[danaris]

I disagree, though only slightly:

I would say that it's rare that a hierarchy is deliberately constructed to funnel surplus upward.

Rather, many hierarchies emerge organically, but those at the top seek to eliminate any that do not funnel surplus upward.

It's less a process of deliberate construction, and more a process of deliberate curation. Something like cultural bonsai.

[dleeftink]

The continue the bonsai metaphor: would its inevitable demise tell us about how hierarchies can be uprooted? Or conversely, that existing hierarchies that are well tended to rarely meet their end?