My working class parents did not go to college, yet I pursued my odd predilections to earn a PhD. Through marrying a very talented and lucky immigrant striver we manage to pass (perhaps?) as upper middle class, by income (barely) at least, if not by patterns of consumption. The sense of class whiplash is real and sustained. This is no doubt why Rob is one of my favorite social analysts.
I love your name. I am a Cassandra, myself. I could always see ahead of the curve before everyone else. I have an inborn talent for connecting the dots. In reality. I often sign off my posts on social media as “Call Me Cassandra”.
Bingo! I’ve been saying this about the old left that claimed to speak for “the people” and/or “the workers” because I knew so many of them personally. When they claim to speak for the “people” I learned as far back as the late 1960s when I was in high school in Brooklyn that “the people” are only those who agree with them, otherwise if you disagree with anything they believe you are no longer “people” or a “person” but an enemy to be disposed of. Similarly, I grew up at a time when some leftists were actually still working people. I grew up in a secular Jewish working and lower middle class neighborhood in Brooklyn. We were the “poor Jews” and yes, my family were actual workers. Low skilled because they were all Holocaust survivors who came to the US, if they were lucky, but had very limited language or education because they lost they youth to being slave labor for the Nazis. And they were the lucky ones! Anyway, I saw for myself how silly the socialist/communist/Marxist belief system was. How it totally went against human nature. And I truly loved the principles of the founding of America and it’s been a life long love affair. It helps that I am a historian by nature if not by profession. This latest crop of nepo baby communists and the Islamists who are using them before eating them up (here’s looking at YOU, Mamdani!) need to be stopped before they ruin everything for the rest of us. Thank you, Rob, for being such a smart and wise younger analyst of reality. I am pleased and gratified to be able to support your continued work.
Wow, I didn't know that tidbit about how romantic couples sit together. Sociology's so fascinating!
I still remember in high school, reading a book talking about the difference between the social classes. It was probably written in the nineteen fifties or sixties. And one of the things that struck me was when it said a middle class person would call the thing a patio, but lower and upper classes would call it a porch.
As always you are the best at this, Rob. I hope I'm not butchering the phrase but I use "luxury beliefs" to describe a lot of what I see in the northeast. My own background is quite working class: my grandparents lived in Deland, Florida in the 1930s and ran the college cafeteria at Stetson University. Very messy and hands-on... but my dad, my aunt, and my uncle got to go to college for free. My mom came from a similar un-privileged background, despite being white Irish Catholics (LOL). She dropped out of nursing school to help my grandparents care for the eighth of their nine children. The 'hood I grew up in was full of enormous families squeezed into 3BR/1 bath houses that maxxed out at perhaps 1,300 square feet. My working-class neighborhood did not resemble anything Mamdani experienced, nor that of any of his cronies.
Rob -- Excellent essay. Frankly, it all seemed to me like obvious common sense, but given how fresh and piercing your writing is, apparently it's neither obvious nor common.
I think the way you skewered Mamdani is very effective. I've been shaking my head over the idiocy of people supporting a man who promises that everyone can have lots of free things that will be paid for solely by billionaires. By pointing out his clueless hypocrisy, perhaps some of those people will begin to resent being treated like suckers.
I had a memorable supervision while an undergraduate where we were discussing the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu who wrote a lot about taste + how the French class system was so entrenched despite large state investment in public (in the sense of for the masses, not the elite English "Clarendon" schools).
The supervisor spent most of the hour making the case that Bourdieu was talking nonsense. On our way out we had some small talk and they mentioned that they were conducting entrance interviews.
And that some of the people 'from the north' seemed 'really quite clever' but the thought of having to listen to their accents for three years 'was just awful', which seemed to validate what Bourdieu spent 300+ pages detailing...
Still can't work out whether they were just winding us up (we both had accents, from the north west + north east of england respectively), or perhaps presenting a counter argument to the one they'd made over the hour...
Sam Friedman's book on class (in the UK - basic thesis that class mobility via uni is possible, but to get to the top of professions, you need to have had secondary education in elite settings) with ethnographies is very interesting (and entertaining) https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/the-class-ceiling
“The best way to learn class rules is through exposure. Most people, though, do not get many chances to live, work, and socialize with those outside their own social class. And when they do, the discomfort of crossing that cultural divide often sends them back to familiar territory. This is one overlooked reason why people who are capable of upward mobility don’t always pursue it. It’s uncomfortable.” Wow. First time I hear this although I felt it deeply. It is uncomfortable! This is so so true, so important and really overlooked. Rob, please expand on this, please!
