The world is aflutter with news of the Royal Baby. In a tweet, Neil deGrasse Tyson points out the absurdity of royalty:

“@neiltyson: A curious tradition — to look at a newborn baby and say to yourself, ‘Because of your DNA, one day you will rule over me.'”

As a social scientist, I think I understand hierarchy on some margins. As a citizen (and a father), I work for the day when respect and honor are earned by production rather than by blood and privilege. Until that day arrives, we’ll just have to study the ways we can contain and reduce the violence inherent in the system.