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Hero / Victim
“People’s Movements” / “Virtuous People”
Villain
“Selfish Elites”
Stakes
Equality
The egalitarian worldview is vigilant against any dynamic where the few are privileged above the many. Someone who is narrating from the egalitarian worldview will be vigilant against any person, group of people, or broader entity that might be seeking to cheat the common people out of an equal share in the fruits of their labor.
Thus, in the egalitarian worldview, the villain is the very hero that animates the libertarian worldview. “The Law” that protects “Rational Citizens” in actuality enables them to become the “Selfish Elites” that cheat and rob the masses. These selfish elites are the feudal lords, the robber barons, and the 21st century billionaires who, in the egalitarian worldview, not only hoard wealth, but also endeavor to pull the levers of the economic and political system so as to enable the hoarding in the first place.
The heroes of the egalitarian worldview are thus the “People’s Movements” that rise up to halt the thievery of these “Selfish Elites” and to ensure that the “Virtuous People” get restitution.
While stories of economic inequality are very comfortable in this worldview, direct references do the economy do not need to be present in a text for it to be classified as egalitarian. It can be helpful to think of it as defined by the desire to protect the “Virtuous People” from anyone or anything that is seen as being separate from the people. While the securitarian worldview valorizes the state, and the libertarian worldview valorizes the individual, the egalitarian worldview valorizes the masses.
The Egalitarian Sub-Narratives
Like the other worldviews, the egalitarian worldview is made up of three sub-narratives, each of which presents a different permutation of the sentence “The Victim is abused by the Villain.”
- Reciprocity – “The Virtuous People are cheated by the Selfish Elites.” (Egalitarian vs. Libertarian)
- Nation – “The Virtuous People are cheated by Dangerous Enemies.” (Egalitarian vs. Dignitarian)
- Accountability – “The Virtuous People are cheated by the Bad King.” (Egalitarian vs. Securitarian)
Reciprocity
In the reciprocity narrative, it is “Selfish Elites” who cheat the people out of what is rightfully theirs. These are the privileged few who use their power, often aided by broader economic and political systems, to maintain an inequality of outcome, which in turn relegates the masses to lower social status and quality of life.
Some examples of this narrative include the following:
- efforts to organize labor unions;
- criticism of the “ivory tower” of academia;
- calls to “tax the rich,” etc.
The reciprocity narrative is the sub-narrative that most typifies the egalitarian worldview. That is why the “Selfish Elites” represent the villain not just of the reciprocity narrative but also of the egalitarian worldview as a whole.
Nation
In the nation narrative, the people are cheated out of what is rightfully theirs by “Dangerous Enemies.” Like in the securitarian and libertarian worldviews, “Dangerous Enemies” are those people or groups of people who are seen as being fundamentally different than the protagonists of the story. These enemies are outsiders to the way of life of the “Virtuous People,” and they seek to rob the people of both opportunity and outcome.
Some examples of this narrative include the following:
- invectives against immigrants for “taking all the jobs”;
- praise of a particular culture as being superior to another culture;
- scapegoating of a particular category of people based on perceived outsider status (e.g., racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia), etc.
Accountability
In the accountability narrative, it is the “Bad King” that cheats the people out of what is rightfully theirs. Like in the libertarian worldview, this villain might not necessarily be a literal king, but rather is whatever person, group of people, or institution represents the ultimate authority of a given community. Rather than dealing fairly and responsibly with its constituents, this authority (e.g., a government, an executive leadership team, etc.) is instead seen as cheating them, and reducing their quality of life in the process.
Some examples of this narrative include the following:
- calls for the forgiveness of student loans;
- support for strong social welfare programs (e.g., state-sponsored healthcare and education);
- arguments for the reform of the police, etc.
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