The Foreign Service Journal, April 2006

should eat what we eat, including the ice cream in the freezer, with our same dishes and utensils (some local families have separate, less attactive versions for their household help), and take time to relax (as we all do) when the press of work is off. Few Americans believe that Thomas Jefferson’s oft-quoted phrase in the Declaration of Independence about all men being created equal means that everyone is, or even should be, equal in American society. (We need not dwell here on the cruel ironies of Jefferson’s own life or of slavery in the American past.) Even if they did, a simple look around proves it isn’t so. But it does speak to a cen- tral ideal, albeit one never fully real- ized: no one should be stuck in the place or position into which they were born, and those things don’t define who you are. The son or daughter of the janitor, farm worker or maid enjoys, at least in theory, the same rights, privileges and access to the law and opportunity as does the daughter or son of the industrial scion, chief executive officer or ambassador. One can choose to activate that “latent” equality or not, but ultimate- ly, who one is deeper down — below mere socio-economic circumstances — plays an important role in how the show evolves. In short, the content of one’s character is supposed to count for something in American life. 64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 6 Having a maid, and sometimes a nanny, gardener and driver, comes with the territory — and the class.