We are witnessing the downfall of hierarchy.
All of this crazy shit happening right now is the rise of fascism.
What is fascism? The attempt to preserve the existing class hierarchy by force.
Capitalism is a form of hierarchy, the rich over the poor, the owner over the worker. Patriarchy is a form of hierarchy, men over women. Christianity is a form of hierarchy, God over humanity. Zionism is a form of hierarchy that places Jewish people over the rest of humanity. Racism is a form of hierarchy, white people over humanity just happens to be Western society’s regional example. All of these institutions are crumbling in front of our eyes. That’s what’s happening right now on the news every day.
Fascism is capitalism’s answer to preserving the existing class hierarchy by force.
Fascism uses patriarchy and racism and Christianity and Zionism to prop up class hierarchy.
Preserving the class hierarchy is important to our ruling class because they want to stay in control. They don’t want to lose their billions, hoarded in investment accounts and shell companies and tax shelters. According to the Federal Reserve the richest 1% hold almost $50 trillion in wealth compared to $110 trillion for the bottom 99%. Almost one of every three dollars in wealth in this country is held by the richest 1%. This kind of wealth concentration is unsustainable. Everyone knows it, especially the rich.
This is why elites are panicking right now. This is why President Trump is on a fascist authoritarian power trip. Project 2025 is a blueprint for how the rich hope to hold onto power in the United States, even if the majority hates it. Fascism. Hold onto power by force. Use of violence. Suppression. Suppression of speech. Suppression of freedom.
But this is the fatal flaw of trying to impose a fascist dictatorship in the United States. Because the American people have been conditioned since childhood to believe they are free. We are told this is the land of the free. You can’t suddenly start taking people’s freedom and believe that they won’t push back. Love of freedom is a core American identity trait. You can’t challenge that without major cognitive dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance is when the brain tries to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time. You just can’t believe your lying eyes.
Cognitive dissonance helps break the spell, like how fire breaks the hypnosis for Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom. Suddenly Indy snaps out of it. That’s class consciousness. Suddenly you wake up and see how the rich run everything for themselves. The rich rig the economic system so that they are the primary beneficiaries in our economy. The rich rig the electoral system so that they are the primary beneficiaries in government.
The rich run our society. We all know that, right? It’s not even controversial to say at this point because we are all able to observe it happening. We can perceive it. We have become class conscious.
The rich use racism to divide the working class and preserve their own power.
The rich use Christianity to divide the working class and preserve their own power. The rich use patriarchy to divide the working class and preserve their own power. Zionism too. The rich will employ fascism, the use of violence to preserve their own power.
But all of these levers are failing at the same time because hierarchy is crumbling. The use of force is necessary to prop up the failing supports of racism, religion, patriarchy and Zionism.
The Boomers are holding on hardest. But they are dying off before our eyes. The end of hierarchy spells doom for capitalism. Long term it’s not looking so good for patriarchy, racism, or organized religion either. The Boomers are holding on the hardest because they have the most conditioning to accept these hierarchies.
But unquestioning acceptance of authority died in our society just as the Boomers were coming up. The Vietnam War helped open people’s eyes to the reality that authority will lie to your face to stay in power. The Boomers were the first generation to reject government authority on a mass scale. They were also the first generation to reject parental authority in large numbers.
Father knows best? That went away a long time ago. Yet here come Evangelical Christians trying to bring it back. They call it family values. Dad as the boss of the family. Submit to hierarchy. Submit to patriarchy.
Huge groups of people have been rejecting hierarchies for generations now. This is why feminism is considered a threat. The idea that a woman’s life has as much value as a man’s life is a threat to all hierarchies.
The Boomers also had the Civil Rights Movement. People of color fought for their right to be considered equals in the eyes of our law. The idea that a black man’s life has as much value a white man’s is a threat to white superiority and other hierarchies. Black Lives Matter is an explicit rejoinder that black lives should have as much value as white lives in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of everyone. It is an explicit rejection of racial hierarchy.
I wanted to keep this all in one post but it’s too long. In part 2, the conclusion - how religion primes us to accept hierarchy, why authority requires hierarchy, and the one thing that could slay hierarchy during our lifetimes.
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Let’s make them pay.
