“Conflict-ridden and conflict-free societies are well-known examples. For general theoretical purposes, however, it seems useful to take as an analytic starting point the state of ‘social entropy’, in which no social bonds are assumed and no social order is positioned. Any social order is considered a counter-entropic arrangement that requires explanation.”

— Amitai Etzioni (1968), The Active Society (pg. 95)

“Some, subject to coercion, while highly alienated and inclined to rebel, will often suppress or repress their attitudes until an opportunity for rebellion arises and means are available. Physical scientists have wondered how order is possible if the world is moving toward entropy. According to one position, anti-entropy is possible …”

— Amitai Etzioni (1968), The Active Society (pg. 97)

“These preparations are modern analogies to the primitives' war dances. Again, as in thermodynamics or electronics, while societal assets or power potentials may be accumulated and stored or activated in anticipation of future use, there are some costs or ‘losses’ involved since some of the potential energy is ‘dissipated’ and increasingly so as time …”

— Amitai Etzioni (1968), The Active Society (pg. 323)