9/18/2023

Sep 18, 2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            What do you think about hierarchy? Is it inevitable?

            That question came to mind this AM as I was reading about Burmese activist Christopher Win who calls himself a double-minority. He identifies as a member of the Maramagyi community which many in Burma associate with the Rohingya, but the Rohingya tend to exclude them because they are Buddhist rather than Muslim. They do not have any rights in their home state of Rakhine. They are not considered citizens of Burma. They can’t leave for more than 45 days. They are not allowed to hold certain jobs. They are the lowest rung of the social ladder.

            According to Stanford Biz prof, Bob Sutton, businesses work better when their hierarchy is “good.” I am not sure what that entails, but he claims that “When scholars attempt to find an organization that is not characterized by hierarchy, they cannot.” That makes me wonder about our co-housing governance model & our Friends meeting & whether they have a hidden hierarchy that operates out of our consciousness.

            Perhaps the founders of our country recognized this inevitability & designed our checks & balances so that no one institution could grab too much power. I suspect that Wm Penn shared my naïve belief that hierarchy should be resisted, but I don’t have the time to research that.

            Speaking of resisting, I just got a book from the Davis Friends Library, “I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters.” I look forward to comparing his letters with mine. What are you reading these days?

            BYBS,

            RCA