The difference between the faux "elites" and normal people is they are snobs. Put any shade of lipstick on that pig you prefer, they are still snobs. That is no better at this place and time than it has ever been. It is.not because of race, class, religion, gender or sexual identity that normal people disapprove of anyone who brands themselves elite. It is because anyone who thinks that way has a flawed character. Please stop playing their silly game by referring to yourself in their terms - "provincial", etc.. You are proof their values are wrong - you came from.outside their cocoon and excelled. You are their kryptonite. Take the mantle and run with it. Stop caring what they think of you. That is their kryptonite.
Rob writes: "If thousands of people with bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees from, say, China and India, were unlawfully entering the U.S. each day, my guess is current elite attitudes around border security would be very different." This gels with reality: Limits on H1B visas, but open borders for the unwashed economic migrants.
Curious would the family in Fresh Prince be considered an elite under your definition? I would guess no, because both Aunt Bev and Uncle Phil knew where they came from. They would know how to order from a Wendy's menu.
Also it is interesting to consider this information along with your other insights that when elites want a policy it is more likely to be implemented than when common folk desire it.
It's also neat to combine your work with Turchin's theories of over production of elites. (His definition of elite is slightly different, in his framework it's defined as people who have any kind of power, be it social, financial, military, political). He says there are too many elites, and their infighting over a small set of leadership roles is leading to dissension amongst all society. I wonder if the fact that elites are so out of touch compared to regular people is a function of this overproduction, or an independent variable?
I know this might sound like the devil's advocate, especially as I support the luxury beliefs theory, but...
It's clear, that there is a divide between the elites and common people. An elitist view could assume that in such case, the elites are right since, due to their high status and cultural & intellectual capital they are wiser in some way. This heuristic would obviously be considered flawed here. But I think it's equally important to note that the democratic or folkist view that the majority/common people are always right is equally flawed. As a conservative (or maybe just a middle class representative) I do agree with most if not all of the points that the common people agree with which are listed here, but I also understand that there may be some issues where the elites are right and the common people are wrong.
The most significant barrier to collaboration is when people don’t feel free to share a perspective that’s different from everyone else in the room.
Freedom to be who you are - and I don’t mean binary identifiers like gender, race, sexual preferences, income, educational level - doesn’t happen when you think you have to agree with everyone else in your social class.
“Elites have a far more favorable view of journalists (79%) than non-elites (44%).”
I just finished reading Janet Malcolm’s the ‘Journalist and the Murderer’, which is an account of the civil trial that found reporter Joe McGuiness liable for leading-on murderer and family-annihilator Jeffrey MacDonald — McGuiness feigning sympathy about MacDonald’s innocence during correspondence, while the former was writing a book about the latter.
The incarcerated murderer-turned-plaintif hired lawyers who were careful to strike any potential jurors who held college degrees, and the strategy proved effective. The jury that served didn’t accept that it was alright to mislead the subject of a book to keep that subject talking, even when said subject had murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters, aged 4 and 6, as in their eyes, lying was lying and lying is bad.
I wish the reader had a chance to look under the hood of the 2024 "Committee to Unleash Prosperity" 2024 survey. The non-elite sample is 1000 voters out of well over 150 million Americans. How were these voters chosen? We also do not know how the elite sample was curated.
I'm not saying the survey is inaccurate, I'm just saying that when the survey comes from an advocacy organization with an axe to grind, it is good practice to look under the hood. The Stephen Moore organization's website does not permit this scrutiny, so we must take it on faith.
Having said that, I'm not surprised at the results; I just wish that the data were more robust.
When I did my Ph.D. in engineering 40+ years ago, most of my fellow graduate students were foreign born. It is my understanding that the situation is even more lopsided now. And it is very clear that high skilled immigration is significantly reducing salaries and increasing competition in the tech space. It has been that way for decades. When my younger kids were in high school their advanced classes were predominantly the children of highly educated immigrants, and when they were in college, the situation was much the same with the addition of foreign born students. My son learned an excellent Bangalore accent in high school, and has quite a good Chinglish from college/grad school. Mind you, I am not opposed to the high skill immigration - as the only other option for the companies is opening more facilities abroad and we would loose far more. I would note that not enough American students are willing to enter and master these demanding disciplines.
It seems to me that a lot of the discussion of the 'elite' lumps multiple populations that are not all the same. There seems to be a big difference between the STEM group and the liberal arts / cultural group.
