why do so many people seem to have a hierarchy allergy round these Western leftist parts
this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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As of writing I see two thoughtful posts, one of which shows me the phrase I was looking for. I just want to reiterate that the idea of an unjust heirarchy is central to the issue. There are heirarchies worth opting into.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, for example, is graduated by belt level. It's heirarchy derived from skill in a sport. It's very useful for organizing competitions as well as being a good signal as to whether you want to learn from someone. If I'm a brown belt (proximate to black belt i.e. competency in the art) and your head instructor is a blue belt (between years ~1-5), I'm probably not going to choose to opt into your heirarchy - I don't trust that you're competent to the material you want to teach. I don't really want a collective teaching experience and I don't really care if a bunch of white belts think I deserve my black belt. Every technique I use against a new player makes a sound like the home run bat from smash bros, of course they think I'm competent - they're not a good judge. Such a thing is heirarchical in nature but it's opt in, useful, and practical.
Combat sports are special because your claim of individual competency gets immediate feedback. In professional endeavors especially because you gain a record of who you beat and who you lost to, how it went down, who was coaching you, etc. It graduates the people who participate even further than a belt system and that's... le good!