The Nobility

Throughout recorded history, in every culture that has been uncovered, in every philisophical movement set up, there has always been a caste system. From the nomads of the desert to the halls of Versaille, from the Wild West to the Soviet Union, mankind has stratified itself. In some instances this stratification has taken place based on absurd grounds such as, race or skin color. In many instances the division has been based upon the accumulation of wealth. And in a few instances the division has been based on an idea (or idea's). Our Nation has always been a stratified society - divided by race, creed, wealth, gender and a host of other issues. Thomas Jefferson during the drive to throw off the stratified society of Great Britain wrote that he wished to make a nation where the aristocracy was not based on wealth or family but rather on the so-called 'intellectual nobility', that is he desired an aristocracy of knowledge. So much for true democracy. Like many grandiose, utopian idea's this one has fallen by the way side in this day and age. Indeed, it seems that in our postmodern age we have lost any sense of nobility left in our society. As our public men and women are held up to increasingly powerful media scrutiny, the secrets of people, that fifty years ago would have remained unknown to the vast majority of our world, are now displayed for all the world to see in newspapers, blogs, tabloids, and TV. Because of this attention we have lost one of the most valuable aids to human progress - the ability of myth-making. We have no person in any part of society that is able to rise above the mundane aspects of life and become a hero (I use this term in a gender-neutral way). And our increasingly critical eye has now been turned to the past, in an effort to "debunk" history we are forced to research and read books that are more interested in the sordid details of a man's life than in his idea's and accomplishments. In a way, this is not a bad thing. For instance, it is exceptionally ironic - and necessary - to know that Jefferson could write "that all men are created equal. . ." and own slaves and have a slave mistress. But in all of this inquiry into people's lives we have lost mankind's nobility. And it is quite sad.
It is not that I am any better than you, or that you are better than me. Its the fact that we seem to have lost the ability for a person to raise themself to the level of 'nobility'. Part of the problem is the people that we focus on: frankly, any person in Hollywood is not worthy of any respect not entitled to a common person, nor are there many politicians that are worthy of even being in office let alone being objects of hero-worship. It is possible that amongst the people of some backwoods town or amongst the vast middle-class suburbs or the ever-growing inner-city there is a person who deserves the right of nobility. But that person doesn't make himself known to the common man. So yes, it is possible that this is more of a rant against the media, it is possible that this is a meditation on the ills of postmodernism. It is also possible that my own inexperience, lack of knowledge and youthful idealism are combining to make a fool out of myself.
All of which begs the question, what is nobility? Is it my ability to lead a great portion of society? Is it my ability to be a good, decent citizen. How does God figure in to this situation? Is it God's will that there even is nobility? Would it be possible that God would want me to lead people? For these questions I have no answers.

To be Continued