The New Elite | Hacker News Reader

The New Elite

washingtonpost.com

Let me grab two key excerpts from the article (one from the beginning and one from the end) and reverse the order in which they appear.

> Taken individually, members of the New Elite are isolated from mainstream America as a result of lifestyle choices that are nobody's business but their own. But add them all up, and they mean that the New Elite lives in a world that doesn't intersect with mainstream America in many important ways. When the tea party says the New Elite doesn't get America, there is some truth in the accusation.

> What sets the tea party apart from other observers of the New Elite is its hostility, rooted in the charge that elites are isolated from mainstream America and ignorant about the lives of ordinary Americans.

Taken in that sense (and I believe that is the basic point of the article) there is reason to believe that a large segment of the population feels unrepresented. Probably unrespected, too. Looking at some of the early comments I can see HN-ers writing "Why should we care about X?" or "What makes X more American?" when X is characteristic of small town, rural, or blue collar America? Despite the slant the article implies, X isn't more American, but it is still American.

This is my theory: the Tea Party folks see the things that the "New Elites" care about and see "New Elite culture" on TV/etc. and in that sense have some exposure to it, but the reverse doesn't seem to be true. Those on the bottom spend more time looking up than those at the top spend looking down. And there are very few non-"New Elites" in positions of power to represent them. That's my best guess.

When people in power make decisions that can affect thousands or millions, you don't want to have a blind spot that misses how your actions will impact or be viewed by a large swath of the population. It does seem like the "New Elite" occupies many positions of power in government and society as a whole. And it looks at least plausible that the "New Elites" have a cultural blind spot for the people that now rally under a Tea Party banner. Despite some of the political slanting of the article, I think that's an important point to recognize.

> The members of the New Elite may love America, but, increasingly, they are not of it.

So, why exactly is Football more American than Yoga; "Left Behind" more American than "Mad Men"; Branson, MO more American than NY, NY? It seems like he has a very narrow and dated view of what America is.

> They are merely isolated and ignorant.

Wait, people who read Left Behind are less ignorant and isolated than MIT grads? What planet does this guy live on?

1. Apart from the fake populism, I was struck in the print edition by the Southernization of America--I'm supposed to car about stock car racing and and country music? Back in the day those were amusements that started south of the Ohio.

2."Why is football more American than yoga?" I guess you could ask the guys who advertise beer, tires, and pharmaceuticals for the ills of the baby boomers.

I'm uncertain if said populism is fake. Most of HN readers likely fit the stereotype that the author is attempting to project in this article.

But that's what he is making: a stereotype and only a stereotype.

His assertions read more like assumptions that only sparingly drew on sociological information. When he referred to, I believe, a single sociological tome, he only considered "elite" schools. He neglected those of us who did not attend Ivy League (UVa here and I was a miserable college student indeed) and those who did not attend college at all! Instead, he seemed to prefer to pick bones with his journalistic peers.

Living in Worcester County, Maryland for the past couple of years, I find that I did not understand the "Digital Divide" until meeting for myself children with no computer or internet connection at home. Are these children likely to become the next Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerburg? I highly doubt it. Even if they have it within them, this environment does not care to foster those interests. Instead, the local "vocational tech" school seems to emphasize and curriculum involving auto repair and HVAC. This makes me sad. And it makes me just a touch more sympathetic to this clearly embittered journalist.

Bring on the down votes.

It's easy to crack the code

NASCAR and MMA = Male

Left Behind = Christian

Branson, MO, RV's and Cruise Ships = White

I was trying really hard to understand his argument. I can buy that the various social and economic forces of our time are creating a new type of caste, an "elite."

If the guy spent less time insulting and more time with real numbers (not the circumstantial evidence he did give), I might agree. This whole article is just divisive and useless though: the people who already agree will be validated and the people who didn't will feel insulted.

This writer takes an interesting perspective on the state of society in America today. The point that I think he's making is that there are severely and distinctly different Americans today than ever before, the outcome of which is a cultural and, to a point, class level struggle which no one is acknowledging.

This cultural and class struggle is juvenile at the base: Starbucks drinkers vs non-Starbucks drinkers; stock-car racing fans vs non-stock-car racing fans; meat eaters vs vegans; and on and on. Today, if you're fan of something in America, you're proud of that something and you want everyone else to know and this ultimately serves to make you feel superior about others because you're a something fan. Hollywood celebrities and other famous people are spotlighted for this all the time.

Now to a guy living in a trailer park, who sees Cameron Diaz drink Fiji water on TV, goes to the market and sees the price of Fiji water and comes out thinking these people are nuts, a spark of disconnect is created. Now Cameron Diaz goes on TV to promote some politician. Trailer Park Guy sees both of them drinking Fiji water and now is sure that this guy drinking that expensive bottle of water cannot possibly understand the concerns of a trailer park. Trailer Park Guy now associates himself to a Sarah Palin politician just because he mentally can't associate himself with Fiji Water Politician.

By focusing and fueling this type of thinking, the Republicans are winning the American majority.

I thought that name sounded familiar. He mentions it in passing, but this is one of the guys who wrote the Bell Curve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve

I'd seriously question his credibility on this topic. A bunch of cherry-picked wedding announcements plus some ivy league admission rates aren't gonna do it for me, guy.

Lessee... Lots of these now-TEA-party folks spent 8 years making goo-goo eyes over Dubya. Yale and Harvard Biz. Guess they really didn't like him?

They talk a good talk, but they really don't care about elites except through the narrow parameters they define--- they're angry about liberal or educated elites, not the rich folks funding them or buying elections.

It's about identity politics, among other things: anybody that's not like them isn't a real American, and they've got to take back the country from same. They're animated by the fear of and anger at their increasing irrelevance. And the Koch brothers are more than happy to help out.

It's funny, though, because people who aren't from the US who talk about visiting the US talk about NYC kind of a lot. Branson, MO? Where the hell is that? Oh, right. Flyover country.

Isn't he just saying in a roundabout way, the new elite are defined as rich, educated and successful (rather from aristocracy)?

If one is in that position, why would they need or want to relate to the poor and uneducated?

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