Three Layers in Brief

When viewing the world, experts agree, the minimum number is three. If you reduce it to two, as in friend and enemy, you are wrong.

When I read Curtis Yarvin's "Clear Pill", which describes Yarvin's three-layer theory of modern society, I realized I needed to think not just about my reductive Three Peoples theory, but about social three layer theories in general. Yarvin:

As Orwell wrote, all societies have three human layers. We may call ours gentry, commoners, and clients. The gentry are urbanites, cultivated and ambitious; the commoners are suburbanites, educated and independent; the clients are Marx’s proletariat and lumpenproletariat, uneducated and/or dependent.

But now, in his Gray Mirror, Yarvin has created new layers, called strata.

Across human history we see four different ways of living. Let’s label these varieties of social existence cosmopolitan, traditional, deracinated, and ancestral. For variety, we’ll pair these adjectives with synonymous nouns which almost no one knows: armigers, yeomen, lazzari, and autochthons. To dodge yet more landmines, these groups are strata.

Only I've force-fitted his four layers into a three layer setup. Because Yarvin actually has five layers in his new theory, with "the human rubble of the old regime's failed experiments" added in for good measure. He means the homeless. 

So here are all the three-layer theories that I know about:

Author	Top	Middle	Bottom	Relig/Culture/ Political
George Orwell	Inner Party	Outer Party	Proles	Political
Karl Marx	Bourgeoisie	Communists	Proletarians	Political
Plato	Guardians	Auxiliaries	Producers	Political
Auguste Comte	Positive	Metaphysical	Theological	Cultural
Matthew Arnold	Barbarians	Philistines	Populace	Cultural
Left's Three Peoples	Deplorables	Creative Activists	Helpless Victims	Political
New Left	Racists, etc.	Activists	Victims	Political
Allyism	White oppressors	Allies	Oppressed groups	Political
Campbell, Manning	Honor	Dignity	Victimhood	Cultural
Deceiverism	Deceivers	Ordinary Americans	Deceived groups	Political
COVID	Essential	Inessential	Expendable	Economic
Charles Murray	Belmont	Everybody Else	Fishtown	Cultural
Thomas Sowell	Anointed	Benighted	Mascots	Cultural
Thomas Piketty	Clerical	Military	Working	"Ternary"
Curtis Yarvin	Gentry	Commoners	Clients	Political
Curtis Yarvin	Nobles	Commoners	Clients	Political
Curtis Yarvin	Libs	Cons	Pocs	Political
Curtis Yarvin	[Noble] Deputies	Vandals	[Serf] Deputies	Political
Curtis Yarvin	Armigers	Yeomen	Lazzari/ Autochthons/ Rubble	Political
Jonathan Haidt	Self-expression/ emancipative values	Traditional values	Survival values	Religious
Wagner's Ring	Gods	Humans	Nibelungs	Cultural
J.R.R. Tolkien	Elves	Hobbits	Dwarves	Cultural
Joel Kotkin	Clerisy	Yeomanry	Serfs	Political
N.N. Taleb	Soul in the Game	Skin in the Game	No Skin in the Game	Cultural
Z-Man, Z-man	Cloud People	Dirt People	[lower classes]	Political
Dennis Price	Cloud People	Dirt People	[dependents]	Political
David Goodhart	Anywheres	Somewheres	[Inbetweeners]	Political
John Hayward	Ruling Class	Everyone Else	Dependency Class	Political
Angelo Codevilla	Ruling Class	Country Class	"underclass clients"	Political
John Derbyshire	Ice People	??	Sun People	Political
John Derbyshire	Snobs	??	Slobs	Political
John Derbyshire	Smarts	Adequates	Strugglers	Political
Michael A. Milton	Elites	Flunkies	Human cattle	Political
Vikings	Earls	Peasants	Thralls (slaves)	Political
Anglo-Saxons	Earls/Thanes	Ceorls	Thralls/Bondmen	Political
Hammurabi	Superiors/ Propertied	Commoners/ freed men	Slaves	Political
Romans	Patricians	Plebians	Slaves	Political
Jeffrey A. Tucker Three Layer State	Deep State	Middle State	Shallow State	State
Medieval	Those Who Pray	Those Who Fight	Those Who Work	Political
Estates	Clergy/Pray	Nobles/Fight	Peasants and Burghers/Work	Political
CGC Three Peoples	Creatives	Responsibles	Subordinates	Cultural
CGC 17th Century	Nobles	Educated Commoners	Peasants	Cultural
CGC 19th Century	Absolute State	Educated Intellectuals	Workers	Cultural
CGC 20th Century	Educated Elite	Commoner Middle Class	Clients	Cultural
Christopher Chantrill	Ruling Class	Middle Class	Little Darlings	Political
Christopher Chantrill	Anti-Americans	Americans	Emerging Americans	Cultural
Christopher Chantrill	Sacrificial Hero / Ego Hero	One God	Many Gods	Religious
Christopher Chantrill	Snobs	Schmucks	Scum	Cultural
Christopher Chantrill	Globalists	Nationalists	Ethnics	Political
Christopher Chantrill	Laptop Whites	Rittenhouse Kids	Lower Class	Cultural
Christopher Chantrill	Insiders	Outsiders	Hangers On	Political
Christopher Chantrill	Somebodies	Anybodies	Nobodies	Cultural

I have decided to classify the theories under three headings. First, political: understanding people from the outside as actors on the political stage; second, cultural: understanding how people feel inside; third, religious: what gods do people worship.

I will add additional theories as I encounter them.

See also: "Three Peoples" and "Three Peoples Religion."

Next stop: Three Layers -- Table of Contents.