Insightful as ever , however there are a couple of things I have really noticed which maybe contributing to this chasm, the fact that a lot of the so called elites come from generations of wealth and power a lot of them really don't know how the world truly works for the common man without their privilege, hence the disconnect.
Their value system is different and to an extent hypocritical the "luxury belief class" as you call them that have been born into this generational wealth , will practice nepotism, cronyism will not reciprocate if someone they deem of a lower social status helps them , they will openly harbour racist views behind closed doors , yet they will preach hard work , how you should be accepting of other cultures welcome them into your neighbourhood and your family and how unchecked immigration without background checks as "no human is illegal" (as a cheap source of labour) , how you should be helpful to everybody and be content with minimalism and aspire to a toxic hustle culture and shut up about ill treatment and be "resilient."
The worst part is that they have cognitive dissonance and think they hold the right view (could be an extreme form of narcissism here , will let you make that call) , in the UK there were some comments about conscription as there might be a war against Russia and there was a major backlash from working and middle class people as the war in Ukraine and sanctions has put energy bills through the roof , creating a cost of living crisis , this is just one example. This attitude is probably the reason we have seen a rise in populism.
The scope of your luxury beliefs framework has the potential for expansion, I have recently come across a philosopher who has written about this extensively Byung Chul Han who has stated the positive psychology, hustle culture and well let's include luxury beliefs are nothing but psychological control mechanisms to keep us in servitude to the neoliberal system that is controlled by these elites.
You write "my views were shaped by my upbringing more so than my education". So true. I was raised in a fly over state by a father who grew up poor in the heart of the depression. My attitude towards money reflects his example no matter how many advanced degrees or how much money I have.
The survey’s wording around freedom cues ‘political freedom’ in a classic sense. This is very different than cultural autonomy for ordinary decision making…readers should take note…My recent research doesn’t suggest class variation on the latter…although, I don’t know of any other survey that has 1,000 members of the 1%…
“It’s nice for the educated class when immigrants provide cheap hired help and open interesting restaurants.” Hahaha
Henderson's essay is worth reading and re-reading. So much of what we observe in politics and culture today reflects this chasm.
The difference between the faux "elites" and normal people is they are snobs. Put any shade of lipstick on that pig you prefer, they are still snobs. That is no better at this place and time than it has ever been. It is.not because of race, class, religion, gender or sexual identity that normal people disapprove of anyone who brands themselves elite. It is because anyone who thinks that way has a flawed character. Please stop playing their silly game by referring to yourself in their terms - "provincial", etc.. You are proof their values are wrong - you came from.outside their cocoon and excelled. You are their kryptonite. Take the mantle and run with it. Stop caring what they think of you. That is their kryptonite.
Rob writes: "If thousands of people with bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees from, say, China and India, were unlawfully entering the U.S. each day, my guess is current elite attitudes around border security would be very different." This gels with reality: Limits on H1B visas, but open borders for the unwashed economic migrants.
Curious would the family in Fresh Prince be considered an elite under your definition? I would guess no, because both Aunt Bev and Uncle Phil knew where they came from. They would know how to order from a Wendy's menu.
Also it is interesting to consider this information along with your other insights that when elites want a policy it is more likely to be implemented than when common folk desire it.
It's also neat to combine your work with Turchin's theories of over production of elites. (His definition of elite is slightly different, in his framework it's defined as people who have any kind of power, be it social, financial, military, political). He says there are too many elites, and their infighting over a small set of leadership roles is leading to dissension amongst all society. I wonder if the fact that elites are so out of touch compared to regular people is a function of this overproduction, or an independent variable?
I know this might sound like the devil's advocate, especially as I support the luxury beliefs theory, but...
It's clear, that there is a divide between the elites and common people. An elitist view could assume that in such case, the elites are right since, due to their high status and cultural & intellectual capital they are wiser in some way. This heuristic would obviously be considered flawed here. But I think it's equally important to note that the democratic or folkist view that the majority/common people are always right is equally flawed. As a conservative (or maybe just a middle class representative) I do agree with most if not all of the points that the common people agree with which are listed here, but I also understand that there may be some issues where the elites are right and the common people are wrong.
The most significant barrier to collaboration is when people don’t feel free to share a perspective that’s different from everyone else in the room.
Freedom to be who you are - and I don’t mean binary identifiers like gender, race, sexual preferences, income, educational level - doesn’t happen when you think you have to agree with everyone else in your social class.
