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Reader question:

In this sentence - The US dollar’s role as the world’s major currency would weaken to become a “first among equals” (US clout down, risks up by 2025, Reuters, November 25, 2008) - what does “first among equals” mean?

My comments:

In the sentence, it means the American greenback’s sole dominance as a world currency will be replaced by a few equally important currencies. The euro, for example, will be equally as important. However, the dollar will probably retain a slight edge, hence the term “first among equals”.

“First among equals” is from the Latin “Primus inter pares” meaning “first among peers”, peers being people enjoying the same social status or position. “First” means that even though someone is considered equal to others in a group, he’s especially respected and revered. In other words, he’s a leader, even though a different kind of leader than what a leader is generally perceived of in China.

Indeed, “first among equals” is strictly a Western concept. In China, no similar concept exists. In China, someone considered in the West as first among equals might just be called a leader outright. In other words, he’s your UNEQUAL and this has to do with the historical lack of a sense of equality on the part of all individuals (even the concept of the individual as we know it today was practically non-existent).

In the Roman Empire, peasants began to sue their masters (landlords) for wrongdoing and to expect a fair trial in a court of law as early as the eight century (correct me if you can). In China, that is still a rarity, something unfathomable to most. I won’t dwell on the subject but will give you one example to demonstrate the lack of sense of equality among the Chinese – the country’s leaders at various levels of government still address the public as “the masses” and “the masses” keep letting them do so without giving one collective bother. Well, it’s been that way for thousands of years and so I think it is proper to note that old habits die hard.

Before I call it quits on cultural comparison, I want to point out that it’s great to realize that one is equal to everyone else even though, to quote George Orwell, some people are always more equal than others in some ways. Imagine how powerful you’d be if you know and conduct yourself in a manner showing that you’re not above, nor beneath anyone in this world. Not just knowing it, but actually doing it accordingly. Then at the end of the day you’d really be able to say that you’ve come, seen and conquered. You’d never care to speak about it, but you know what I mean.

Anyways, here are two up-to-date examples of “first among equals”.

1. The United States’ leading intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an increasingly unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of western-style democracy is no longer assured, and some states are in danger of being “taken over and run by criminal networks”.

The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) every four years, represents sobering reading in Barack Obama’s intray as he prepares to take office in January. The country he inherits, the report warns, will no longer be able to “call the shots” alone, as its power over an increasingly multipolar world begins to wane.

…

At the same time, the US will become “less dominant” in the world – no longer the unrivalled superpower it has been since the end of the Cold War, but a “first among equals” in a more fluid and evenly balanced world, making the unilateralism of the Bush era no longer tenable.

- 2025: The end of US dominance, The Guardian, November 21 2008.

2. Back in 2004, when it was still relatively flush, General Motors invited automotive journalists to the South of France for a three-day “global product seminar.” The idea was that writers like me would drive new cars, consume loads of free food and wine, pal around with executives, and develop favorable opinions about GM.

…

A couple of years later Time named GM’s president, Harlow Curtice, man of the year. Time described Curtice as “first among equals,” a businessman “whose skill, daring, and foresight are forever opening new frontiers for the expanding American economy.” Curtice told the magazine, “General Motors must always lead.” I started telling people that I wanted to be the chairman of General Motors when I grew up.

- GM: Death of an American dream, By Alex Taylor III, Fortune Magazine, November 25, 2008.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.