I prefer the hedgehog's dilemma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog's_dilemma), also known as the parable of the porcupines, but this human pyramid is right on too.
Well, me and my comrades would seem to be the exception to the rule. Not everything has to be a power struggle, unless you view it that way. It's all about paradigms, which I say as a filthy post-modernist.
Think of the yuppies, for an exaggerated example. Wanting to succeed in business, they go out and read books about ruthless machiavellian strategy. "The 48 Rules of Power" comes to mind. These poor bastards go the rest of their lives approaching a quiet evening out like a military maneuver. They have more than enough opportunities to enjoy human company for its own sake, but they've chosen the inhuman route.
Me and the other two monkeys routinely are constantly around each other (though college has begun to hamper that) and that's where we draw our power. Sure, I do most of my writing slumped alone at a desk, but it's their input that makes my prose worthy of reading. As friends, critics, people to pass a bottle with, they're invaluable to me.
It sounds to me as if you're watching the wrong people. If you come across people who really and truly value social standing above all else, don't make them your close friends. Acquaintances, sure, but reserve the VIP section of your periphery for the rare ones.
I grunted at Underground about this a while ago, and I hate to see other people going down the same road. Solitude is invaluable, but in moderation.
I appreciate the comments, but I'm not advocating complete solitude - rather intimate individual relationships and small, loosely-knit circles of acquaintances. A group of three friends with shared interests and goals is valuable and viable, though I doubt it can remain permanently so. I might invest my time in that sort of arrangement, but I'd be wary about investing my soul.
What road is that? The road of excess?
The road of self-love, actually.
To Ben, I completely understand that feeling. The popular misconception today is that one can be "friends" with everyone. A friend entails a sacred bond, a connection that benefits everyone involved. What most people are describing are in fact acquaintances. What you're proposing is really the only healthy attitude toward friendship.
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