“[T]he Great Chain of Being was irreparably smashed.” Check, that, Joe. I don’t think you really mean “irreparably.” Your whole point here is the destructive persistence of hierarchy in wealth and income. We no longer believe that there is something intrinsic or divinely sanctioned to the private persons of landlords that justifies their gouging of tenants. But they still gouge tenants. Billionaires still as much as buy command of political systems. Corporate employers still exploit the crap out of employees, the poorer and more powerless the employee, the worse the exploitation.
To the extent that our political economy is hierarchical, the deep structure of the Great Chain of Being endures. Like the deepest of muscle memories.