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- Mar 2025
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These tenets, as interpreted by those who put themselves onhigh, would become the divine and spiritual foundation for thebelief in a human pyramid willed by God, a Great Chain of Being,that the founders would further sculpt in the centuries to follow,as circumstances required. And so we have what could be calledthe first pillar of caste, Divine Will and the Laws of Nature, thefirst of the organizing principles inherent in any caste system.Wilk_9780593230251_all_3p_r1.indd 104 20/6/5 8:28 AM
Given Wilkerson's introductory chapters on knowing and understanding history, I'm heavily disappointed this is the singular reference in the book to "The Great Chain of Being". It's not even indexed in the end.
The underlying idea of the scala naturae across a huge swath of western history is really the thing that gives rise to the problems of American history which she is attempting to bring to life here. Missing this part of the bigger picture is a serious flaw.
Does she skirt it rhetorically so as not to give fuel to the idea that "this is how things have always been?" arguments?
see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_chain_of_being
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