The Nobody Manifesto The Nobody Movement Robert Fuller concluded Somebodies and Nobodies with The Nobody Manifesto. Since there is now a Nobody Movement afoot, it seems like the time is ripe to reissue the manifesto! The Nobody Manifesto Who are the nobodies? Those with less power. At the moment. Who are the somebodies? Those with more power. At the moment. Power is signified by rank. Rank in a particular setting. Somebodies hold higher rank than nobodies. In that setting. For that moment. A somebody in one setting can be a nobody in another, and vice versa. A somebody now might be a nobody a moment later, and vice versa. Abuse of the power inherent in rank is rankism. When somebodies use the power of their position in one setting to exercise power in another, that‟s rankism. When somebodies use the power of their position to put a permanent hold on their power, that, too, is rankism. Dignity is innate, nonnegotiable, and inviolate. No person‟s dignity is any less worthy of respect, any less sacred than anyone else‟s. Equal dignity requires equal opportunity. Rankism is an indefensible abridgment of the dignity of nobodies, and a stain on the honor of somebodies. As once and future nobodies, we‟re all potential victims of rankism. As would-be somebodies, we‟re all potential perpetrators. Securing equal dignity means overcoming rankism. Who are the nobodies? They are Everyman, Everywoman, Everychild. Each of us in our secret dreams of becoming someone new, something more. The nobodies are us. Therein lies our power. Nobodies of the world, unite! We have nothing to lose but our shame. Power to the people! Rankism Rankism: A Social Disorder An undiagnosed disorder is at large in the world. It afflicts individuals, groups, and nations. It distorts our personal relationships, erodes our will to learn, taxes our economic productivity, stokes ethnic hatred, and incites nations to war. It is the cause of dysfunctionality, and sometimes even violence, in families, schools, and the workplace. Over the course of history, the most common abuses of power have acquired special names: . tyranny . bullying . colonialism . child and elder abuse . slavery . domestic violence . racism . sexual harrassment . sexism . corporate corruption . lynching . clergy misconduct . rape . homophobia Each of these practices is an abuse of the weak by the strong. Each of these familiar named offenses is an instance of bullying, of pulling rank, of putting people down. By analogy with abuses based on race and gender, abuse based on rank is called rankism. 1. n. abuse, discrimination, or exploitation based on rank 2. n. abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people who have less power because of their lower rank in a particular hierarchy Once you have a name for it, you see rankism at the heart of many infringements of human rights, far away or close to home. Rankism is the root cause of indignity, injustice, and unfairness. Choosing the term rankism, places the goal of universal human dignity in the context of contemporary movements for civil rights. Reexamining racism, sexism, and ageism as examples of rankism breathes new life into the movements opposing them. Identifying rankism in all its guises and overcoming it is democracy‟s next step. Isn’t Pulling Rank Human Nature? Sure it is. But changing attitudes toward racism and sexism suggest that we can also change our attitudes toward rank-based discrimination. If anything is human nature, it is the will to democracy, that is, the will to curtail abuses of rank by acting together to create systems of governance that circumscribe authority. The first step is to become aware of rank as an excuse for abuse. As we become adept at distinguishing between the legitimate and illegitimate uses of rank, collective opposition to rank's abuses becomes possible. Rankism’s Toll On Personal Relationships In personal relations, the abuse of rank is experienced as an insult to dignity. Our antennae are tuned to detect the slightest trace of condescension or indignity in others' treatment of us. Pulling rank takes the form of disrespect, insults, disdain, „dissing‟, berating, snobbery, and humiliation. Even when not deliberately malicious, rank abuse can still warp and deform our interactions. On Productivity While on a visit to Philadelphia, George Washington noticed that free men there could do in “two or three days what would employ [his slaves] a month or more.” His explanation that slaves had no chance “to establish a good name [and so were] too regardless of a bad one” was that of a practical man concerned with the bottom line, not that of a moralizer, and therefore all the more telling. Today, employers are not dealing with slaves, though it is sometimes argued that wage- earners are wage-slaves and salaried employees are only marginally more independent. Negative motivation – fear of demotion or job loss – is now dwarfed by the positive