Consistently on the bottom rung of the social ladder

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Does anyone else find that wherever they go they end up being given a subservient role? Im finding this to be the case for me. Ive noticed that I always seem to end up gravitating towards the role of the scapegoat. Its hard to perceive when im inside the social situation but ,having left or having obtained some distance, I find that it becomes abundantly clear.

often, but the ladder is a tightrope

Girard's fundamental ideas, which he has developed throughout his career and provide the foundation for his thinking, are that desire is mimetic (all of our desires are borrowed from other people), that all conflict originates in mimetic desire (mimetic rivalry), that the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and religion was necessary in human evolution to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry, and that the Bible reveals these ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism. ()
An interesting view, but I disagree with his foundations and compliances, it merely discribes how history was made (up).

the bottom rung has much going for it. no possibility of falling far. easy to step up and down from etc etc.
whatever.

the bottom rung is from where all aspirants emerge.

No where else to go but up! However, as far as being on the bottom of the social ladder, I have found that with some people, this is true. But most people realize that we have something to contribute and treat us fairly.

I think there's usually a constant downward pressure on the individual's status in most workplaces and in many social groups. It's the price the human race pays for the competitive part of its nature. Aspies are usually at a disadvantage with this, because we don't have the social skills that are so commonly needed to compete effectively, so we tend to get shoved to the bottom of the pile. Possibly Aspies also tend to be rather wary of being competitive anyway, as it often requires dishonesty, and requires a blurring of the black and white distinction between friends and foes - personally I have a low opinion of competitive people, but maybe that's just me rather than my autism. Then there's assertiveness and self-advocacy, which I guess are not typically found in most Aspies.

I've avoided some of it by getting fairly good technical qualifications and skills, which have been enough to save me from the bottom couple of rungs, though I had neither the social ability, the assertiveness, or the corrupt attitude required to secure a professional position concomitant with my technical abilities. I've also used some low-level cheating to stop my bosses from pushing me too far down - e.g. agreeing to do a menial task and then not doing it. I hate cheating, but they started it. My other coping strategy has been to gravitate away from hierarchies as much as possible, and towards co-operative people, though they are few and far between so I often go it alone or with very small, carefully-selected groups, often just one-on-one. If you avoid people, there's nobody to push you down, and status ceases to have much meaning. And with one-on-one, they can't outnumber you and things are simpler, you so you have a better chance of keeping things equal.

I feel like the ladder has been pulled up, completely ostracised wherever I go. A ladder implies I have the option of climbing it.

In my previous employments, I have used my technical skill to produce results for my employers that exceeded expectations, but i have never been able to get above the bottom rung of the corporate ladder.

But now when applying for work, prospective employers won't even look at me as i haven't climbed the ladder and expect me to be on a high rung with the amount of experience i have.

I have no idea where I am on the ladder, or if there is a ladder
Most of the time, I feel like people just tolerate me, like a crippled dog that thinks it's a human. "Oh look at that, she's trying to be human! Isn't that just so... quaint."

But I know my perception can be off when I'm depressed, so it's hard to say for certain. I certainly have never felt very high up on the ladder, usually ostracized, used, or forgotten/ignored.

I have found that small companies are best for me. There is a minimal amount of politics and a maximum amount of result-orientation. In a lot of situations, your level doesn't come so much from ability but from B.S.

To me, the ladder is just another name for "the food chain," or "the pecking order." It's real in the sense that some people are paid more per hour than others, and the job satisfaction roughly correlates with the pay, so the bottom rung would be the lowest wage rate and the most soul-destroying, uncomfortable, unsafe, demeaning, exhausting work in existence. I doubt that anybody here is on the bottom rung.

Sorry to hear you're feeling down.

What about the people who don't have "real" jobs? I have to work at home, I'm an artist and can't afford child care, so I can't go out and get a "real" job. People don't want to pay what handmade art should be worth and I've heard so many times "I could just get that at Walmart." Even though they actually can't... I have the supply but can't find the demand, lol...

Yes, self-employment confounds my simplistic description of the ladder concept. Wage-wise you must be pretty low on the ladder, what with Walmart undercutting you with cheap stuff, though job conditions-wise you could be a few rungs up. Job conditions are hard to compare, being so multi-faceted, so I'm not sure. Being your own boss is good - my favourite job was in a worker co-operative, very dignified, though sadly we couldn't make it profitable - and handmade art work sounds like a very rewarding skill to ply. We kept the co-op going by drawing benefits via a government enterprise scheme and then by going on jobseekers allowance which still allowed us to do limited unpaid voluntary work for the co-op. It was a very frugal existence and it folded in the end, but it was great. Hope you manage to keep your venture going.