The Great Chain of Being was once the official story of how the world worked. From God, angels, kings, nobles, commoners, animals, plants, and finally minerals, everything had a place. No one was supposed to move out of their rank.

That idea held power for centuries because it did more than explain the universe. It justified why some people ruled and others obeyed. If kings were just below God, then peasants right where they belonged. You could believe in hierarchy without guilt because it was supposedly built into the structure of existence.

The proper order of things. It’s just the way things are, don’t question it.

Long before medieval Europe turned this into theology, the pattern was already in use. Ancient Sumer claimed kingship “descended from heaven.” Egyptian pharaohs weren’t just chosen by gods, they were gods.

The divine hierarchy matched the social one, and religion gave authority moral weight. Handily, that made disobedience a cosmic offense rather than just a social risk.

Greek philosophy gave the chain a more abstract shape. Plato ranked things by how close they were to perfection. Aristotle arranged living beings in a vertical scale based on their complexity. Those ideas didn’t stay in the academy.

Christian thinkers later fused them with scripture, placing God at the top of a ladder that ran through angels, monarchs, men, and eventually beasts and stones. Everything flowed downward in a single, seamless chain.

By the Middle Ages, the story was fully weaponized.

Today, we don’t talk about kings being closer to heaven. We talk about billionaires being smarter, bolder, more visionary. Elon Musk is praised as a genius reshaping civilization. Jeff Bezos builds rockets and global logistics networks.

Mark Zuckerberg connects the planet through platforms he controls. Their wealth is held up as proof they deserve to be in charge. The assumption is familiar: those on top must be there for a reason.

The companies they run tell similar stories. Trillion-dollar valuations are seen as signs of progress. Top companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta shape policy, labor conditions, and public discourse.

But behind the marketing, their power relies on low-wage labor, aggressive lobbying, and tight control of competition. It’s not divine favor, but it still locks power at the top.

Even the idea of meritocracy keeps the old hierarchy alive. The chain used to say God put you in your place. Now it says the market did.

Either way, if you’re poor, it must be your fault. If you’re rich, you must have earned it. That story justifies inequality while making resistance look like sour grapes.

There’s no question some people work harder, or take more risks. But no one climbs to the top alone. Billionaires rely on public infrastructure, subsidies, workers, and social systems they didn’t build.

The idea that they’re uniquely deserving is a myth with ancient roots. It’s just the Great Chain in a suit and tie.

History demonstrates that these stories are not permanent. Kings once claimed their rule was eternal. However, guillotines and constitutions eventually emerged. Industrialists opposed unions, but workers organized regardless.

The Great Chain of Being, never a neutral explanation, was a narrative crafted by the powerful to maintain their dominance. While today’s version is more subtle, its purpose remains unchanged.