16 March

It's very common to see democracy as replacing hierarchy with a flat social structure where all are equal. That's not what it is or ever was. Hierarchies represent levels of expertise and knowledge and quality. Democracies have that too (it's what idiot populists like Trump dismantle). The reason inequality is a problem now isn't that it exists, but because of the type of inequality or hierarchy liberalism created. In previous times, hierarchies had duties and responsibilities to each other. A life of 'service', the Queen often speaks of it, for example, in both directions, towards an ideal of quality and perfection. A *collective* arrangement. Today's hierarchies are mostly just the wealth, stripped of any duty or responsibility. Individuals get rich and have no obligations that go with it. That's what liberalism does, defines everything as individual. The ideal of perfection replaced with 'each to their own', 'subjective taste' etc.