The division into estates follows from the matter itself. But who decides which estate a single person belongs to?

Talent, birth and circumstances play a part. But the final decision lies with the individual himself. He chooses his profession. In this lie his right, his merit and his honor. So what is necessary happens at the same time through his free choice.

Other ways:

In the ancient East and in the ancient world, it was different. In Plato’s state, the rulers assign people to the estates. In India, birth decides a person’s caste. There, free choice does not come into its right.

What happens then?

The suppressed freedom of the individual breaks out at some point. It breaks out as a hostile force. Either it overturns the order, as in the Greek cities and in the Roman Republic. Or force or religion hold it down. Then this leads to inner corruption and utter degradation. That was partly the case in Sparta. And it was most completely the case in India.

Where free choice has its right, by contrast, it brings the whole society to life. It promotes thought, merit and honor. That is exactly what most people mean when they speak of freedom.

Summary: In the end, your own choice decides which estate you belong to. Where this is not so, as with the Indian castes, the order decays from within. Free choice brings society to life.