Without a criteria for hierarchy (a hierarchy of what?) it seems like an eliptical reference. However, if "power is the highest good," and the hierarchy is jus

Without a criteria for hierarchy (a hierarchy of what?) it seems like an eliptical reference. However, if "power is the highest good," and the hierarchy is just a political power hierarchy, then yes, the people closest to the source of cash flow (not production, and includes debt) will only distribute to others that amount which is strictly necessary to secure their position, and no more. That's essentially managerialism and not "capitalism." In business, we talk about this as being "close to the money," where if you are a software developer, you are well paid, but you probably have no idea what anything costs, how much money you make for them, or value you provide for the people who hire you. This is by design. The dominant strategy in that environment is to leverage power's triad of "performance, credentials, and relationships" (via Pfeffer) according to their weighting in your given field. Tech tends to weight performance and relationships over credentials, but if you are raising money, relationships and credentials are weighted over performance - unless you have a track record. If you are in an institution or exec management relationships and credentials also often eat performance for breakfast. Depending on your field, you can look at your opportunities in these areas and invest in them for yourself. Should you spend two years getting a master's degree (credential + some relationships) or just contribute to open source projects? (performance + some relationships) Should you deliver a technical conference talk (relationships + some performance and cred) or pivot into Product Management? (new credential + relationships) Most people aren't going to make their money on risk and leverage, so if you are working for it, the article shows the smart objective is to climb the hierarchy regardless of what it is for its own sake. The way to climb is via power, and power is typically defined via the traid above, and weighted according to your given field. Have fun storming the castle.