The Inner Ring

C.S. Lewis's "The Inner Ring" lecture was actually something that I really enjoyed reading. I didn't expect to, because (as much as I love the movie) reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was not my favorite thing to do. I couldn't even get past the first chapter of some of his other books, so I was wary when I started to read the address.

However, once I got past the excerpt from War and Peace, which was confusing, I found myself really enjoying the speech. (I just completely repeated a sentence from my first paragraph. Sorry.) I can completely relate to his idea about the Inner Ring. It reminded me of "the popular people" at school and within every group that exists. It seems so glamorous and fun to be a part of, but when you reach it you realize that nothing is different from your previous "ring." And in the process of joining the Inner Ring, you most likely alienated a good friend or participated in some actions that you wish you hadn't. The Inner Ring does that to people.

What I don't understand is what makes the Inner Ring so desirable. I think that might be Lewis's point though. There is no reason for us to want to be a part of it, save for making other people jealous. But why are we jealous of the Ring in the first place? And why do we want to make others jealous at all? I'm going to use this post to try and decipher (totally unrelated side note: the CIA has a sculpture called Cryptos that is really cool... Google it) some answers to that question.

Why are we jealous of the Inner Ring? Why is it such a desirable position to hold? The exclusivity is, of course, a main reason. But why is it so great to be exclusive? Making other people jealous, maybe, is our way of making ourselves feel good. Obvioulsy if someone wants to be like we are, then we have some desirable quality about us. It could be our hair, clothes, personality, confidence, or anything else. Maybe that's why, often, the Inner Ring is corrupt in some way. In high school, the popular people usually drink or something. And in business, the "top dogs" usually engage in some scandalous practices. This could be a result of their insecurites. These insecurities can be allievated by making others jealous.

Or maybe we like making people jealous because it makes us feel superior to them. This is also a result of insecurity. People simply like to be the best, and the Inner Ring is the best social circle that exists in school, business, teams, clubs, or any other organization or group.

Anway (not anyways, which is not a word), back to Lewis. I liked the way that he tried to be funny sometimes. It was undersated humor, but that can be the best kind. I wondered, though, if maybe he had ever been excluded from some sort of Inner Ring. Or maybe it happened to him multiple times. He seemed to really hate them, as he explicitly stated. But he might just have been able to see the consequence that Inner Rings have on people. They can, as he says, make "a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things." That is his main purpose in this essay: to show the world that this belief in the supremacy of Inner Rings has no positive consequence. Even those who belong to them are forced to constantly struggle to remain in them. The Rings don't even have any benefit, as Lewis pointed out, but the superiority that comes from belonging is too enjoyable to let go of.

I agree completely with Lewis. Inner Rings are bad. But then again, I'm not really a member of one. Maybe I'm just bitter. Who knows? Or maybe I am part of an Inner Ring and don't even notice it. I think that's possible. Some group could appear to be an Inner Ring to outsiders but not to insiders.

Inner Rings could also relate to Social Darwinism. The "fittest" people would be the members, and the outsiders would be those who aren't evolved enough to be a part of the elite group. But that might be a stretch. And I don't really believe in Social Darwinism anyway.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a rant about social heirarchy and how bad it is (though I probably already have).

HAPPY ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! And Happy Hannukah to all of my Jewish friends!