Amazon Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review to be helpful:
My 12 year old gets it, why is it so difficult for me?, May 30, 2006
By Larry Miller
My 12 year old transferred schools mid semester. He was the 'mayor' of his old school...very popular. Now he says, "I was a somebody, and now at the new school I am a nobody." The new school is better but he wants out.
It is easy to see it in kids, but Robert Fuller has identified an issue so pervasive and so ingrained that we adults don't even notice it. Sometimes it takes a great thinker (or a 12 year old) to show us the way.
This is a book about how to treat and be treated with dignity. Both a global blueprint and a personal one. Like our racial blindness only 50 years ago, rankism needs to be isolated so we can see it and conquer it. And that is what Robert Fuller does with deceiving simplicity.
I read the book on vacation. It is direct, simple and accessible. It makes its point with examples that will ring true to us all. Fuller makes his point so well, that it appears almost obvious.
Buy it. Read it. And read it again. This book will stay with you even if you don't have a 12 year old at home.
15 of 16 people found the following review to be helpful:
Antidote to Violence, May 29, 2006
By Linne Gravestock
Robert Fuller has written another extremely important book, one that takes a close look at how our institutions are changing and how we can change them to serve us better. We're all aware of how deflating many of our daily encounters can be. Here, each page makes us even more aware of the occasions when our dignity is being trampled---and what to do about it. It's a place we can turn for courage.
I wish I had the means to put this book in the hands of those who make mainstream movies. I want to see a movie where the hero or group of heroines say just those things we wish we could think of when we've been embarrassed, put down, humiliated or dismissed. I don't mean what we usually say when we intend to give the perpetrator his lumps. I'd like to see an exciting, funny, sometimes somber, always thoughtful movie showing the hero moving through life's common indignities---but coping gracefully with them.
As Fuller writes, "Rankism can only be ended when people find a way to protect the dignity of their tormenters while at the same time suggesting to them a way to treat people with respect." What we all need, as Fuller points out, is better models as illustrations of coping, a kind of verbal aikido which lets the person know that you've heard and received the injury, but that you're both bigger and smarter than that. In short, we need to have fun with our imaginations as we delve into deeper levels of response, levels where we're proud of our ability of think of new solutions, proud of how we've responded at the scene. We want ways to at least feel that we're left in a neutral position, rather than as enemies waiting for vengeance.
What is more important in this historic period of our lives? We're all aware that we live on the brink of disaster---due to people's lack of imagination to do much more than act out conflicts through war. I suspect that many of us are frozen in fear, when what we need is just this kind of creative, imaginative response in the world. What if in rebuilding schools around the world, we not only built the schools, but sent the teachers off with cartons of Stephanie Heuer's book, "I Feel Like Nobody When...I Feel Like Somebody When," and let the children answer those two questions? It would help to create an atmosphere of openness, strength, respect and self-awareness from day one in those schools, preventing more catastropic Columbines.
For those who read his previous book, "Somebodies and Nobodies" and who wanted more concrete suggestions on how to deal with our daily indignities, "All Rise" is the book which has some answers. Fuller wrote "Somebodies and Nobodies" to illustrate the problems that rankism creates, and "All Rise" gives us ideas about how to solve them. And while you're at it, take a look at his website at [...], where you'll find a lot more. If you're brand new to the concept of rankism, you can go to that site and take a tour of the dignity movement. If you've known about the concept for years, you can go to that site and find support as you bring the concept to others.
14 of 16 people found the following review to be helpful:
All Rise; A t Working Template for change in our World, May 29, 2006
By Stephanie Heuer
I read Robert Fuller's first book in September of 2004 (Somebodies and Nobodies, Abuse of Rank), and it literally opened my eyes to a new concept of identifying rankism in the work place, and all other organizations I dealt with on a daily basis. After reading it, I wrote, what might be, the first resignation letter based on 'rankism' at the school where I was working. From there, the ideas in his book, inspired me to pursue writing my own children's book helping kids recognize and react too the somebody/nobody concept. His work is not about a book just idenitifying how rankism decays our society, but more about a movement which many of us wanted to join but didn't know where to sign up. All Rise,Somebodies and Nobodies and the Politics of Dignity, his second book, gives us working models for dignity in the workplace, personal relationships, government, and schools. With the cases presented, and models and templates, we can move forward with a dignitarian movement with a guide book of proven success stories, examples that show changes can occur. I hope people use it as a template for change for a more dignified society. This is not about a book, this is about a new way of thinking and a call for action. Join the movement towards a society free of rankism. Recognize it, identify it, and SAY something about it.
