“In the face of patriarchy, it is a brave act indeed for both men and women to embrace, rather than shame or attempt to eradicate, the feminine.” Alanis Morissette
“When humans invented inequality and socioeconomic status, they came up with a dominance hierarchy that subordinates like nothing the primate world has ever seen before.” Robert Sapolsky
“We can learn the art of fierce compassion – redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking – while cultivating power and clarity in response to difficult situations.” Sharon Salzberg
Given the deteriorating conditions at home and abroad, I have been reading and writing furiously to try to make sense of it all, and to try to identify underlying root causes for the horrifying mess we are witnessing. In my last three posts, I have written on our lack of impartial objectivity; our inability to describe precisely where we are, where we need to go, and how to get there; and our inclination to justify our actions and to over-react – thus making bad situations even worse. All of these posts reflect my thinking on what the root causes for our scary situation may be. This post, however, attempts to address the causes for the causes. It’s my answer to the Why behind the Why.
So, why are we in this situation?: My answers, a simplistic summary of my last three posts, are subjectivity, partiality, inductive thinking, self-justification, and over-reaction.
And why are we so subjective, partial, inductive, self-righteous, and reactive?: In my mind, those symptoms are a product of hierarchy, patriarchy and rigidity. The Why behind the Why.
Here’s why I came to that conclusion.
I recently attended a National Writers Series Program in Traverse City, Michigan with Heather Cox Richardson, the NYT best-selling author of Democracy Awakening just released this month. Heather Cox Richardson is the first person I read every morning when I get up and have my cup of tea. She has a Ph.D. from Harvard in history, is a professor of history at Boston College, and writes a daily letter on sub-stack and Facebook that has several million followers. She is humble, brilliant, devoted and absolutely committed to creating a reality-based community in a fantasy-infused world. If you are not familiar with her work or subscribe to her newsletter, Letters From An American, I highly recommend you add her to your list of wisdom sources. The primary theme I hear in her letters, books, podcasts, and presentations is that human history consists of a series of failed hierarchies. People, almost exclusively male, rise to power and dominate their “subjects” for purposes of power and control. This power and control is manifest in racism, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism.
On the heels of Heather’s mind-expanding and fact-based interview, I listened to a podcast with Jamie Raskin and Jill Lepore on Great Podversations. Jill is an American historian and journalist. She is a professor of American History at Harvard and a staff writer at the New Yorker. After graduating from Tufts with a degree in English, she completed an M.A. in American Culture from the University of Michigan and then a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale. I became a fan when I read her book, These Truths: A History of the United States. While I have always admired her as a scholar and prolific author, her interview with Jamie Raskin really captured me. She is not only delightfully funny, but also profoundly provocative and seriously substantive. She not only gives voice to the disenfranchised, she also does not shy away from deflating the self-importance of white males who have dominated our history. She weaves marginalized people into her narratives and takes on famous men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Bill O’Reilly. Again, if you haven’t already discovered her, Jill Lepore is a must read.
It was truly refreshing to listen carefully to these two powerful and powerfully-informed women share their perspective on our hierarchical and patriarchal history.
In an attempt to honor their scholarly research, I did some investigation into the percentage of women in leadership positions in some of the countries behind a good deal of disruption and dysfunction in the world. Let me start with the U.S.:
- Less than 30% of the members of the US Senate and House of Representatives are women.
- In the Israeli Knesset, less than 25% are women
- In the history of the Soviet Politburo, there were only 4 women
- In the Chinese Communist Party, there is not one women in the top 24 positions and less than 5% in the Central Committee of 205 people
- In Iran, less than 5% of the leadership consists of women
- In Gaza, under Hamas, women are denied representation in and access to the political bureau, whose word is binding and final. Women were completely excluded from both the 2009 reconciliation talks in Cairo and 2014 reconciliation talks in Gaza. Less than 5% of women working in legislation in Gaza occupy management level positions.
I can’t help but believe that if women held a majority position in all of the governments listed above, we wouldn’t be in the fix we are in today.
So let me get to the point. Why did I land on hierarchy, patriarchy and rigidity as the causes of the causes. Because they sound nice together? Because I reduce everything to 3 bullets? Well, maybe. But let’s look at what they mean:
A hierarchy describes a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
A patriarchy refers to a social system where men control a disproportionately large share of social, economic, political, and religious power and inheritance usually passes down the male line.
Rigidity is the inability to be forced “out of shape” or to be changed or adapted – to be freed from the prison of conformity, convention, or custom.
A hierarchical system in which some people are “superior” to others can only lead to oppression, repression and dominance of one person or group over another. Think racism. Doesn’t work. History proves it.
A patriarchal system in which men have power over women can only lead to rage, resentment, and stupid decisions. Think Taliban. Doesn’t work. History proves it.
A rigid system that blindly conforms to traditions and conventions can only lead to limited innovation, frustrated ambitions, and dreams denied. Think religious extremism. Doesn’t work. History proves it.
So you can see why I chose the quotes I did for this post. As Alanis Morissette implies, in the face of patriarchy, bravery is required for both men and women. All of us need to step up and speak out when we see machoism manifesting itself malevolently.
As Robert Sapolsky suggests, dominant hierarchies based on inequality only serve the purpose of subordination, oppression and exploitation. As long as we strive to climb ladders that make us more and more removed from the marginalized among us, the less likely we will be to lift others up with us. In short, the more superior we feel, the more likely we will be to use our power to dominate than to develop. All of us need to step up and speak out when we see racism raising its ugly head.
And to paraphrase Sharon Salzberg, by letting go of rigid us vs. them thinking, we can learn the art of fierce compassion, renew our sense of community and cultivate the power and clarity required to respond to difficult situations. Ahh, here’s where the rubber meets the road. Nothing will change if we are locked into the old ways of doing things. Nothing will change if we continue to conform to the expectations of imposed cultural, religious and racist beliefs. Nothing will change if we numb ourselves to the possibilities of fresh, new ways of thinking, relating, and behaving in this world. Rigidity will relegate us to the rusted ruins of the past – to simply add to the rubble. By taking refuge in our armored beliefs, we will miss out on the joys of compassion, community and connection. All of us need to step up and speak out when we see orthodoxy, idiocy and ideology trapping us in the perversions of the past.
To summarize, in this post, I tried to answer 3 “Why?” questions:
- Why are we in this terrible situation?
- Why are we so subjective, partial, inductive, self-righteous, and reactive?:
- Why are we so hierarchical, patriarchal and rigid?
If I were to follow my own advice from a previous post and ask 5 questions, I might add:
Why are we so attached to power and control?
Why do we continue to delude ourselves?
I’m not sure why we are so addicted to power and control. Probably because we have been seduced by the wrong values and rewards. I also suspect it has to do with our self-delusions.
And, in order to answer question 5, I will return to Nietzsche. We are human, all too human.
In closing, I’m hoping brave women and men confront the tyranny of patriarchy. I’m hoping we can change our culture from dominance to development. And I’m hoping we can break free from the rigid restraints of our religions, cultures, and beliefs so that we can develop deeper compassion, more empathic connections and broader, more diverse, communities. May it be so.
Amen brother! Thank you!
Yet another terrific post from you, Rick. Thanks.