This argument that dignity must be earned through honor — and that dignity without honor leads to cultural decay — is compelling, but also dangerously close to justifying exclusion or inequality on the basis of arbitrary cultural metrics.<p>Isn't there a risk in tying access to social esteem (and therefore credit, opportunity, and participation) to norms of 'earned' dignity, especially when those norms are defined by dominant groups?<p>How do we balance a meritocratic esteem economy with the need for universal human dignity?