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Title: The discreet terror of the American bourgeoisie
Source:
Financial Times
URL Source: https://www.ft.com/content/c0237568-0b30-11e8-8eb7-42f857ea9f09
Published: Feb 7, 2018
Author: Edward Luce
Post Date: 2018-02-10 07:22:20 by A Pole
Keywords: rich, poor, wealth
Views: 680
Comments: 15
Elites thought they could have it both ways: capital gains and moral certainty [ A product of privilege himself, Luce is an unlikely rebel. The Oxford-educated FT writer is the son of Margaret Thatcher’s former minister Baron Richard Luce (also the former Lord Chamberlain). While his paternal grandfather was Sir William Luce, once the Governor of Aden (now in Yemen) and his maternal great-grandfather was Sir Trevylyan Napier, a one-time chief of the British Navy in the West Indies. But, then again, perhaps his background helps Luce to realize when the elite has gone too far. ] [...] What will America’s elites see when they look inwards? The first will be the shock of self-recognition. Bourgeois bohemians thought they could have it both ways: capital accumulation and moral certainty with no trade-offs. If you studied hard and earned merit, there was plenty of room at the top. But there was a flaw in this thinking. America’s elites have stored more wealth than they can consume. This creates three problems for everyone else. First, elites invest their surpluses in replicating their advantages. Kids raised in poorer neighbourhoods with mediocre schools stand little chance. Their parents cannot match the social capital of their wealthier peers. The drawbridge is rising. The gap between the self image of meritocratic openness and reality is wide. Psychologists call this “self-discrepancy”. Economists call it barriers to entry. The second response to having such vast wealth is to create other kinds of scarcity. Since most people now have basic things — cars, smartphones and college education — material goods are no markers of success. Conspicuous consumption is played down. Scarce goods, such as an Ivy League degree or living in a neighbourhood where you do not need a car, are manically contested. So are cultural advantages. America’s elites preach the gospel of a so-called stem education — science, technology, engineering and maths. But that is for other people. Social capital is about knowing what to say to whom and when, which is a sophisticated skill. Technical learning is for others. Children of the elites are learning how to raise money for philanthropic causes. Economists define this as a positional good. Sociologists call it virtue signalling. Mr Trump calls it political correctness. The third challenge is the hardest to fix. Since there is too much capital chasing too few investment opportunities — what Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury secretary, calls “secular stagnation” — today’s America is cursed by an educational arms race. The jobs available do not match the qualifications millennials are acquiring. There is nothing relaxing about being a member of today’s aspiring classes. Kids must study harder and for longer than their parents to find jobs that do not often repay the effort. The children of the wealthiest do not need student loans and live off their parents’ capital. The rest are struggling to justify the expense. It is as though they were led up to the promised land at sundown. The ratio of effort to outcome is rising. The more people study, the lower the returns to education. You always need more credentials, which most cannot afford. Instead of capital, losers accumulate frustration. [...] ============= Answers sought by email or Twitter — but in correct English if you please. edward.luce@ft.com ============= Comments The writer asked his readers for feedback and noted how the “meritocracy debate” resonated the most. Many called for higher wealth taxes and others claimed the “game is rigged,” which was a Bernie Sanders talking point during his 2016 campaign. One contributor said: “US owners receive trillions of dollars in unearned income per year simply for… owning things,” lamenting an economy which has increasingly rewarded rent-seekers. [rent, an income derived merely from owning something, like the land for example] == Whilst this article focuses on America its points are equally applicable to, at least, UK and Australia. The wealthy enjoy enormous privileges flowing from the formal and informal social structures they maintain - principally business and social contacts and networks and private schooling (which also provides lifelong lucrative personal contacts in addition to a high quality education). We take enormous pleasure in our selfless behaviour when we attend charity balls and events and ostensibly give generously to these causes. However, they are nothing more than a self-congratulatory circle-jerk where being seen - and getting your photo in the paper with the right people - is the key aim. If I'm honest it disgusts me and I find most of these people utterly repellent with their breezy smugness and belief that it is talent that is responsible for their positions and their children's success. We are far too convinced of our own brilliance and virtue to question the appropriateness of our privileges. == For 2500 years oligarchies have tried to rebrand themselves as aristocracies, but the rule of the few is almost never the rule of the best, and that's also the case with the US. In my experience, most Ivy and Ivy Plus schools in the US admit too many students who have wealthy parents and are socially polished, but