But that’s where we are.
Is there similar data for decades past? I'd be interested to see if the divide was as big in previous generations/decades...
“Elites have a far more favorable view of journalists (79%) than non-elites (44%).”
I just finished reading Janet Malcolm’s the ‘Journalist and the Murderer’, which is an account of the civil trial that found reporter Joe McGuiness liable for leading-on murderer and family-annihilator Jeffrey MacDonald — McGuiness feigning sympathy about MacDonald’s innocence during correspondence, while the former was writing a book about the latter.
The incarcerated murderer-turned-plaintif hired lawyers who were careful to strike any potential jurors who held college degrees, and the strategy proved effective. The jury that served didn’t accept that it was alright to mislead the subject of a book to keep that subject talking, even when said subject had murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters, aged 4 and 6, as in their eyes, lying was lying and lying is bad.
I would have flipped the subtitle with the title.
I wish the reader had a chance to look under the hood of the 2024 "Committee to Unleash Prosperity" 2024 survey. The non-elite sample is 1000 voters out of well over 150 million Americans. How were these voters chosen? We also do not know how the elite sample was curated.
I'm not saying the survey is inaccurate, I'm just saying that when the survey comes from an advocacy organization with an axe to grind, it is good practice to look under the hood. The Stephen Moore organization's website does not permit this scrutiny, so we must take it on faith.
Having said that, I'm not surprised at the results; I just wish that the data were more robust.
“91% of Ivy graduates, 78% of elites overall, and just 49% of ordinary voters have a favorable view of lawyers.” Fascinating.
When I did my Ph.D. in engineering 40+ years ago, most of my fellow graduate students were foreign born. It is my understanding that the situation is even more lopsided now. And it is very clear that high skilled immigration is significantly reducing salaries and increasing competition in the tech space. It has been that way for decades. When my younger kids were in high school their advanced classes were predominantly the children of highly educated immigrants, and when they were in college, the situation was much the same with the addition of foreign born students. My son learned an excellent Bangalore accent in high school, and has quite a good Chinglish from college/grad school. Mind you, I am not opposed to the high skill immigration - as the only other option for the companies is opening more facilities abroad and we would loose far more. I would note that not enough American students are willing to enter and master these demanding disciplines.
It seems to me that a lot of the discussion of the 'elite' lumps multiple populations that are not all the same. There seems to be a big difference between the STEM group and the liberal arts / cultural group.
Insightful as ever , however there are a couple of things I have really noticed which maybe contributing to this chasm, the fact that a lot of the so called elites come from generations of wealth and power a lot of them really don't know how the world truly works for the common man without their privilege, hence the disconnect.
Their value system is different and to an extent hypocritical the "luxury belief class" as you call them that have been born into this generational wealth , will practice nepotism, cronyism will not reciprocate if someone they deem of a lower social status helps them , they will openly harbour racist views behind closed doors , yet they will preach hard work , how you should be accepting of other cultures welcome them into your neighbourhood and your family and how unchecked immigration without background checks as "no human is illegal" (as a cheap source of labour) , how you should be helpful to everybody and be content with minimalism and aspire to a toxic hustle culture and shut up about ill treatment and be "resilient."
The worst part is that they have cognitive dissonance and think they hold the right view (could be an extreme form of narcissism here , will let you make that call) , in the UK there were some comments about conscription as there might be a war against Russia and there was a major backlash from working and middle class people as the war in Ukraine and sanctions has put energy bills through the roof , creating a cost of living crisis , this is just one example. This attitude is probably the reason we have seen a rise in populism.
The scope of your luxury beliefs framework has the potential for expansion, I have recently come across a philosopher who has written about this extensively Byung Chul Han who has stated the positive psychology, hustle culture and well let's include luxury beliefs are nothing but psychological control mechanisms to keep us in servitude to the neoliberal system that is controlled by these elites.
You write "my views were shaped by my upbringing more so than my education". So true. I was raised in a fly over state by a father who grew up poor in the heart of the depression. My attitude towards money reflects his example no matter how many advanced degrees or how much money I have.
The survey’s wording around freedom cues ‘political freedom’ in a classic sense. This is very different than cultural autonomy for ordinary decision making…readers should take note…My recent research doesn’t suggest class variation on the latter…although, I don’t know of any other survey that has 1,000 members of the 1%…