Overall I think that this is an excellent contribution to understanding how the capitalist system can so easily control their populations through the method of divide and control. However, I think it has some weaknesses which can lead one into the favorite liberal critique of society--that of identity politics. This view tries to emphasize that we are all entitled to respect regardless of our "place" in the social class structure of such societies. Thus, such a political critique emphasizes political action toward eliminating inter-group rivalries and invidious distinctions that such rivalries naturally promote. Such emphasis diverts attention away from the system itself and the necessity to change the system--not merely hierarchy which is an effect, not a cause.
...the goal is to completely abolish hierarchy, which only the people can do.I do not believe that it helps to dignify the work that many wage slaves must perform in order to survive.
This is how hierarchy works - someone has to rank at the bottom in order for those on top to be recognized as the "winners." Without such ranking, everyone would be equal. Moreover, society absolutely depends on workers to clean, maintain, repair and service various sectors of society, including private property and public commons. These individuals provide an extremely valuable service that allows society to function yet the system gives them no credit and, in fact, looks down on them and blames them for being in that position. Just imagine a society without sanitation workers to haul off your waste and keep the streets clean, or maintenance workers to keep your buildings running and the AC flowing when it's 100 degrees outside, or grocery clerks who stock your food and water so you can conveniently pick it up and feed your family. Without them, doctors, lawyers, engineers and other members of the professional class could not go about their business. But society has little respect for these individuals who are often paid minimum wage with no benefits; yet they are the very people who make society function.Such efforts are very misleading. The work that many people have to do is of course necessary to the functioning of society, but the low pay they receive limits the opportunities they and their families have in order to participate in society in meaningful ways outside of their work hours. Such limitations are the direct actions of the capitalist system and directly contributes to worker low self-esteem. Here I am thinking mostly about low wage worker opportunities in education and lack of participation in decision making, not only in their work places, but also in society as citizens. In other words, low-paid, low-skilled work is intrinsically demeaning, and we should acknowledge that and not pretend otherwise. That doesn't mean, of course, that we should treat such workers with contempt, but rather with sympathy and understanding, and as comrades.
These limitations are an inherent part of any class-structured society, and extremely evident in our present capitalist society. Hierarchy must be studied as a method of controlling populations in order to provide lavish benefits to a ruling class while exploiting the vast majority, and not simply as producing bitter rivalries and invidious attitudes among competing worker groups. And, it is only one method among many: chief of which includes agencies of indoctrination throughout society.
