The philosopher Hegel - following in the wake of Hobbes/Rousseau I should add - is famous for giving us the "
master-slave"
dialectic - a theoretical "description" of how people in
subordinate social roles gradually gain "recognition" and/or clout over the course of many toilsome centuries. To make a long story short, the slave's inherent work-ethic and burgeoning self-awareness gradually (as in very very slowly) win out over the master's complacency, lethargy and arrogance. The master learns (albeit reluctantly and usually at the end of his rule) that he's no greater than the slave, having depended on him/her (for services, for applause) all along; the slave, having already affirmed the master's full merit as a human being, acting under compulsion, no doubt, yet still buying into the master's ideology, learns to value his or her own worth, becomes the master's equal in the face of a mortality that each must fall victim to - so much so that the master (or ruling elite) can no longer maintain credibility with the masses he wants to subjugate. This is not the be-all-and-end-all of what Hegel has to say on the matter - and does
not solve the problem entirely - precisely because when society as a whole finally comes around to recognizing the
basic worth of every individual and the
absolute wisdom (there's no going back...) of "
equality under law," questions inevitably arise as to how to explain or justify the
persistence of any remaining
social inequities - the most important of which (for Hegel at least) would be disparities in
social status. (In other words, the rhetoric gets perfected, old prejudices cannot show their face in public, but people continue to operate within the old pattern of things, leading to a ghostly hierarchy of sorts.) But this rift between rhetoric (equality) and reality (hierarchy) while signaling more subtle forms of exclusion, also ushers in new complaints and demands. The challenge for modern "legislators' - both office-holders and opinion-makers - becomes that of promoting a system wherein everyone shall be
sufficiently recognized (whatever that means) for their
specific merits and contributions - to the common good, even if formal differences in
wealth, education, power remain and (if we're being really honest here) can never be fully eradicated ... which brings me to the problem of the "
also-ran" or modern-day "
cubicle dweller" for lack of a better term. Theoretically, this person
knows and
feels that he or she is the
equal of anyone else,* the standard-bearer and "
judge" for what counts as "worth-while." Without this "average reasonable person's" tastes and opinions, presumably, the whole system would not be what it is. But the judge does not always receive affirmation for being one "participant" among many others, who nevertheless makes up the conglomerate of
public opinion; the judge no doubt feels slighted that other, more "successful types" (in whatever field) are busy reaping perks and prizes! The judge is out there, shopping, browsing, selecting, approving, buying, opining, posting, blogging, going online for some semblance of affirmation... And yet... even with a "celebrity-conscious" culture that prides itself on handing out numerous awards to an endless stream of talents and behaviors, it is on one level not surprising yet (rhetorically) somewhat shocking that millions
still feel left out of the equation. These multitudes (myself, ourselves) have no recourse but to live vicariously through casting our votes ("I like this, I like that," "I shop here, I prefer brand X....") through
judging (en masse), choosing among, deciding upon beverages, commodities, travel locales, fly-by-night media stars and otherwise bearing the burden of anonymity in the shadow of THAT constant stream of publicity out there, whispering incessantly ("Look who's more successful than you..."). Strange that the more outlets there are for acclaim or recognition on a local level, the more upsetting it becomes
not to garner any sort of official status from said accomplishment in whatever field! (You may have done it, but that was in Pittsburgh. You may have won the title, but that was LAST season.) Thus, for readers of Hegel, it's hard not to scratch our heads and wonder at what has happened
apres le deluge with everyone technically pronounced free and equal so many years ago. The rhetoric by itself - that
hyper-abundance of cultural self-awareness that is here to stay- was supposed to usher in some sort of golden age... right (?) ....a feeling of equity, a classless society with minimal hangups, yet having emerged from the epochs of slavery, into this era of
middle class ascendancy, do people in general feel
that much more affirmed for their labors? I wonder...
*= I admit I'm getting a lot of this from
The Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega Y Gasset
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