My fundamental goal is to compare the structure of inequality in societies remote from one another in
time and space, societies that are very different a priori, and in particular societies that use totally
different words and concepts to refer to the social groups that compose them. The concepts of deciles
and centiles are rather abstract and undoubtedly lack a certain poetry. It is easier for most people to
identify with groups with which they are familiar: peasants or nobles, proletarians or bourgeois,
office workers or top managers, waiters or traders. But the beauty of deciles and centiles is precisely
that they enable us to compare inequalities that would otherwise be incomparable, using a common
language that should in principle be acceptable to everyone.