“Marxism argues that those with the over and control over the
means of production will exploit those with little power and control. Because
those who own capital have a major power advantage over those who sell labor,
these owners are able to structure economic transactions in ways that almost
always benefits themselves at the cost of workers.” (p. 21).
“…ideology functions to justify and support hierarchical group
relations and that ruling elites largely control the contents and framing of
social discourse. Because of this control of social ideology, ruling elites
are able to convince not only themselves but, more importantly, their
subordinates of the legitimacy of their rule.” (p. 22).
“…the longer an organization exists, the more its efforts will
wander away from its original social purpose and toward the preservation of the
organization itself. This reasoning lead to Michels’s assertion of the iron law
of oligarchy, the notion that all social organization inevitably lead to social
oligarchy, or the rule of the few.” (p. 24).
“…from the Paretian point of view democracy and “equality of
opportunity for all” are merely illusions and are not possible of being
realized, not even in principle.” (p. 26).
“The Trimorphic Structure of Group-Based Social Hierarchy […] age system […] gender system […] arbitrary-set
[race, ethnicity etc.] system. […] The arbitrary-set system is also by far,
associated with the greatest degree of violence, brutality, and oppression. While
the age and gender systems are certainly no strangers to very brutal forms of
social control, the brutality associated with arbitrary-set systems very often
far exceeds that of the other two systems in terms of intensity and scope.” (p. 34).
“…every attempt to abolish arbitrary-set, group-based hierarchy
within societies of economic surplus, have, without exception, failed.” (p.
35).
“Systems of group-based social hierarchy are not maintained simply
by the oppressive activities of dominants or the passive compliance of
subordinates, but rather by the coordinated and collaborative activities of
both dominants and subordinates.” (p. 45).
“…the greater the degree to which dominants can induce
subordinates to endorse self-demeaning ideologies such as anti-Black racism,
the less physical force or threat of force (i.e., terror) will be necessary in
order to keep the hierarchical group relationships in place. […] within the
contemporary United States and Western Europe, one of the reasons that the Protestant
work ethic is such a potent HE-LM is because it is widely embraced across broad
swaths of the social power continuum, by rich and poor, Black and White, men
and women.” (p. 47).
