Back in the 1970s I attended the annual retreat of Pittsburgh Friends Meeting. I was in a small group discussion of about ten people and somehow we got on to the topic of how people see the world organized. Only one other person, Margaret McCoy, and I saw the world as a flat, non-hierarchical construct. All the others saw the structure of the world as hierarchical. Everyone is enmeshed in a large number of hierarchical rankings. God is on top. Under him (the use of the pronoun is intentional) is the government – national, state, and then local. Men are over women, parents over children, capitalist over laborers, teachers over students, the educated over the poorly educated, the wealthy over the common people, the famous over others, certain racial groups over other racial groups, American born versus foreign born, the privileged on top, and the rugged individual over the community, and so on and on and on.

I suggest to readers that at this point they should reflect on how they see the world organized, flat or hierarchical.

Reflect back on the founding of the United States. It is well known that those founding fathers considered slaves to be only 3/5 of a person. In addition, though, all women were excluded. Likewise only those few white males with a considerable amount of property were considered eligible to vote. In summary the United States was based on the myth that there were only certain people who were destined to rule the rest of the people in the world. When I arrived at Harvard College in 1961, I was informed, perhaps fifty times in the first few weeks, that as a Harvard man (no women in Harvard in those days), I was one of the elect few that were destined to rule. Even then at eighteen years old, I considered this nonsense as I found that my fellow Harvard students were not a whole lot different than my classmates from my public high school.

Even though at the time of independence in 1776 the United States got rid of the monarchy, American society lauds its elite – the rich, the famous, movie and athletic stars, politicians, and so on. This is a result of the acceptance of the hierarchical zeitgeist of the US. Many who voted for Trump were convinced to vote for him because he was a TV star and a rich man who represented the elite. For a person meshed in a hierarchical mindset, approval of, envy for, and support for an elite person is perfectly normal. This is how the elite continue to rule.

To return to white supremacy, it includes much more than racist classification. As such it can include others who are not “white”. White supremacists are quite willing to include blacks and others if they conform to the white supremacy world view – for example, Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, among many others, comes to mind. This then allows someone like Donald Trump to proclaim that he is not a racist at all.

The implications of this analysis are profound. In order to make American society equal and just, the hierarchical zeitgeist has to be replaced with a flattened view of society. This is a million times more difficult than removing Trump from the presidency.

David Zarembka, The Root of White Supremacy. Report from Kenya #630 – November 13 2020

Mutual Aid has been around since the beginning of human communities. I wasn’t aware of using the idea of Mutual Aid as an organizing concept until I met Ronnie James. As I think about how to characterize his role, I remember one of the important aspects of Mutual Aid is there isn’t a hierarchy with some people in leadership positions. In Mutual Aid, we all take care of each other, and all have an equal say in what we do.

You might notice I say “we” because I have been blessed to join in some of the work of Des Moines Mutual Aid (DMMA). Saturday mornings I look forward to gathering with my new friends to make boxes of food to distribute at the Free Food Store.

A Radical Act, October 29, 2020, Jeff Kisling

One of the things this past year led me to is to participate in Des Moines Mutual Aid’s free food store. This continues the work of the Black Panther program in Des Moines, that began many years ago. It has been a revelation to see people come together, even during this pandemic, to fill and distribute fifty boxes full of food. To experience the joy as we do this together. And to see this is mutual aid, as we are also encouraged to take food.

I see there is no leadership hierarchy. There are people who have taken on the role of working with grocers and farmers to donate the food. But on Saturday morning the work flows effortlessly. There was one “team huddle” where we formed a circle, and each determined what our role would be as the cars came by one at a time. Someone opened the car door, someone put in a food box, another put in a gallon of milk. Everyone greeted those in the cars. I especially liked it when there were children. The always gave big smiles

Election, November 3, 2020, Jeff Kisling

When democracy came to America, it was wrapped in white skin and carrying a burning cross. In the early 19th century, the same state constitutional conventions that gave the vote to propertyless white men disenfranchised free Blacks. For the bulk of our republic’s history, racial hierarchy took precedence over democracy. Across the past half century, the U.S. has shed its official caste system, and almost all white Americans have made peace with sharing this polity with people of other phenotypes. But forfeiting de jure supremacy is one thing; handing over de facto ownership of America’s mainstream politics, culture, and history is quite another. And as legal immigration diversifies America’s electorate while the nation’s unpaid debts to its Black population accrue interest and spur unrest, democracy has begun to seek more radical concessions from those who retain an attachment to white identity. A majority of light-skinned Americans may value their republic more than their (tacit) racial dominance. But sometimes, minorities rule.

Many GOP Voters Value America’s Whiteness More Than Its Democracy by Eric Levitz, Intelligencer, SEPT. 2, 2020