What is rankism? First, some examples; then, a definition.

An executive pulls into valet parking, late to a business lunch, and finds no one to take his car. He spots a teenager running towards him and yells, "Where the hell were you? I haven't got all day."

He tosses the keys on the pavement. Bending to pick them up, the boy says, "Sorry, sir. About how long do you expect to be?"

The executive hollers over his shoulder, "You'll know when you see me, won't you?" The valet winces, but holds his tongue.

Postscript: That evening the teenager bullies his kid brother.

America is broken. Even if we pull through the current economic crisis, recovery won't last absent an overhaul of our primary institutions.

• One out of ten Americans is now unemployed and the recovery is expected to be jobless.
  
• Fifty million Americans have no health insurance; two million, no home.
  
• Two million Americans are in jail.
  
• Our public schools have fallen behind those of most developed nations.
  
• Higher education is priced out of reach of the middle class.
  
• Our infrastructure is in an advanced state of disrepair.
  
• We rank first in greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• Immigration, once our pride, is now our shame.
  
• We're living on credit and leaving the debt to our children.
  

America is broken. Even if we pull through the current economic crisis, recovery won't last absent an overhaul of our primary institutions.

• One out of ten Americans is now unemployed and the recovery is expected to be jobless.
  
• Fifty million Americans have no health insurance; two million, no home.
  
• Two million Americans are in jail.
  
• Our public schools have fallen behind those of most developed nations.
  
• Higher education is priced out of reach of the middle class.
  
• Our infrastructure is in an advanced state of disrepair.
  
• We rank first in greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• Immigration, once our pride, is now our shame.
  
• We're living on credit and leaving the debt to our children.
  

The diary below was originally posted on my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal, on May 20th.

Progressives are struggling to synthesize a movement that can rise above identity politics and mobilize people under a unified theme. Robert W. Fuller, Ph.D. argues in his newly published book, All Rise (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.), that simple dignity is an elusive need that cuts across demographics of race, gender, age, and class. Fuller attributes this void to a culture of "rankism" which he defines as "abuses of power associated with rank." In his writings Fuller advocates for a grassroots effort to establish a "dignitarian society."