Most astonishing are the euphemisms with which we surround the twin driving forces behind human politics: leaders’ lust for power and followers’ hankering for leadership. Like most primates, we are a hierarchical species, so why do we try to hide this from ourselves? The evidence is all around us, such as the early emergence of pecking orders in children (the opening day at a daycare center may look like a battlefield), our obsession with income and status, the fancy titles we bestow on each other in small organizations, and the infantile devastation of grown men who tumble from the top.
