The Degeneration of Hierarchies

I. The Law

This sentence describes not an isolated case. It describes a mechanism — a law that operates in every hierarchy, in every age, in every culture.

The law is asymmetric: First-rate people have no problem gathering other first-rate people around them. They are secure enough not to fear competition. They know that excellence attracts excellence.

Second-rate people cannot do this. They sense their own mediocrity — consciously or unconsciously. They know that a first-rate person would expose them. So they hire third-rate people: people who pose no threat. People who cannot overshadow them. People who are grateful and loyal.

This is not a metaphor. It is a ratchet effect. Quality can only sink, never rise — because no one hires someone better than themselves.

II. Feudalism — The First Degeneration

Let us begin at the beginning. How did the European noble houses arise?

Not through birth. Through violence.

The first feudal lords were warriors. Men who could fight, who conquered land, who defended it. They were — in a very specific sense — first-rate: they could do something others could not. They had an ability that founded power.

Charlemagne was not an educated man. He tried to learn to write only late in life. But he could hold an empire together, lead armies, forge alliances. That was his first-rateness.

Then came inheritance.

Ibn Khaldun, the Arab historian of the 14th century, formulated a law: Dynasties last four generations. The first generation conquers. The second consolidates. The third enjoys. The fourth loses.

That is the ratchet effect in slow motion.

III. The Aristocracy — Institutionalized Mediocrity

In the High Middle Ages, nobility became an institution. Inheritance became a system. The accident of birth replaced selection by ability.

The result was predictable: A caste that no longer had to earn its position. That simply had it — through blood, through title, through land ownership.

The aristocracy developed protective mechanisms against its own degeneration:

Education — the attempt to force excellence through training. Latin, fencing, riding, statecraft. But education cannot replace talent. It can polish a mediocre person, not transform them.

Marriage policy — the attempt to secure "good blood" through strategic alliances. But genetics does not work that way. The Habsburg lip is the visible symbol of a deeper decay.

Honor — a code that enforces behavior where character is lacking. But honor without substance becomes farce. The duel as substitute for genuine integrity.

IV. The Bourgeoisie — The Illusion of Meritocracy

The bourgeois revolutions — 1789, 1848 — promised the end of hereditary hierarchy. Not birth should count, but achievement. Not blood, but merit.

The idea was right. The implementation was a deception.

What really happened? One aristocracy was replaced by another. Instead of land ownership: capital. Instead of noble titles: company names. Instead of coats of arms: brands.

And the ratchet effect continued.

Bourgeois society abolished the birth nobility — and replaced it with a money nobility subject to the same laws.

V. The Manager Class — The Third Degeneration

In the 20th century, ownership separated from leadership. The stock corporation became the dominant form. No longer the owner led the company — the manager did.

This was supposed to be the solution. Professional leadership instead of inherited incompetence. Education instead of bloodline. Career instead of birth.

It became the opposite.

The manager is obligated to no one except his own career. He stays five years, perhaps ten. He optimizes for his tenure, not for eternity. He has no reason to hire first-rate people — they might want his job.

The result: The ratchet effect accelerates. No longer four generations — now four management levels. The degeneration occurs no longer in centuries, but in decades.

VI. Bureaucracy — The Fourth Degeneration

Max Weber saw bureaucracy as progress: Rational rule instead of traditional. Rules instead of arbitrariness. Competence instead of nepotism.

He erred.

Bureaucracy is not the end of degeneration. It is its completion.

In bureaucracy, the ratchet effect is elevated to principle:

Seniority — not ability determines advancement, but time served. Wait long enough, and you rise. Regardless of performance.

Formal qualification — the doctorate replaces competence. The certificate replaces ability. They check papers, not people.

Risk minimization — every decision must be secured. Innovation is risk. Therefore no innovation. Standstill is safer than movement.

The Peter Principle describes the end stage: An organization in which every position is occupied by someone who is not qualified for it. Who was competent at the previous level — and was promoted until he was no longer.

VII. Germany 2026 — The End Stage

What we observe in Germany today is no accident. It is the logical result of four overlapping degenerations:

The remnants of feudalism in the old family businesses that have been led for generations by heirs who can do nothing but inherit.

The bourgeois stagnation in industries that rest on 19th century successes and have produced nothing new since.

The manager disease in corporations where for decades careerists have promoted careerists and every trace of entrepreneurship has been suffocated.

The bureaucratic paralysis in the state, where the Peter Principle has become raison d'état and every agency is led by people who are not qualified for their positions.

All four degenerations operate simultaneously. They reinforce each other. They form a system that systematically expels excellence and systematically rewards mediocrity.

VIII. Is There a Way Out?

Historically, only two mechanisms have interrupted the ratchet effect:

Catastrophes — wars, revolutions, collapses. They sweep away the degenerate elites. New first-rate people rise. The cycle begins anew. This is expensive. Millions die. Everything must be rebuilt.

Parallel structures — New hierarchies arise alongside the old ones. They attract the first-rate people who have no chance in the old system. They grow. Eventually they replace the old. This is the Mondragón principle. This is the Silicon Valley principle. This is — perhaps — a way out.

The first way cannot be chosen. It happens whether one wants it or not.

The second way is difficult. The old hierarchies defend their privileges. They have the power, the money, the laws. They can suffocate parallel structures before they grow large.

But they cannot prevent them.

IX. The Hope of the Weeds

In the cracks between the paving stones, weeds grow. They are not planned. They are not promoted. They are not desired. But they grow.

The first-rate people whom the system expels do not disappear. They seek new places. They build new structures. They find each other.

That is the hope — if there is one: That the degeneration of the old hierarchies creates space. That in the ruins something new arises. That the first-rate, whom no one wanted, build their own systems.

These systems will also degenerate. They too are subject to the law. But they will function for one generation. Perhaps for two. And that is more than the old can still do.