In 1784, after the Revolution, some veterans hoped they
could hand down their glories, their titles, to their descendants. They
organized the Cincinnatus Society for this purpose. Franklin was not happy
about the idea of handing down your title, your glory, to the next generation—that’s the inheritance system, or the
aristocratic system of the Europeans, which was just what our Revolution
opposed. What’s the meaning of the Revolution,
if we restore the European aristocratic inheritance system? That’s totally wrong. We should adopt the Chinese merit system, and
people with talents will be selected to serve the public.
