Exploitation and Hierarchy

An essential need for the human condition is that of order. The most obvious example of constructed order is the hierarchy of society. In this context, hierarchy is the natural split between those in "lesser" roles in society and those in "higher" roles. For example, we may consider a senator to be of higher position and any common worker to be of lower position, based merely on the collective potential for influence, creation, and exclusivity between these two disparate roles.

While hierarchy is the most common and often the most effective form of order in large societies, it is not the only imaginable structure. Egalitarian or horizontal systems may be possible in certain contexts. My concern here is not to insist that hierarchy is inevitable, but to insist that wherever hierarchy does exist, it must be bound by justice, or it becomes indistinguishable from exploitation.

A just hierarchy can be recognized by the conditions it sustains. First, those in higher roles must be materially and socially bound to the lives of those in lower roles. Their decisions must directly affect themselves as well as those they govern. Second, authority must be transparent and accountable, with clear avenues for the lower roles to challenge and correct the higher. Third, the primary function of the higher role must be the protection and empowerment of those in lesser roles, even at the expense of personal advantage. Fourth, the structure must allow mobility, so that roles are determined by capacity and consent rather than birthright or arbitrary status.

Without these features, a hierarchy inevitably decays into domination. The form may remain, but the moral content has rotted away, and what calls itself hierarchy is nothing more than exploitation wearing the mask of order.

The distinction between members of a hierarchy is not of worth, for there is no human soul worth more than others; all humans are equal in their immaterial essence. Rather, this is a distinction of responsibility. The higher one's role is in the social hierarchy, the greater their cross is to bear. Powerful people in higher roles have a greater moral duty to reduce harm and act in alignment with justice. For those in higher roles, their actions ripple downwards and affect a disproportionate amount of citizens in lower roles, like an upside down pyramid. Actions shape the lives of the majority, so as one rises the moral obligation to those affected by them multiplies.

Recognition of this moral duty is imperative to our modern society. When higher roles are taken as privilege rather than service, there exists no justice within the leaders of our hierarchy. And hierarchy without justice is not hierarchy at all.

Hierarchy without justice becomes the machinery of exploitation.

A just hierarchy provides not just social direction and order to social life but it provides the critical requirement for human flourishing: spiritual sustenance. For people in lower roles, which includes almost all workers, seeing leaders act with justice steadies the spirit. Even in turbulent and troubling times, the only reasonable response is one of, "Our leaders are thoughtful and aligned with our suffering, so we shall survive and all shall be well." In this, the stability of the social order is dependent on the higher roles acting with justice to create this stability. This is a requirement for the humanity of the lower roles.

Lower roles in a just hierarchy find sustenance through their labor. In a just hierarchy, a laborer knows that their wellbeing is cared for as a leading virtue. This may be described as simply recognizing the humanity of the employee. This is a crucial distinction for leaders to make, even in corporations where the highest good is to create value. For laborers are humans first and workers second. To reverse this order is to begin the slow destruction of the spirit, casting a man from a soul into a thing. This is a silent death before death itself. From this follows the inevitable alienation from one's own labor, the erosion of the human spirit.

It is perhaps the most comforting feeling knowing that a laborer has leaders to defer to in times of crisis. This is a particular type of stability, one which inspires a feeling of invincibility in the spirit. The material world may grind the lesser role down during strife, but to understand that stable grounding exists allows them to walk forward into the struggle with courage. This is one of the most understated responsibilities of higher roles in our society. There exists no just hierarchy when the lower roles do not feel secure in the face of struggle. To push this responsibility onto the lower roles themselves is the canary of moral bankruptcy and engineered exploitation.

Systematic exploitation disguised as hierarchy is among the most insidious forces of our time. From boardrooms where workers are reduced to costs in the name of stock prices, to the offices of senators who serve legal bribers rather than their constituents, moral bankruptcy at the highest roles is rampant. These are not leaders; they are leeches. They drain the vitality and spirit of the lesser roles in the name of monetary and political gain. The result is a visibly unsettled populace, as corporations display their unabashed moral rot and political leaders serve lobbyists and party machines instead of the citizens who elected them.

It is critical to recognize that a just hierarchy depends on a precarious balance between duty and trust. Trust flows upwards from the lower roles to the higher roles with the expectation that duty will flow downwards. This is the contract between the majority and the minority. Trust unmet with proportionate duty disturbs the social order as a whole. Likewise, true duty met with a lack of trust creates irreconcilable tension that makes social progress impossible. In a society with trust but little duty, the populace will be disturbed, and extremes will emerge from this pressure. This balance is critical to our social order.

Duty is an action; trust is the condition it sustains.

A just hierarchy is the only society the human condition deserves.