e differentiation between classes is
horizontal, not vertical. As long as a person does his job the best he
can, he's as good as anybody else. A doctor is as good as a lawyer,
isn't he? Then a garbage collector is just as good as a nuclear
physicist, and an astronomer is no better than a street sweeper.

And what of the loafer, the bum, the man who's too lazy or weak-willed
to put out any more effort than is absolutely necessary to stay alive?
Well, my goodness, the poor chap can't _help_ it, can he? It isn't
_his_ fault, is it? He has to be helped. There is always _something_ he
is both capable of doing and willing to do. Does he like to sit around
all day and do nothing but watch television? Then give him a sheet of
paper with all the programs on it and two little boxes marked _Yes_ and
_No_, and he can put an X in one or the other to indicate whether he
likes the program or not. Useful? Certainly. All these sheets can be
tallied up in order to find out what sort of program the public likes
to see. After all, his vote is just as good as anyone else's, isn't it?

And a Program Analyst is just as good, just as important, and just as
well cared-for as anyone else.

And what about the criminal? Well, what _is_ a criminal? A person who
thinks he's superior to others. A thief steals because he thinks he has
more right to something than its real owner. A man kills because he has
an idea that he has a better right to live than someone else. In short,
a man breaks the law because he feels superior, because he thinks he
can outsmart Society and The Law. Or, simply, because he thinks he can
outsmart the policeman on the beat.

Obviously, that sort of antisocial behavior can't be allowed. The poor
fellow who thinks he's better than anyone else has to be segregated
from normal society and treated for his aberrations. But not punished!
Heavens no! His erratic behavior isn't _his_ fault, is it?

It was axiomatic that there had to be some sort of vertical structure
to society, naturally. A child can't do the work of an adult, and a
beginner can't be as good as an old hand. Aside from the fact that it
was actually impossible to force everyone into a common mold, it was
recognized that there had to be some incentive for staying with a job.
What to do?

The labor unions had solved that problem two hundred years before.
Promotion by seniority. Stick with a job long enough, and you'll
automatically rise to the top. That way, everyon