motivation that comes from being part of a team of responsible professionals. Eliminating malrecognition in the work place is proving as good for the bottom line as eliminating malnutrition was for the productivity of day laborers. On Learning The real and imagined threat of rank abuse pervades all our educational institutions – from kindergarten through graduate school. Finding and holding one's position in a hierarchy takes priority over all else. In any institution with gradations of rank, protecting one's dignity from insult and injury siphons attention and energy away from learning. No child – no human being – is expendable. Everyone has something to contribute, and when that contribution is made and acknowledged, he or she feels like a somebody. Helping individuals locate that something and contribute it is the proper business of education. On Leadership In any institution, rank-based discrimination limits the access of potential high performers to better jobs by inhibiting movement among ranks. It also puts those holding high rank under the kind of stress that gradually undercuts the creativity that brought them success in the first place. Repeating themselves gradually separates somebodies from their creative source, depleting them until they become empty shells. With enough repetitions, they begin to wonder why they ever thought they had anything to offer. Burnout is an occupational hazard of somebodyness. On Spirit Our passions are unique and personal. They grow out of our questions, out of the contradictions we feel with other people, with others' work, or with society. Initially we wonder Who's right? What's beautiful? What's fair? What's true? We're not sure. Our questions generate our individuality. Through our response to them, we define ourselves, we become someone in particular. Rank, social and otherwise, still keeps many from cultivating their questions into life-altering quests. Read personal stories about the trickle-down consequences of rankism here. Dignity Dignity: A Universal Right The U. S. Declaration of Independence asserts that “all men are created equal.” Many have struggled with the meaning of that phrase, because it‟s obvious that we are unequal in lots of ways, for example, health, wealth, looks, talents, skills, etc. But, our differences need not be an excuse for invidious comparisons, let alone for humiliation and indignity. On the contrary, our differences are an important source of the delight we take in each other. The Declaration of Independence tasked the nation not only with protecting life and liberty but also with providing fairness and justice. While people are equal not in their endowments or attainments, they are equal in dignity and must be treated so. What would such a dignitarian society look like? 1. adj. a condition in which the dignity of all people is honored and protected 2. n. a person who advocates for a dignitarian society, one whose conduct and attitudes are dignitarian Each of us has an innate sense that we have the same inherent worth as anyone else. Every religion teaches us so. We experience this as a birthright – a cosmic fact that cannot be undone by any person, circumstance, institution, or government. That is why rankism is experienced on the deepest level as an affront to dignity. Like any animal vulnerable to being preyed upon, we're supersensitive to threats to our well-being. We're alert to subtle attempts to determine our relative strength, from “innocent” opening lines such as “Who are you with?” to more probing queries regarding our ancestry or education. In proclaiming a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” the Declaration of Independence touched on making dignity a fundamental right. Liberty means freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control. Therefore, the right to liberty, by militating against rankism, affords a large measure of protection to our dignity. Likewise the right to pursue happiness is meaningless in the absence of the dignity inherent in full and equal citizenship. Given the remarkable achievements of the identity-based liberation movements, it's not unrealistic to imagine a day when everyone's equal dignity will be as self-evident as everyone's right to own property or to vote. Dignitarian Society Modeling a Dignitarian Society In addition to everything else they have accomplished, the liberation movements of recent decades can be seen as preparing us to confront rankism. Although the analysis of rankism may at first seem more complex than that of the familiar isms, there is one way in which tackling rankism is actually easier: everyone knows its sting. The Dignity Movement The dignity movement stands on the shoulders of all other liberation movements. Although these have done much to advance human and civil rights, there are still, even in the most advanced democracies, significant numbers of people living with indignity and injustice.