6 Feb 2024 6:57 am
(PART I OF IV)
Cannonpointer: "'Humankind makes its living through cooperation.' 'A man alone is lost,' or whatever contrary claptrap the libertarians wish to spew. But humankind is FORMED through competition. Neither is bad, and both are bad. Neither is good, and both are good; it all depends on the circumstances.
What is NOT dependent on circumstances is the ubiquity and the necessity of hierarchy. You are lost if you cannot distinguish what is more needful than the other. Everything is rank-ordered; everything is hierarchical. The decision of which sentence is first in a paragraph relies on and reflects hierarchy. You are employing hierarchy when you write against hierarchies."
When I rail against hierarchal structures, I discuss them in the context of a permanent, one-sided, top-down, my way or the highway system of human interaction. They're systems of dominance borne of patriarchy that say, in effect, "I'm up here, you're down there, that's the way it's always going to be. So, shut up about it."
I'm not talking about non-permanent, rotational systems of management that foster respect for the managed due to their rotational design. An example of such a system of administration is industrial unionism, as depicted in the following chart offered by the Socialist Labor Party: http://www.slp.org/pdf/statements/siu_chart.pdf One could define industrial unionism as a hierarchical system: "a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority." Nonetheless, it's a nonoppressive hierarchy predicated on managers being workers who would be temporarily elevated to management positions democratically - through their fellow workers voted into those positions. People like Cannonpointer can and do poo-poo these systems of authority, but some socialist societies have used them in various forms for generations and to significant effect. Additionally, the capitalist system's one-sided, top-down, "we don't care what you think" hierarchical structure demoralizes workers while causing them to feel powerless on the job and in their lives more broadly. It necessitates "Happy Hour," often leading to poor work performance.
Cannonpointer: "What is NOT dependent on circumstances is the ubiquity and the necessity of hierarchy. You are lost if you cannot distinguish what is more needful than the other. Everything is rank-ordered; everything is hierarchical. The decision of which sentence is first in a paragraph relies on and reflects hierarchy. You are employing hierarchy when you write against hierarchies."
As a 65-year-old former pro-capitalist who once bought into that thinking, I'm familiar with it.
In a post dated 02 May 2014, Cannonpointer wrote: "The cost of shaking hands with UL prevents free enterprisers from operating in that market -the same thing is happening in almost every market. The little guy is locked out by the engineered and manipulated expense of sitting at the table. Only Wall Streeters, using OTHER PEOPLE'S capital, can afford to play the game. We must return to a free enterprise economy, where the little guy doesn't face unsurmountable obstacles to starting a small business." (Continued in PART II)
http://www.slp.org/pdf/statements/siu_chart.pdf
(END OF PART I)