Monarchy Pt. II

On Equality

            C.S. Lewis: Let us wear equality, but let us undress every night.

            All men are created equal, but form that moment of fertilization men must continually create equality artificially, for there is hardly a moment of genuine equality afterwards. The Declaration of Independence recognizes this truth, and that is why “despite voting and elections, America is still a democracy.” If we are to preserve this democratic equality, let us not do it for inaccurate reasons, like those of most modern politicians. They talk about equality as if it is a virtue inherent in every member of mankind, each one wise, good, and worthy.

            The real reason for the democratic system of government is far less flattering. Not one of us can be trusted. This is what Montesqeieu’s puzzling came out to mean: The power of rule must be divided to keep it from being abused. It is the reason why partisanship is so important. Liberals and Conservatives are much better for the nation when they are wasting the hours in petty scuffles than when they agree. For when they do agree on something, like the “noble” equality and goodness of mankind, they make some terrible destruction of liberty, like modern public education.

            In short, it is the Fall of Man, not the Dignity of Man, that necessitates the democratic system. The only brilliant originality each of us brings to democratic rule is Original Sin—and if we are all equal in origin (or, all created equal), let no man be given uncontested or unchecked power over another. C.S. Lewis pointed out that the problem with slavery isn’t nearly as much about there being no persons fit to be slaves (I would volunteer the Senate and the House) as there being no men fit to be masters. It is a curious paradox in a world in which it is commonly asserted that all men have equality through their common humanity, to realize that all men are desperately unequal except in their common propensity to inhumanity. American equality, therefore, is artificial, and like anything artificial, isn’t wholly satisfying. It is like clothing, something we must put on because we are damaged creatures and can no longer be trusted to guard against our own evil. In an unbroken (or eventually, in a restored) world, there will be no need to guard the harmony between man the beast and man the reflection of God.

            For as much as one part of us resents (wrongfully) any idea of servitude, inferiority, or lesser honors, another part realizes that social inequality, however silly it may sometimes look, is more natural than social equality. Consider the H.M.S. Pinafore. The entire first act is a comedy about how absurd are the social rules which separate the couples. Would the second act be satisfying if the ship’s company divided all the leadership and responsibilities according to election, and declared themselves all to be equal to one another? Of course not, and it is as unnatural an idea for a ship of state as it is for a ship of the sea, or in the case of Pinafore, a love boat. Pinafore is satisfying because men are not equal—because it is absurd for Captain Corcoran to say “Three paces to the front…if you please.”

            Because the natural inequality is so satisfying when it is hit upon, men will look for it in the absurdly superior if they cannot enjoy the naturally superior. They end up (in a bizarre but fascinating way) following the lives of vacuous blonde actresses and enormous athletes, and their public presence is received much like royalty is received in other countries. Men must celebrate something, and if they cannot celebrate Lords, Knights, and Heroes, they will celebrate celebrities. Unfortunately, this is like celebrating celery. Still, the Academy Award for Best Celerette or Defensive Celery of the Year awards are two of the few genuine honors we are still able to confer, and thus they are followed with the accordant pomp.

            We are unable, in an increasingly frightening way, to give any real honor (or dishonor) in education. Here the false idea of equality has taken such a firm hold that the old methods of education (which actually produced some sort of learned man at the end) are regarded as barbaric. They may have been stern, but they certainly were not barbaric. Our own age is barbaric, however kind, for it teaches only one language, no logic, and no ethics. Also, gym class.

            You see, the idea that every child should graduate educated is a fatal one. It ensures, not that every child will be educated, but that the meaning of the word educated will be altered. Children are unequal, and they will learn this either in the classroom or the first time they set foot into the street. If their teachers have lied to them and told them how clever and wonderful all of them are (success is a favorite word), they will then know what they have suspected all along—that their teachers were talking nonsense. It must be hard for a young man constantly affirmed in his own goodness and deserving to find himself suddenly and employee to an employer, a layperson to a pastor, and a debtor to his credit card. If he I particularly unfortunate, he will develop that cancerous attitude which says to every person it meets “I’m as good as you,” but abuses those under him. For a Christian, this attitude is particularly dangerous. We must constantly think of ourselves as very low things somehow privileged to drink and eat of the very highest things. When some person (like a pastor, teacher, or employer) exerts authority over us we are to behave as servants, but we are to serve with the care and awe of one that is serving in the king’s own court.