are intellectually mediocre. Sure, they'll work hard enough to get an A (who doesn't), but often don't last long in graduate and professional school where real grit and talent is a prerequisite for success. That would not be so bad, if graduates from lower-tier institutions had access to good jobs, but they don't, and, indeed, every upper and upper-middle class American will let you know within 30min where he or she went to college, because that's a marker of social distinction. Trump is a reaction to outwardly liberal but deeply elitist Clintonites, who re-brand their fancy parties as charity events so that they don't have to admit to themselves that they are Randian Social Darwinists. Thanks for holding up the mirror. == Gad! What a snivel! The man is channeling the Dickens of a long dead past. "The children of the wealthiest do not need student loans and live off their parents’ capital. The rest are struggling to justify the expense" [...] I shall give you an example I am personally familiar with. A young lady of 18 years; daughter of a single working mother -- who is currently a college junior -- pursuing a triple major. With zero loans taken out so far. How/ First of all she earned enough high school advanced placement credits to skip one year. Secondly, Texas integrates -- to a degree -- it's lower level college courses with high school "Advanced Placement" courses so they can simultaneously earn high school senior and college freshman credits. And she graduated from high school with 18 semester hours of college core freshman courses good at any Texas state supported university. Thirdly, she lived in a smallish city with a branch of the "other" top Texas university system -- A&M. And since she had just turned 17 went there, entering as a 2nd semester freshman. Her federal Pell Grant (NOT a loan!) paid for half of the $4800/tuition & fees. Mother and her own summer earnings the rest (she is a talented artist). Last fall she transferred to a 30,000+ student U. of Texas system university -- as a 2nd semester Sophomore. With her Pell Grant plus an $1,800 per semester U.T. Excellence Grant (not a loan) for her straight-A's in 21 hours with 3 majors performance the first year. She will graduate before she turns 21. With zero debt. Next question -- where to go for graduate school. We take care of our bright ones. == I am very happy for your friend’s daughter, and I agree with you that “we take care of our bright ones”. The disparity lies in the lower chance of success for those with just ordinary abilities. Having parents who can afford to provide you with a quiet place to study, state-of-the-art computer equipment, tutors, etc. can mean the difference between becoming discouraged because you can’t keep up with your peers and feeling that you’ll succeed. == Very interesting. I expect that Edward Luce knows that Michael Young coined the term ‘meritocracy’ to describe a dystopian future. It is a view I agree with. If you adopt the position that the most able in society should rule, with ability measured by intelligence or whatever you like, then you are simply replacing one class of elite with another. Intelligence is generally viewed as being 50 to 80 per cent heritable, and many other traits are highly heritable as well, so a social hierarchy based on intelligence or ability is not really very different from a social hierarchy based on class, caste or race. The realisation of this is what turned me from a liberal into a social democrat. Just as the gentry of the past had a duty to the common people, so the most able of today have a duty to the rest. I cringe when I hear certain people speak of upward class mobility as some sort of unalloyed good that society should strive for. Their implicit belief that the working classes and those without academic qualifications are inferior is so deeply ingrained that they can only imagine success in terms of ‘escape’ into the middle class. I understand their view, because if they were in that position, they’d want to escape. So would I. Do working class people want to ‘escape’ into the middle class? Some may do, others may not. If there is a sufficiently developed welfare state, they will have the choice. What I am confident all of them want is a decent standard of living. To that end, they deserve the right to bargain collectively so that they can receive a fair share of productivity gains, to have a say in how firms are run so that their own interests are not ignored, to decide that certain essentials of life should be financed by the state, etc. What they need – and indeed everyone needs, especially the most able – is to be taught the duties of citizenship and to take those duties seriously. They must be viewed as equals and have a say in how society is run. If they want Brexit or Trump, and enough of the middle classes join them, then so be it. Beyond the principled objection to the view that society is divided into superior (the educated middle classes) and inferior (‘deplorables’) groups, and that the former have an almost divine right to rule the latter, it is far from clear that meritocracy even does what it is supposed to do, i.e. selects on merit. In many cases, the honest are at a disadvantage relative to the dishonest, the honourable are at a disadvantage relative to the corrupt, the merciful are at a disadvantage relative to the ruthless, etc. The sharper the incentives, the more these things matter. Ability and hard work help, but all else equal, many of those who reach the top of a supposed meritocracy do not even appear to be amongst the most able.
