Clueless At The Top: What is a Hierarchy

"higher" people are accountable to
build and maintain hierarchies, and to
channel power and resources to themselves

"lower" people support and hold up hierarchies,
send their power and resources to "higher" people,
and look to the top for direction, permission, approval

"problems" such as deception, inequality, fear, green, scarcity,
violence, and war keep hierarchies healthy and participants engaged

We're High in Some Hierarchies and Low in Others. David, who works as a landscaper on the grounds of a manufacturing plant, is lower in the company hierarchy than people who work on the production lines, but is higher than people who are custodians. David is male and Asian-American, so David is higher on the gender hierarchy than his female co-workers and is lower on the race hierarchy than white co-workers.

Since David is bald, tall, and slender, he feels lower than men with thick heads of hair, but feels higher than men who are either shorter or heavier than society's hierarchical interpretation of the desirable man. David has the use of ten fingers, so is higher on the body hierarchy than his cousin born with three fewer fingers on one hand than on his other hand.

David chose his apartment carefully, because David and his partner, Frank, are low on the sexual orientation hierarchy. Frank grew up in England, so his accent places him higher on the immigrant hierarchy than their neighbor from Mexico. David participates in a religious hierarchy in which he is lower than the clergy, but higher than people not of his faith.

Hierarchies are systems in which the naturally diverse, interconnected complexities and options in our world are ranked. In hierarchies, others are not accepted as merely different, but instead comparisons are imposed. Most people are higher in some hierarchies and lower in others.

We establish and support hierarchies in every town, city, and state in the United States. Our hierarchies dictate how we treat our neighbors at home and around the world. They also influence how we personally feel about ourselves and how we view life in general.

We use numerous characteristics to build hierarchies:
Age
Amount of hair on one’s head
Body shape
Clothing
Gender
Height
Language
Learning style
Math classes taken
Nationality
Occupation
Race
Religion
Sexual orientation
Speaking accent
Use of technology
Wealth

These are just a few of the many factors that determine our positions and benefits in the domestic and global hierarchies of the United States.

Many of us visualize a hierarchy as a pyramid. We imagine large numbers of people on the bottom levels, and progressively smaller numbers on each level moving up the pyramid. The majority of hierarchies, however, have other configurations. Likewise, the size of hierarchies varies greatly. They can be built with two participants or billions.

Hierarchies have similar patterns of conduct, priorities, distribution of resources, and control tactics. Attitudes and behaviors are consistent and predictable, regardless of the ranking criteria used to establish a hierarchy.

Of course, people need rules and structure to allow them to live, work, and play together. Groups of people need leaders. Parents need to set guidelines for their children. Groups need agreements and laws that direct and define their communities.

All of these needs, however, can be met with styles of leadership that are independent of hierarchical attitudes and behaviors. Family, social, working, and political relationships can be built using alternatives.