There is immense confusion about the distinction between hierarchy and holding rank. Many of us of felt the bite of hierarchy throughout our childhoods and it may have extended into adulthood. Hierarchy suggests that those possessing certain competencies or socio-economic status are somehow better people than those lacking such skills or status. As children, the popular kids, the smart kids or the athletic kids may have determined hierarchy. At its worse, it would have been determined by gender, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.
Consequences of Hierarchy
• It is meant to make some group separate and special.
• It suggests that the top dwellers are superior and the bottom dwellers inferior.
• It creates alienation and ignorance between top and bottom.
• It breeds resentment and distrust between the two groups.
• Top dwellers lose the capacity to self-generate personal worth as they depend upon contrasting themselves to bottom dwellers for an injection of feeling positive about themselves.
• The resentment of the bottom dwellers easily morphs into a need for revenge.
Holding Rank
At its best, holding rank does not separate two groups into superior and inferior. Its purpose is to identify who possesses certain gifts and how an organization, group or society might benefit from the gifts. Let's look more closely at the characteristics of holding rank.
• It is meant to identify and employ the unique gifts of individuals for the benefit of the collective. It assumes everyone is gifted and some gifts may receive more notoriety and appreciation.
• Those possessing certain valued gifts are not ascribed superiority.
• Those possessing certain gifts are encouraged to be in the service of others.
• Identifying rank in regard to particular gifts allows us to identify how those gifts can best by applied.
Confusing the Two
There are several reasons why holding rank gets confused with hierarchy.
• Those who were oppressed by hierarchy react defensively when someone possesses a gift valued by the community. They anticipate a replay of early pain.
• The oppressed often struggle to hold their own worth in the presence of someone possessing keen insight and vision, especially when that person is the recipient of the community's respect and admiration.
• The confusion allows those who have been oppressed to launch their vendetta under the guise of compassion and benevolence. The pretense employed is often packaged as a declaration of egalitarianism, "Everyone possesses wisdom!"
• The purpose of the confusion and pretense is to inhibit anyone who possesses keen insight from employing the gift and being the recipient of respect and regard.
An Age Old Problem
The Oracle of Delphi was obviously not caught up in hierarchy when she told Socrates' friend Chaerephon that Socrates held rank as the wisest man in Athens. After some initial reluctance to hold such rank, Socrates reminds himself that those with whom he debates seem to believe in the certainty of their positions, while he holds his beliefs as only an approximation to the truth. He then decides to own the gift of wisdom. He defines himself as a "mid-wife of the soul," devoted to help awaken the souls of Athenian youth.
Those who carry the unhealed oppression of hierarchy reflect a similar attitude as Socrates' accusers did in 399 BC, and who will condemn him to death. Both groups seem to react to a gift that elicits positive responses such as admiration, devotion, and respect. Although the claim often is "Everyone possess wisdom." The unspoken truth may be, "We can't hold our own personal worth when witnessing someone receiving such accolades and commendation. We need to take that person down and look good doing it." In regard to Socrates, he is condemned to death for corrupting the youth, with his accusers hiding behind the pretense of having saved Athens from Socratic corruption. How many times since those days has someone received similar treatment? Is there something more threatening about being in the presence of a "mid-wife of the soul" than someone possessing expertise in the field of flying fishing?
What will it take for top dwellers to see the loss they inflict upon themselves by depending upon bottom dwellers for their personal worth? When will bottom dwellers relinquish their hold on revenge and attend to a much needed healing? Can we begin to see that an attachment to hierarchy is an example of duality thinking that ultimately serves no one? What will it take to let go of hidden agendas that allegedly create confusion about the difference between hierarchy and holding rank and begin to allow ourselves to benefit from holding rank?