The new class system

The last few months have made the disparity between social classes clearer than usual.

I am very fortunate.  I benefit greatly from the class structure.  However, I feel that the recent quarantine has made some of those benefits more evident.

The old aristocracy died with the old empires.  There are obviously still royal families, but two world wars had a dramatic effect on the social hierarchy.  Societal norms shifted.  I personally believe that many worked towards true equality during the late 20th century.  We didn't get there, but I do think that, overall, society as a whole was improved.

In the early 21st century, however, something new arose.  Several services became significantly less expensive.  The result, unfortunately, looks very much like the birth of a new social class: servants for rent.

Rather than have a driver, you have Uber and Lyft.  Rather than have a personal shopper, you have InstaCart and Amazon.  Cleaning services have come down in price to such an extent as to become palatable to most of the middle class.

We have been able to re-create many of the occupations of a Victorian household without providing the people in those occupations with housing and healthcare.  I cannot accurately compare the hourly wage of a maid in the United Kingdom in 1920 to those working for a cleaning service in the United States in 2020.  I do think it is fair to say that neither were properly compensated.

While those at the top (myself included) can safely quarantine, the other social strata need to continue to risk their health.  We call them "essential workers" but have not increased their wages.

Just as the epidemics of the 18th century would cause the land owners to take shelter on country estates, so a computer programmer orders everything he needs to be delivered to his door for months on end.

So, we have a choice.  We can watch as the aristocracy is reborn, or we can look upon the mistakes of the past and find a better way.  We can pay those we need what they deserve.  We can increase the cost of those things that really shouldn't be cheap.  We can once again look at the shining beacon of equality, which we may never reach, and take a small step towards it.

And so the Republic dies...

You may think me alarmist, but demagogues have destroyed Republics many times.  Plato referred to democracies falling to tyranny over 2,000 years ago. The Gracchi brothers damaged the Roman republic allowing Julius Caesar to destroy it.  The French revolution was dominated by demagogues.  The 20th century saw the fall of so many republics to demagoguery that a world war became inevitable.

The demagogue will always exist.  It will be possible to prey on our base nature.  We are human.

But, in order for a demagogue to gain power, there must be capitulation. Without Hindenburg's assent, the Reichstag Fire Decree does not get issued.  Without a telegram from King Victor Emmanuel III, Mussolini does not become prime minister.  At the time, those involved may have thought they had no alternative.  Throughout history demagogues have benefited from chaos, violence, and unrest.  In some cases, they incited the events, but in other cases they simply rode the wave of unrest to power.

Now, it is 2020 and again a government has capitulated.  The Executive Branch of the United States government has claimed that the Legislative branch has no authority.  The Legislative Branch has agreed.  They have given up their power.  They had their reasons, although I can not fathom them.

Many will say, that this is just a "blip".  That the government of the United States will cycle and normalcy will return.  I do not believe that.  I believe that precedent has been set.  The fall may not occur tomorrow, but it will come.

Chasing rainbows

It does not claim the title "Emerald", but green stretches for hundreds of kilometers.

It is Autumn here.  I can't say if the rain differs by season.  Over the last few days it has come and gone quickly.  The train I am on has passed several rainbows this morning.  I don't get up to photograph them.

This country has 2 monarchs.  Its largest cities named after Europeans, the rest of the country named in Maori.  This land like my own, saw much bloodshed.  Unlike my own, it sought redemption.

Branches slither by the window reminding me that the mind applies patterns to things unfamiliar.

The huge chunks of concrete atop cars reminding me that the ground moves here.

People speak of the land I left behind.  I wish they would stop.  No good news comes from that land.

The deer are herded here.  Sending venison to places where people eat such things.

A man waves as the train passes by.  The sheep either panic or ignore our passing.

The green goes on and on.