I don’t like royalty.  Never did, never will.  You’ll never hear me referring to anyone as Prince This or Queen That.  I just don’t buy it.  Folks from other countries might choose to anoint others as their “betters” and then bow down before them, but not me.  I don’t care if it is governmental royalty, celebrity royalty, or political royalty; you won’t see me on bended knee before them.

Perhaps it’s because I’m just some schmoe from flyover country, but the concept of royalty and me just don’t mix.  Royalty is based on an ancient, wrongheaded belief that “it’s in the blood.”  This is patently offensive as well as being quite provably false. 

This sick and twisted thinking is what drove and continues to drive the racial and ethnic stupidity that flows throughout this country. 

I am a proud American.  Perhaps I am naïve, but I profoundly believe in the creed that all people are created equal.  Not as in the novel Animal Farm, where some are more equal than others (that’s royalty by another name), but that at our most basic level, every single one of us has equal standing simply by our existence.  I’ll leave it to God to make judgements about our individual moral standing – for me, we are all equal.  And please, this doesn’t mean we are all equal in our various abilities; that is a spurious argument at best.

One of the most profound moments in human history was the founding of this country on the premise that all people are created equal and that no royalty or ruling class was required; individual citizens could do just fine running their own country.  It was the people who had a government, not the other way around.

And a foundational belief in this equality is the absolute need for all citizens to be equal under the law.  Rich or poor, powerful or powerless; all are to be treated equally under the law.  If this is cast aside, then so must be the concept that all people are created equal.

If this is cast aside, then we really do have royalty, whether termed that or not.  If we allow this to be, it unravels the entire basis for this country.  The concept of equal justice under the law is not just important; it is fundamental.  Without it, the words of our Constitution are simply a sad joke for those silly enough to believe them.  Is this where we have arrived, where only saps like me are duped by this quaint notion?

How am I supposed to sit on a jury and decide my fellow citizen’s fate when I know that our political royalty are held to a different and almost always lower standard?  How can I demand that my fellow citizens tell the truth under oath when no such demand is made of our royalty?  Why should I participate in any system whereby my fellow citizens are held to a higher standard than our political royalty?

I refuse.  Others in this country seem bent on anointing politicians as their betters and then rushing to bow down before them.  Screw that.  Although others might be quite ready to freely cast aside the fundamental notion of our individual equality and bow before their “betters,” I will not. 

John Conlin is president and founder of E.I.C. Enterprises, www.EICEnterprises.org, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to spreading a fact-based paradigm here and around the world primarily through K-12 education.  He is an expert in organizational design and change.