  The up-down splitting within quark families increases with the family number:
m_u ~ m_d, m_c > m_s, m_t >> m_b. We show an approach that realizes this
feature of the spectrum in a natural way. We suggest that the mass hierarchy is
first generated by radiative effects in a sector of heavy isosinglet fermions,
and then projected to the ordinary light fermions by means of a seesaw mixing.
The hierarchy appears then inverted in the light fermion sector. We present a
simple left-right symmetric gauge model in which the P- and CP-parities and an
isotopical "up-down" symmetry are softly (or spontaneously) broken in the Higgs
potential. Experimentally consistent predictions are obtained. The Cabibbo
angle is automatically in the needed range: Theta_C ~ 0.2. The top quark is
naturally heavy, but not too heavy: m_t < 150 GeV.