Thanks for continuing to research and write about these issues - it’s always helpful to get a reality check from someone who knows what he’s talking about - I’ve noted luxury belief and behavior in those I interact with and it helps that others see it too and can articulate why it’s so damaging to more vulnerable people, not to mention the hypocrisy of claiming to support the poor while pursuing policies that actually screw them over
The common denominator in all of this seems to be the following demographic slice:
--People in jobs that carry high prestige (arts, teaching, nonprofit work, public service), that
--Make salaries on the low end for salaried professionals (Nate Silver said the sweet spot was $30-60K), and
--Often are highly credentialed (graduate degrees), and
--Often live in areas with high costs of living (NYC being the canonical example), whether by choice or professional need.
Other contributive factors seem to be bougie if not elite upbringings (i.e., being downwardly mobile), and fierce competition for the jobs they have (elite overproduction).
This seems to be the deadly combination that breeds socialists and redistributionists of all types. Essentially, they feel that because of their credentials and prestige, they are *entitled* to higher pay that the free market will not provide them (or they sidestep the free market and get paid by government and NGOs), and consequently blame the free market when they don't get the paychecks they want (and perhaps need in areas with high costs of living).
They are not wrong about "blaming" the free market; the free market will not give people something for nothing. Where they are wrong is when they feel they have the right to sidestep it or replace it or ratfuck it with something else in hopes of higher pay.
We really need a new word now for rich person; billionaire and millionaire don't cover it anymore. All millionaire might indicate is that you're adequately prepared for old age, and perhaps not even that.
As a tubby (fat) trustafarian I find it quite convenient to order from Dickies online as they do not seem to judge the 50 inch waist. My father who did have a PhD also liked Dickies trousers but took a 32" which was a bit more readily grabbed of the shelf.
An aside, it has been noted that some successful generals disdained wearing the flamboyances they were entitled to. U.S. Grant off top of mind, but also a few British.
My working class parents did not go to college, yet I pursued my odd predilections to earn a PhD. Through marrying a very talented and lucky immigrant striver we manage to pass (perhaps?) as upper middle class, by income (barely) at least, if not by patterns of consumption. The sense of class whiplash is real and sustained. This is no doubt why Rob is one of my favorite social analysts.
I love your name. I am a Cassandra, myself. I could always see ahead of the curve before everyone else. I have an inborn talent for connecting the dots. In reality. I often sign off my posts on social media as “Call Me Cassandra”.
Bingo! I’ve been saying this about the old left that claimed to speak for “the people” and/or “the workers” because I knew so many of them personally. When they claim to speak for the “people” I learned as far back as the late 1960s when I was in high school in Brooklyn that “the people” are only those who agree with them, otherwise if you disagree with anything they believe you are no longer “people” or a “person” but an enemy to be disposed of. Similarly, I grew up at a time when some leftists were actually still working people. I grew up in a secular Jewish working and lower middle class neighborhood in Brooklyn. We were the “poor Jews” and yes, my family were actual workers. Low skilled because they were all Holocaust survivors who came to the US, if they were lucky, but had very limited language or education because they lost they youth to being slave labor for the Nazis. And they were the lucky ones! Anyway, I saw for myself how silly the socialist/communist/Marxist belief system was. How it totally went against human nature. And I truly loved the principles of the founding of America and it’s been a life long love affair. It helps that I am a historian by nature if not by profession. This latest crop of nepo baby communists and the Islamists who are using them before eating them up (here’s looking at YOU, Mamdani!) need to be stopped before they ruin everything for the rest of us. Thank you, Rob, for being such a smart and wise younger analyst of reality. I am pleased and gratified to be able to support your continued work.
A sizeable portion of the populist/socialist left is driven by an unconscious desire to LOOK morally good, without having to actually DO anything morally good. Their actions seem to begin and end with ‘protesting and raising awareness.’ I explain the psychology behind this here: https://substack.com/@obsessivehermit/note/c-295989349?r=1fcjc2&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Rob:
great article that explains a lot. I have never seen the subject presented at all. Your writing is insightful, concise and clear
I really enjoy and appreciate your content.
Thank you
Wow, I didn't know that tidbit about how romantic couples sit together. Sociology's so fascinating!
I still remember in high school, reading a book talking about the difference between the social classes. It was probably written in the nineteen fifties or sixties. And one of the things that struck me was when it said a middle class person would call the thing a patio, but lower and upper classes would call it a porch.