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#1. To: A Pole (#0)
So much in this is worthy of conversation. It's a difficult one to have.
As a deploralbe who has risen above the middle class, all i can say is this talk of class is sickening, people are people, they all need a chance, and perhaps those with money should pay it back by sponsoring disadvantaged kids.
As many people claimed, lower middle class tends to despise lower class or minorities, envy upper middle class and worships the upper class. In general it has fascist tendencies. Is it true?
I would not see myself as fascist, social justice is important, law and order must exist and be enforced otherwise you have anarchy, but what is obvious is those with less protest, while those with more look on
I would not see you that way either. I am just interested in your opinion on "lower middle class".
I dont know what lower middle class is, there are peasants, such as those who till the land for others, there are those who earn wages, those who earn a salary, those who own property, and those who are rich, I am none of these and yet, l have no debts, pay no income tax, and live comfortably
I give you my own definition. Middle class is this part of the working class that manages to commend higher pay than is needed to survive. Upper class are those who do not need to work and can hire people from lower classes. So you appear to be part of lower upper class.
You see i see class as an out of date definition, if you have money do some good with it, if you have to work for it how are you different? Does the quality of your clothes make you better? Let us just say i hate bullshit, and class is bullshit
They must be viewed as equals and have a say in how society is run. If they want Brexit or Trump, and enough of the middle classes join them, then so be it. Agreed, ---- everyone, especially the most able – must be taught the duties of citizenship, --- under our system as a constitutional republic --- and to take those duties seriously. Our children are now being taught 'progressive socialism' in our public schools. and this must be stopped..
Tell it to the slaves and to their owners.
A billionaire and a guy making minimal wage, CANNOT be citizens of the same republic. They live on different planets.
do you think it might be just possible I am doing that
what I suggest you do is exile all those billionaires to that different planet. Hey, reverse the migration, let all the poor leave the US and see how long the billionaires last
Funny thing, if all those billionaires decide to leave our planet, they will discover that all their wealth (created by the workers labor) will not follow them.
A billionaire and a guy making minimal wage, CANNOT be citizens of the same republic. They live on different planets. --- A Pole As a building contractor, I worked with both (and started out working as a min wage laborer myself), and believe me, we all live in the same world. Most of the millionaires, and the one billionaire I've known, made it by getting lucky in real estate. They're ordinary people, and it's idiotic to think they are special.
#2. To: A Pole (#0)
#3. To: paraclete (#2)
As a deplorable who has risen above the middle class
#4. To: A Pole (#3)
#5. To: paraclete (#4)
I would not see myself as fascist
#6. To: A Pole (#5)
#7. To: paraclete (#6)
(Edited)
I dont know what lower middle class is
#8. To: A Pole (#7)
#9. To: Y'ALL (#0)
---- everyone needs, especially the most able – is to be taught the duties of citizenship and to take those duties seriously.
#10. To: paraclete (#8)
(Edited)
You see i see class as an out of date definition, if you have money do some good with it, if you have to work for it how are you different? Does the quality of your clothes make you better? Let us just say i hate bullshit, and class is bullshit
#11. To: tpaine (#9)
Agreed, ---- everyone, especially the most able – must be taught the duties of citizenship, --- under our system as a constitutional republic --- and to take those duties seriously.
#12. To: A Pole (#10)
Tell it to the slaves and to their owners.
#13. To: A Pole (#11)
A billionaire and a guy making minimal wage, CANNOT be citizens of the same republic. They live on different planets.
#14. To: paraclete (#13)
(Edited)
what I suggest you do is exile all those billionaires to that different planet. Hey, reverse the migration, let all the poor leave the US and see how long the billionaires last
#15. To: A Pole (#11)
Agreed, ---- everyone, especially the most able – must be taught the duties of citizenship, --- under our system as a constitutional republic --- and to take those duties seriously.
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