Stephanie Heuer
Peace Education
Author; I feel like nobody when... I feel like somebody when...
10 of 11 people found the following review to be helpful:
Manfiesto for Transpartisan Democracy and Moral Capitalism, April 20, 2007
By Robert D. Steele
Over the many years, roughly 3,000 books of which 850+ have been reviewed here at Amazon, with a few exceptions all of the authors at the top of their game, I have never encountered a book quite so straight-forward or quite so vital to our future. At 54, I simply did not understand the fundamentals of "all men are created equal" until this author pointed me to the one word I was missing: "dignity."
This book is nothing less than revolutionary, nothing less than the manifesto for the new politics of transpartisanship and being developed by Don Beck and Jim Turner and Reuniting America (80 million strong and growing).
At the very highest level, the author suggests that "rankism" or the abuse of rank, not to be confused with the proper use of rank and authority for the good of the group, is an umbrella term that encompasses racism, sexism, fascism, and even (I add) fundamentalism that excludes "the others" and offers an almost cult-like sense of belonging to the "initiated." We are all in this together, and with one word, DIGNITY, the author has completely shredded all excuses for abusing others, and opened the door for a new politics of one for all and all for one. The Republican and Democratic parties are, in my personal view, toast. Not their individual candidates, mind you, but the two parties, both of which violated their Article 1 responsibilities for keeping the White House in check, both of which have treated "the other" party as the enemy, with arrests, venomous attacks, slander, and other monstrous behavior.
Norman Cousins and his book, "The Pathology of Power" is still the best all-around dissection of the corrupt nature of unchecked power, but this book is in my view the single best lifeline for those who would seek to embrace bottom-up power, the power of the We, the Us, the collective intelligence of everyone from janitor to Epoch B swarm leader.
As an intelligence professional, and as an estranged moderate Republican who did what he could to oppose the war on Iraq based on lies from Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, I found the author to be utterly compelling and relevant when he reviewed how rankism silences or ignores dissent, and consequently leads to disaster. His examples are brilliant, from the shuttle disasters to nuclear power plant short-cuts that have almost led to Chernobyl-level melt-downs in the USA.
Bottom line: the dignitarian approach dramatically increases the chances that we will get a particular policy or budget or process RIGHT.
The author teaches us that insulting behavior from above is a precursor to exclusion, abuse, and I would add, genocide--see the work of Dr. Greg Stanton on the web. Isolating any one group is the first step in making them "sub-human" and thus acceptable as targets for mass murder.
I worked hard in the 1980's to shift the US Government away from its focus on military hardware geared to the Soviets and Chinese, and toward what General Al Gray, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, called "peaceful preventive measures." I am warmed and impressed as this author makes the point that "dignity for all" is the ONLY "pre-emptive" strategy that will work both at home and abroad. See my reviews of "Class War," "Working Poor," "Rogue Nation," "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and "The Soul of Capitalism" for a broader understanding of how all that our American leaders are disgracing America and making us less safe.
The author tells us that DIGNITY respects every contribution at every level. From this I take dignity to be the foundation for TRANSPARTISANSHIP, which embraces all individuals while recognizing that "Unity08" like the takeaway of the debates from the League of Women Voters, is a thinly guised effort to keep the two-party spoils and pork system alive.
The author teaches us that dogma is neither dignified nor sacrosanct. It is the opposite of dignity.
The author devotes an entire chapter to the importance of creating new models of understanding, something that humans are uniquely qualified to both do, and communicate and discuss.
He teaches us that humility is essential to an open mind, and essential to successful leadership. I fear that I have been lacking in this area my entire life, but now I embrace this term and am moving forward.
The author equalizes the role of the experts (who we learn are wrong 45% of the time in "The Wisdom of the Crowd" and the end-users, the citizens.
The author brings together and simplifies an entire literature in four ideas: shared governance; 360 degree reviews and evaluations, collaborative problem solving, and--this is huge--CONSTITUTIONAL reviews every five to ten years. Henry Kissinger in "Does American Need a Foreign Policy" and General Tony Zinni in his most recent book both tell us that our current government is DYSFUNCTIONAL. In my view, the most dysfunctional aspect is the "winner take all" approach to both the Cabinet and to Congressional leadership positions. We need a COALITION government that restores both the balance of power and the balance of ideas.