As always you are the best at this, Rob. I hope I'm not butchering the phrase but I use "luxury beliefs" to describe a lot of what I see in the northeast. My own background is quite working class: my grandparents lived in Deland, Florida in the 1930s and ran the college cafeteria at Stetson University. Very messy and hands-on... but my dad, my aunt, and my uncle got to go to college for free. My mom came from a similar un-privileged background, despite being white Irish Catholics (LOL). She dropped out of nursing school to help my grandparents care for the eighth of their nine children. The 'hood I grew up in was full of enormous families squeezed into 3BR/1 bath houses that maxxed out at perhaps 1,300 square feet. My working-class neighborhood did not resemble anything Mamdani experienced, nor that of any of his cronies.
Rob -- Excellent essay. Frankly, it all seemed to me like obvious common sense, but given how fresh and piercing your writing is, apparently it's neither obvious nor common.
I think the way you skewered Mamdani is very effective. I've been shaking my head over the idiocy of people supporting a man who promises that everyone can have lots of free things that will be paid for solely by billionaires. By pointing out his clueless hypocrisy, perhaps some of those people will begin to resent being treated like suckers.
Brilliant and enlightening. Thank you.
Enjoyed this!
Bourdieu Rules Everything Around Me, lol.
I had a memorable supervision while an undergraduate where we were discussing the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu who wrote a lot about taste + how the French class system was so entrenched despite large state investment in public (in the sense of for the masses, not the elite English "Clarendon" schools).
The supervisor spent most of the hour making the case that Bourdieu was talking nonsense. On our way out we had some small talk and they mentioned that they were conducting entrance interviews.
And that some of the people 'from the north' seemed 'really quite clever' but the thought of having to listen to their accents for three years 'was just awful', which seemed to validate what Bourdieu spent 300+ pages detailing...
Still can't work out whether they were just winding us up (we both had accents, from the north west + north east of england respectively), or perhaps presenting a counter argument to the one they'd made over the hour...
Sam Friedman's book on class (in the UK - basic thesis that class mobility via uni is possible, but to get to the top of professions, you need to have had secondary education in elite settings) with ethnographies is very interesting (and entertaining) https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/the-class-ceiling
very nicely written. I would love to read your views on Paul Fussell's book and the class structure of the USA (or regional variations ?).
The college degree is more than a marker. It is how you live between the ages of 18 and 22 that forms your outlook.
“The best way to learn class rules is through exposure. Most people, though, do not get many chances to live, work, and socialize with those outside their own social class. And when they do, the discomfort of crossing that cultural divide often sends them back to familiar territory. This is one overlooked reason why people who are capable of upward mobility don’t always pursue it. It’s uncomfortable.” Wow. First time I hear this although I felt it deeply. It is uncomfortable! This is so so true, so important and really overlooked. Rob, please expand on this, please!
In my experience, these insights apply to LatAm as well.
Thanks for continuing to research and write about these issues - it’s always helpful to get a reality check from someone who knows what he’s talking about - I’ve noted luxury belief and behavior in those I interact with and it helps that others see it too and can articulate why it’s so damaging to more vulnerable people, not to mention the hypocrisy of claiming to support the poor while pursuing policies that actually screw them over
The common denominator in all of this seems to be the following demographic slice:
--People in jobs that carry high prestige (arts, teaching, nonprofit work, public service), that
--Make salaries on the low end for salaried professionals (Nate Silver said the sweet spot was $30-60K), and
--Often are highly credentialed (graduate degrees), and
--Often live in areas with high costs of living (NYC being the canonical example), whether by choice or professional need.
Other contributive factors seem to be bougie if not elite upbringings (i.e., being downwardly mobile), and fierce competition for the jobs they have (elite overproduction).
This seems to be the deadly combination that breeds socialists and redistributionists of all types. Essentially, they feel that because of their credentials and prestige, they are *entitled* to higher pay that the free market will not provide them (or they sidestep the free market and get paid by government and NGOs), and consequently blame the free market when they don't get the paychecks they want (and perhaps need in areas with high costs of living).
They are not wrong about "blaming" the free market; the free market will not give people something for nothing. Where they are wrong is when they feel they have the right to sidestep it or replace it or ratfuck it with something else in hopes of higher pay.
We really need a new word now for rich person; billionaire and millionaire don't cover it anymore. All millionaire might indicate is that you're adequately prepared for old age, and perhaps not even that.
As a tubby (fat) trustafarian I find it quite convenient to order from Dickies online as they do not seem to judge the 50 inch waist. My father who did have a PhD also liked Dickies trousers but took a 32" which was a bit more readily grabbed of the shelf.
An aside, it has been noted that some successful generals disdained wearing the flamboyances they were entitled to. U.S. Grant off top of mind, but also a few British.