--- title: "9 Hierarchical Society Quotes by 2 authors" description: "Browse 9 Hierarchical Society quotes by 2 authors. Discover the best Hierarchical Society sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg" --- > [“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg) > [But the problems of perpetuating a hierarchical society go deeper than this. There are only four ways in which a ruling group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hierarchical-society-go-deeper/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/george-orwell-57_deeper_but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hiera_1706853.jpg) > [“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some sense was the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8e/george-orwell-57_inequality_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_3095438.jpg) > [“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-society-in-which-wealth-in-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55e/george-orwell-57_dystopia_it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-so_533014.jpg) > [A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible-on-the-basis-of-poverty-and/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2b/george-orwell-57_asia_a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible_97493.jpg) > [For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed-by-all-alike-the-great-mass-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/george-orwell-57_bases_for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed_2229264.jpg) > [“If it once became general, wealth would confer no distraction. It was possible no doubt to imagine a society in the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-confer-no-distraction-it-was/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/george-orwell-57_long-run_if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-c_489610.jpg) > [“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg) > [“By contrast, the traditional revolutionary demand for council forms of organization (what Hannah Arendt describes as "the revolutionary heritage") does not break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionary-demand-for-council-forms-of/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/murray-bookchin-2587_free-time_by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionar_2355778.jpg) ## Top authors on Hierarchical Society - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-orwell-37887.jpg) George Orwell 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society/george-orwell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society/#itemlist", "name": "Hierarchical Society Quotes", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-was-only-possible-on-a-basis/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. 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Either it is conquered from without, or it governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt, or it allows a strong and discontented Middle group to come into being, or it loses its own self-confidence and willingness to govern.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hierarchical-society-go-deeper/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/george-orwell-57_deeper_but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hiera_1706853.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/george-orwell-57_deeper_but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hiera_1706853.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/george-orwell-57_deeper_but-the-problems-of-perpetuating-a-hiera_1706853.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But the problems of perpetuating a hierarchical society go deeper than this. 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If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8e/george-orwell-57_inequality_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_3095438.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8e/george-orwell-57_inequality_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_3095438.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8e/george-orwell-57_inequality_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_3095438.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realise that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-society-in-which-wealth-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55e/george-orwell-57_dystopia_it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-so_533014.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55e/george-orwell-57_dystopia_it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-so_533014.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55e/george-orwell-57_dystopia_it-was-possible-no-doubt-to-imagine-a-so_533014.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible-on-the-basis-of-poverty-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2b/george-orwell-57_asia_a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible_97493.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2b/george-orwell-57_asia_a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible_97493.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2b/george-orwell-57_asia_a-hierarchical-society-is-only-possible_97493.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realise that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed-by-all-alike-the-great-mass-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/george-orwell-57_bases_for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed_2229264.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/george-orwell-57_bases_for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed_2229264.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/george-orwell-57_bases_for-if-leisure-and-security-were-enjoyed_2229264.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If it once became general, wealth would confer no distraction. It was possible no doubt to imagine a society in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries should be evenly distributed while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice, such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves. And when once they had done this they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance. To return to the agricultural past as some thinkers about the beginning of the 20th century dreamed of doing was not a practical solution. It conflicted with the tendency towards mechanization which had become quasi-instinctive throughout almost the whole world, and moreover, any country which remained industrially backward was helpless in a military sense and was bound to be dominated, directly or indirectly by its more advances rivals.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-confer-no-distraction-it-was/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/george-orwell-57_long-run_if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-c_489610.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/george-orwell-57_long-run_if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-c_489610.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/george-orwell-57_long-run_if-it-once-became-general-wealth-would-c_489610.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If it once became general, wealth would confer no distraction. It was possible no doubt to imagine a society…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense was the destruction—of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an airplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round-increase-in-wealth-threatened/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cd/george-orwell-57_long-run_but-it-was-also-clear-that-an-all-round_667921.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction—indeed, in some sense…” — George Orwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By contrast, the traditional revolutionary demand for council forms of organization (what Hannah Arendt describes as \"the revolutionary heritage\") does not break completely with the terrain of hierarchical society. Workers' councils originate as class councils. Unless one assumes that workers are driven by their interests as workers to revolutionary measures against hierarchical society (an assumption I flatly deny), then these councils can be used just as much to perpetuate class society as to destroy it. We shall see, in fact, that the council form contains many structural limitations which favor the development of hierarchy. For the present, it suffices to say that most advocates of workers' councils tend to conceive of people primarily as economic entities, either as workers or nonworkers. This conception leaves the onesidedness of the self completely intact. Man is viewed as a bifurcated being, the product of a social development that divides man from man and each man from himself. Nor is this one-sided view completely corrected by demands for workers' management of production and the shortening of the work week, for these demands leave the nature of the work process and the quality of the worker's free time completely untouched. If workers' councils and workers' management of production do not transform the work into a joyful activity, free time into a marvelous experience, and the workplace into a community, then they remain merely formal structures, in fact, class structures. They perpetuate the limitations of the proletariat as a product of bourgeois social conditions. Indeed, no movement that raises the demand for workers' councils can be regarded as revolutionary unless it tries to promote sweeping transformations in the environment of the work place.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Murray Bookchin" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionary-demand-for-council-forms-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/murray-bookchin-2587_free-time_by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionar_2355778.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/murray-bookchin-2587_free-time_by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionar_2355778.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/murray-bookchin-2587_free-time_by-contrast-the-traditional-revolutionar_2355778.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By contrast, the traditional revolutionary demand for council forms of organization (what Hannah Arendt…” — Murray Bookchin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society/", "name": "Hierarchical Society Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchical-society/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/george-orwell-57_long-run_in-the-long-run-a-hierarchical-society-w_1654091.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 9 Hierarchical Society quotes by 2 authors. 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