Judgment makes it easy because we are told that we fit neatly in levels that allow us to strive for perfection. Levels don’t exist. We invented levels to level up. Yet, just about every aspect of our society is built on hierarchy. Someone needs to be at the top, and someone needs to be at the bottom. It’s the case regardless of where you go. The caste system in South Asia is a hierarchical social system in which individuals are assigned a social status based on the position of their family within the hierarchy. Your job has levels, where we start at the lowest coordinator position and are told to work our way up to the aspirations of a CEO.

In these systems, someone must be ahead and someone must be behind for the system to function properly. With this neat arrangement, we are promised order. Because we care about its security, we care not that the systems we create allow for the marginalized to suffer. We only care if these folks are not us.

Hierarchy gives us a perfect way to compare one another. How would I know who I didn’t want to be if I didn’t have examples of it? The same can be said about the people I can use as motivation to achieve what they have. When I drive down the street and see tent encampments, I can say, “I really wouldn’t want to be those people.” At the same time, if I see someone speed past me in their Cybertruck, I’ve found my new goalpost.

Ladders, Ladders, Everywhere

Everything, and I mean everything, is built as a ladder or a step on which people must climb to prove their worth. I must work hard to secure my next promotion, post more content to gain more followers, or attend church more frequently to become a more spiritual person. Everyone is now on a different rung in all aspects of life, thus breeding inequality because those who are higher up the ladder in any system are deemed more valuable. The influencer is more valuable than the person who only has family as their followers, the CEO is more valuable than the janitor, and the pastor is more valuable than the sinner.

The worst aspect of any hierarchy is that it operates on fear. There’s a fear from both ends of the spectrum. There’s the fear of falling behind and the fear of those at the top who have to maintain their status. Those at the bottom of the ladder fear being perceived as less than. They continue to climb their ladder because they don’t want to be forgotten. Those who are at the top are motivated by the same fear. To maintain their status, they must continue to climb, as many people are behind them, looking to pull them down. The system survives by threatening downward motion. It’s almost as though we are forced to climb because the alternative is obscurity. Not to worry, though, the system also promises perfection to those who can reach a top that is actually nonexistent.

Hierarchy at Work

In a job setting, this ladder resembles receiving a promotion or a salary increase. To receive a promotion, one typically must conform to the company’s performance metrics. This must be done with perfection, as any mistake can give the perception that one is incompetent or not ready for the responsibility that comes with a promotion. As a result, the person climbs the ladder by doing their work to the best of their abilities. If there are mistakes, which there inevitably are, the person hides them or deflects them to another person they believe they are in competition for this promotion. This person says yes to everything, disagrees with nothing, and pleases superiors in the hope that their climb will take them to where they want to be.

Simultaneously, the person gains anxiety because any slip-up can easily push them down the very same ladder they were climbing. Every task is done, not of one’s own volition, but with the hopes that it pleases the person who has the power to put them in the position they want. They don’t disagree because any disagreement can put them in a less favorable position. They lose themselves to this climb with no guarantee that the promotion will even happen.

Still, we continue to climb because if they don’t live up to the expectations we’ve created for ourselves, the consequences are suddenly not seen. The consequence is no longer seen as useful, which serves as a demotion in its own right because usefulness is a form of acknowledgement, and acknowledgment is a form of love. The opposite of love is to be judged. We continue to climb with perfectionist intent, driven to avoid being judged.

The Top that Never Comes

Yes, hierarchy always promises that there is a peak. We spend a lifetime climbing the mountain of our lives, hoping to reach the summit filled with success, wealth, and reputation. However, the system is built on the premise that you need to reach the top, so why would you? Even if you become successful, the system will tell you that you are not successful enough. There are more dollars to be gained, more followers to be influenced, and more power to be gained. It’s like playing an RPG game with real-life consequences. You can’t really fail while playing a video game. If you die, you start again at the last saved checkpoint. In the real world, you can climb a ladder for a lifetime and never get to where you want to be. Then you die. That’s it.

Living in hierarchical systems gives us a sense of safety because we can see how we are doing in relation to others. The next step in my career is already mapped out for me, so to receive a promotion, I must emulate the behavior of those above me and refrain from the behavior of those below me. As we move up in life, we receive praise, which gives us a sense of belonging. Yet, this sense of belonging only occurs if we continue to progress. It’s a conditional acceptance that can be easily revoked.

The same system that praises you when you do something good can and will call you a failure once you slip. We, however, don’t question the fickleness of the hierarchy. We tend to blame ourselves for our mistakes. Instead, we end up trying to climb the same ladder that pushed us off. Perhaps if I approach the climb differently, I’ll have more success.

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