SO I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS PASSAGE FROM YESTERDAY: “If I try transposing the situation in New York on Sunday to France, I just can’t do it. . . . Not only because the woman is black and apparently an immigrant. But also because she’s a housekeeper. Perhaps even more than her race, her station in society would probably prevent authorities [in France] from taking her accusations against a rich and powerful man seriously.”

And it occurred to me: We often hear that there’s more “equality” in Europe. But there’s really not more equality between the working classes and the governing classes — there’s less. What Europe has instead engendered in the name of equality is a system in which people in government, academia, and journalism don’t have to worry about feeling overshadowed by people who make their money in business. It’s about a species of equality within the governing class, no more.