One of the failures of humanity today is the failure of those with wealth to understand what is owed to those who created that wealth: the men and women who labor, often with minimum reward or thanks, to create and maintain that wealth, and often with little hope for themselves or their children to have an opportunity to share in the riches of their labor. We have failed to instill in those who have wealth the concept of noblesse oblige- that privilege entails responsibility.

But noblesse oblige means more- it demands that those of high rank, of wealth or birth who would claim privilege must also act nobly, that they are constrained to honorable behavior; that they have an obligation to be of generous and responsible behavior.

Noblesse oblige demands that those who would rule act with honorable behavior; it demands that those who are privileged are entailed a responsibility to those below, entailed the responsibility to manage that wealth in such a manner that those below were also taken care of in a decent level of comfort and security.

How does this tie in with the problems of today? We have, all of us, from all walks of life, bought into the false belief that riches are more desirous than any other obligation to family, neighborhood, community or state not because they create a potential for good, but because they buy luxury and put us in a position above others.
We have bought into the idea that nothing is more important than Self and self-gratification, that having more means we will be happy, that looking out for number one somehow “wins” and that “every man for himself, winner take all” is a proper exercise of living, whether in religion, politics, community, or even family.
Once we see wealth for the luxury it brings as the end goal, we cannot, even with the best will, see the poorer ranks as worthy of respect, deserving of that which the wealthy expect for themselves, or even having a right to the basic needs of life: food, shelter, water, clothing, and health.

In Europe, during a similar time of wealth division and the adulation of the rich, people reached a point where they felt it was “perfectly reasonable” to ask a man to stand at a door for hours with nothing to do with his mind but wait for the moment when the “aristocracy” wanted to go through a door. The doorman’s task was to stand patiently, for hours, waiting to anticipate opening and closing a door for the lord or lady of the manor. The sheer waste of a human mind never shocked the people who hired him. It was, after all, “at least a job”- they were so important they were entitled to ask this based on their wealth and rank. Those claiming to be “aristocrats” had forgotten that the word aristos originally meant the best, and only later was corrupted to imply the rich, the well-born.

This corruption is why today many of the wealthy, or those who have reached a certain level of rank or achievement by whatever means, feel entitled to special treatment, entitled to being held apart from their fellow man, simply because they have wealth or status they have inherited, fallen into or as a market result created from the labor of many others. And because of this, they feel that achieving or  maintaining that level of rank or lifestyle holds no obligation to those beneath them, and no obligation to provide for, or succor those “below”. Thus we see politicians, preachers and pundits calling for a reduction or dismissal of social programs to aid the poor and vulnerable, the aged and infirm.

France had seen this sense of entitlement grow to preposterous proportions, grinding the working class into poverty and ignorance, ignoring even their basic human needs. The people rose up in revolution. It was that revolution that sparked the idea that all men, from all ranks of life, not only deserved a chance to thrive, but had a right to the opportunities to do so, that each man had the right to his own personal liberty.

But this revolution also brought to light what the upper ranks had forgotten: noblesse oblige. It was the duty of the wealthy to take care of those below them, to address their needs, to see that they had enough food, that they had shelter and gainful work that fulfilled the spirit of man. Why? Because the labor and sacrifice the working classes gave, directly or indirectly, created the wealth of the upper ranks.

Noblesse oblige was taught to the children of the true nobility; they were taught that, while they might enjoy fine things and a level of luxury, these were bought at the labor of the workers. That, because of this, an obligation was created on the upper ranks to see that those below them had their needs met and had opportunities to learn, expand their hopes, reach their highest potential.  Noblesse oblige demands the wealthy, the nobility and the aristocracy create opportunities for those below, offer them quality education equal to that given their own children, and ensure that no one is left behind to starve, die of exposure or be driven to a sense of uselessness in their society.

Each person, no matter their economic level, can decide to become an aristos- the best, the noblest. From these people, a true aristocracy can be shaped, and from that aristocracy, a better world can be built. It will not be easy- the way of the aristo is hard; it is to be misunderstood, to be called weak, to be rejected by those who would have power and privilege without having understood its obligations and debt. But each individual, you included, can make the decision today to begin the journey to join the aristos of the world.

Do you have what it requires?
What choice will you make?