The author tells us that when authority loses credibility, the ship of state is on the rocks. See Max Manwaring's "The Search for Security" and Will and Ariel Durant's "The Lessons of History" to understand why legitimacy and morality, respectively, are the non-negotiable foundation for our future.
The author provides 10 ways to combat rankism, and provides a 17 item conclusion as a guide for leaders. Finally, the author joins with the relatively recent declaration of the United Nations, to wit, that sovereign nations should NOT be allowed to violate human rights, a universal right. On this see Philip Alcott's extraordinary book, "The Health of Nations."
The author errs in identifying only 1 billion in poverty. Not only is the number five billion. See C.K. Prahalad in "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid."
This author and this book save our Republic and the world with one word: DIGNITY.
The Pathology of Power
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
The Search for Security: A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Twenty-First Century
The Lessons of History
The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
10 of 11 people found the following review to be helpful:
All Rise for a Better Society, July 24, 2006
By J. E. Schwartz
If Robert W. Fuller's hopes for the human race were to come true, the world would be a better place. A dignitarian society where everyone is valued would transform our interactions at the personal, local, national, and international levels. Fuller doesn't argue that everyone has equal skills, abilities, or position power but suggests arbitrary delineations of "rank" are used to give people cover to treat others disrespectfully or abusively.
Fuller describes "rankism" as a label comparable to racism, sexism, and ageism, where one uses the external characteristics of a person or group to render that person invisible or less worthy in some regard. While sometimes the offense is deliberate as in the case of discriminatory policies or legislation, often the questionable behavior is unconscious and unintended.
Think about it. Here is action that is totally free and within every individual's power to control. Like a smile, it's contagious. It provides psychic pleasure to everyone involved and is capable of making a profound difference in our own lives and the lives of others. It doesn't solve all of society's ills but--if it caught on--we, and democracy itself, would be taking a giant leap forward. Related ideas like "common sense, common decency, basic good manners" all suggest the fundamentals are within everyone's grasp.
In fact, it's difficult to think of reasons not to behave as Fuller suggests, especially at the personal level. The obvious barriers are one's own insensitivity, insecurity, ignorance, or spite. Let's take the first case--insensitivity--maybe there's someone you know who engages in rankism but doesn't realize it. He doesn't know the name of the person who cleans the office or the guy who cares for his lawn. She never bothers to look a waiter or a busboy in the eye. In fact, even if an accomplished professional is presented as the friend of a friend, that person won't be seen as "noteworthy" unless perceived to be of sufficient stature. Fuller suggests that the way to get through to the unconscious rankist is to frame the situation from how it makes us feel rather than to accuse the person of engaging in such behavior.
Insecurity and ignorance are the motivations behind much unpleasant behavior associated with rankism as with all the "isms." Ignoring the common humanity of others routinely leads to bullying, put-downs, bigotry, as well as economic exploitation and outright abuse. Ridiculing a protest as "politically correct" instead of recognizing the legitimacy behind the comment, trivializes the feelings of the person or group being disrespected. As a society, we often try to avoid acknowledging how the systematic disempowerment of entire groups can result in wage slavery that subsidizes the more comfortable lifestyles of the middle and upper classes.
If we are to be generous, we should try to educate and reassure others when possible as to how their actions are impacting others. Fuller realistically concedes our ability to change perception is limited by our own rank in a given situation. If we outrank the abuser or he or she is a peer, we're more able to have an influence than if we, as the abused person or an independent observer, are much lower in rank. Every case is different and Fuller suggests there aren't standard rules of engagement, (except perhaps when monitoring our own behavior.)
This is where the notion of a political movement enters the picture. As the Civil Rights and Women's Suffrage movements demonstrated, the author makes the case that sometimes it takes the collective actions of the disrespected and their supporters (who enjoy greater status in society) to force or inspire social change.
Look at the recent marches and rallies of low paid workers through the lens of rankism, rather than immigration, for just a moment. It's easy to imagine these individuals, who we normally overlook, wanting to be seen and valued. The balance of power didn't change, but for one day they felt like they belonged in our society.
The book is straightforward and easy to read. It's not preachy and contains many thought-provoking "bridge ideas" that will appeal to people of various political perspectives. One can continue one's education either by reading Fuller's first book, [...]
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