they could bestow titles on staffers in lieu of salary, so they started cooking up lots of new titles. Supervisors became assistant managers and clerks became office administrators. Titles denote status and human beings are status seeking creatures. This was the reason the proliferation of titles was both successful and wildly embraced.

Of course, the proliferation of titles used to be a thing in backward countries that was mocked by people in Western counties. The image of the potentate with a long list of honorifics and a chest full of ribbons was a stock figure in comedy. Black Mischief, Evelyn Waugh's third novel, featured an African leader who was fond of handing out impressive titles to everyone, especially himself.