Intentionally Fragmented is a disciplined argument against the quiet expansion of systems that no longer see the people they govern.
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Rather than attacking ideology, the book examines scale. As governments, institutions, and bureaucracies grow larger, they begin to behave predictably: they centralize authority, standardize human beings, inflate costs through compliance, and substitute performance for competence. The result is a society that feels managed instead of served, expensive instead of prosperous, and abstract instead of humane.
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Michael Reijnierszen traces how well-intentioned governance drifts into permanent intervention. He shows how constant political signalling erodes trust, how layered administration quietly raises the cost of living, and how standardized policies flatten identity, community, and judgment. The book explains why affordability crises persist, why identity politics hardens rather than heals, and why national solutions repeatedly fail local realities—not because of malice, but because distance and scale distort understanding.​
The core proposition is unfashionable and straightforward: strong societies require smaller governments that do fewer things well, and stronger communities trusted to handle the rest. Power must sit close enough to consequences to remain accountable, and far enough from daily life to avoid domination. Universal rights should be protected nationally; solutions should be executed locally. Government should act as a backstop, not a constant presence.
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Drawing on economics, political theory, real Canadian case studies, and lived experience, Intentionally Fragmented lays out a coherent alternative to both centralization and laissez-faire extremes. It argues for subsidiarity, polycentric governance, restrained state capacity, and systems designed to protect individual dignity rather than manage categories.
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This is not a nostalgic call to return to the past, nor a partisan manifesto. It is a clear-eyed diagnosis of why modern systems feel brittle—and a practical framework for rebuilding legitimacy, affordability, and trust without tearing the country apart.
For readers frustrated with performative politics, rising costs, and institutions that speak endlessly while delivering less, Intentionally Fragmented offers something rare: an explanation that fits reality, and a model of reform grounded in humility, restraint, and human scale.
