We call race-based discrimination racism; and gender-based discrimination sexism. In Somebodies and Nobodies, Fuller argues that rank-based discrimination, or "rankism," is a form of discrimination that we all accept. He explains our reluctance to confront rankism, and shows why our tendency to judge people based on their status often leads us astray. Using dozens of examples, Fuller shows how the many forms of injustice and unfairness we attribute to things like sexism and racism are, at base, rankism.
". . . a wonderful and tremendously important book on the 'ism' that is far more encompassing than racism, sexism or ageism. 'Rankism' must be our prime target from now on in. Viva Fuller!"-Studs Terkel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Working
Rank has legitimate rights. When rank has been earned and signifies excellence, then it's generally accepted, and rightfully so. But the power of rank is often abused. The abuse of rank, or of power, is rankism. Treating others as invisible, as 'nobodies,' - insulting someone's dignity - that's rankism. Most of us have felt its sting; most have dished it out in some form. Overcoming rankism - in the family, the schools, and the workplace - is democracy's next step and the focus of this insightful dialogue between Robert Fuller and Michael Toms.
Here two principals of the Mo Tzu Project, a citizens diplomacy endeavor, who have recently visited the Afghan refugee camps on the Afghan-Pakistani border, report the facts as they have observed them. What emerges is an astounding story of chaos and courage, which may offer a unique opportunity for bringing the superpowers closer together.
As the founder of the Mo Tzu Project, Bob Fuller travels the planet as a citizen diplomat, searching out the roots of conflict in the hope of learning what can be done to make peace a reality, not just a dream. He has the rare ability to cut through the usual rhetoric we hear, and reveal, clearly and concisely, perspectives that often are so basic and simple we cannot imagine why they aren't more widely accepted.
