Luxury Beliefs

[jerryskids 5,192]

Conservatives like myself have long observed that movements such as BLM and CRT have a disproportionate amount of support from white, upper and upper middle class people.  I’ve sometimes likened it to a secular religion for them.  Last week my wife and I listened to a fascinating podcast with Sam Harris interviewing Balaji Srinivasan; Harris is a bit of a big government guy and Srinivasan is all about decentralization and crypto, and I may say more about it in the Crypto thread.

Anyway, Sam was complaining about the Uber rich paying low taxes and Balaji argued that we’ve largely solved true poverty (not American poverty), and that we have significant equity these days in areas like digital consumption (Bezos and an average shmo can both google info almost instantly); also most Americans can get the latest iPhone etc, and that the rich can no longer show off their status through such things, so they look for causes instead.  During the discussion my wife commented “luxury beliefs”. I said wow I love that; she said she read it in the following opinion piece.

The basic premise extends the “status” concept in a bit of a dark direction — status only counts after all if other people don’t have it, or to his point, if the causes they support have a negative effect on the people they purport to help.  He provides three examples:  traditional marriages/family structure are not important, religion is irrational or harmful, and individual decisions are less important than social forces.  I’ll let you read it, it isn’t long:

Quote

‘Luxury beliefs’ are the latest status symbol for rich Americans

A former classmate from Yale recently told me “monogamy is kind of outdated” and not good for society. So I asked her what her background is and if she planned to marry.

She said she comes from an affluent family and works at a well-known technology company. Yes, she personally intends to have a monogamous marriage — but quickly added that marriage shouldn’t have to be for everyone.

She was raised by a traditional family. She planned on having a traditional family. But she maintained that traditional families are old-fashioned and society should “evolve” beyond them.

What could explain this?

In the past, upper-class Americans used to display their social status with luxury goods. Today, they do it with luxury beliefs.

People care a lot about social status. In fact, research indicates that respect and admiration from our peers are even more important than money for our sense of well-being.

We feel pressure to display our status in new ways. This is why fashionable clothing always changes. But as trendy clothes and other products become more accessible and affordable, there is increasingly less status attached to luxury goods.

The upper classes have found a clever solution to this problem: luxury beliefs. These are ideas and opinions that confer status on the rich at very little cost, while taking a toll on the lower class.

One example of luxury belief is that all family structures are equal. This is not true. Evidence is clear that families with two married parents are the most beneficial for young children. And yet, affluent, educated people raised by two married parents are more likely than others to believe monogamy is outdated, marriage is a sham or that all families are the same.

Relaxed attitudes about marriage trickle down to the working class and the poor. In the 1960s, marriage rates between upper-class and lower-class Americans were nearly identical. But during this time, affluent Americans loosened social norms, expressing skepticism about marriage and monogamy.

This luxury belief contributed to the erosion of the family. Today, the marriage rates of affluent Americans are nearly the same as they were in the 1960s. But working-class people are far less likely to get married. Furthermore, out-of-wedlock birthrates are more than 10 times higher than they were in 1960, mostly among the poor and working class. Affluent people seldom have kids out of wedlock but are more likely than others to express the luxury belief that doing so is of no consequence.

Another luxury belief is that religion is irrational or harmful. Members of the upper class are most likely to be atheists or non-religious. But they have the resources and access to thrive without the unifying social edifice of religion.

Places of worship are often essential for the social fabric of poor communities. Denigrating the importance of religion harms the poor. While affluent people often find meaning in their work, most Americans do not have the luxury of a “profession.” They have jobs. They clock in, they clock out. Without a family or community to care for, such a job can feel meaningless.

Then there’s the luxury belief that individual decisions don’t matter much compared to random social forces, including luck. This belief is more common among many of my peers at Yale and Cambridge than the kids I grew up with in foster care or the women and men I served with in the military. The key message is that the outcomes of your life are beyond your control. This idea works to the benefit of the upper class and harms ordinary people.

It is common to see students at prestigious universities work ceaselessly and then downplay the importance of tenacity. They perform an “aw, shucks” routine to suggest they just got lucky rather than accept credit for their efforts. This message is damaging. If disadvantaged people believe random chance is the key factor for success, they will be less likely to strive.

White privilege is the luxury belief that took me the longest to understand, because I grew up around poor whites. Often members of the upper-class claim that racial disparities stem from inherent advantages held by whites. Yet Asian Americans are more educated, have higher earnings and live longer than whites. Affluent whites are the most enthusiastic about the idea of white privilege, yet they are the least likely to incur any costs for promoting that belief. Rather, they raise their social standing by talking about their privilege.

In other words, upper-class whites gain status by talking about their high status. When laws are enacted to combat white privilege, it won’t be the privileged whites who are harmed. Poor whites will bear the brunt.

It’s possible that affluent whites don’t always agree with their own luxury beliefs, or at least have doubts. Maybe they don’t like the ideological fur coat they’re wearing. But if their peers punish them for not sporting it all over town, they will never leave the house without it again.

Because, like with diamond rings or designer clothes of old, upper-class people don a luxury belief to separate themselves from the lower class. These beliefs, in turn, produce real, tangible consequences for disadvantaged people, further widening the divide. Just as fashionable clothing will soon be outdated, so will today’s fashionable beliefs. In the future, expect the upper class to defame even more values — including ones they hold dear — in their quest to gain top-dog status.

Rob Henderson (@robkhenderson), who served in the Air Force, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cambridge.

https://nypost.com/2019/08/17/luxury-beliefs-are-the-latest-status-symbol-for-rich-americans/

Thoughts?  I’ve always believed that the Left is just Pollyanna naive about such things, but some of the beliefs take a big leap of naïveté.  Another luxury belief is taxing the rich:  this has been attempted 9876780 times in history and has 0 success, because the rich have smarter and more incentivized accountants, lawyers, and people in general than a government bureaucracy has, not to mention those rich folks have a bit of sway with the politicians, so in the end the costs trickle down to the middle class.  Yet here we are again with Biden telling us his $3.5T plan “is free,” like this is the first time someone had the brilliant idea to tax the rich, and supposedly smart people actually buy this load of bull.  I don’t want to get into the weeds of a specific sub-topic but you get the point.

I guess I’m wondering what you think of the concept, and is there at least subconsciously a small amount of joy that the woke people get from putting people in a worse position because of these beliefs?   

[Mike Honcho 4,021]

I'm going to wait for this post to come out as an audio book.

[Utilit99 4,099]

I'm with Dave Ramsey on the current status symbol in this country should be someone who is debt free. 

I remember when I first became debt free years ago, it was glorious and it still feels that way today. 

[edjr 5,561]

I have luxury and I don't need to believe in fake bullchit to make myself feel less guilty

[TimmySmith 2,782]

All Americans have luxury beliefs. There is no way that the uneducated, unmotivated people in this country should own anything, and they own a lot.  Doesn't happen anywhere else. 

[Utilit99 4,099]

3 minutes ago, TimmySmith said:

All Americans have luxury beliefs. There is no way that the uneducated, unmotivated people in this country should own anything, and they own a lot.  Doesn't happen anywhere else. 

Luxury items are 'wants'. Most people don't even know the difference behind needs and wants. They put wants over needs on a daily basis.   

[jerryskids 5,192]

2 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

I'm going to wait for this post to come out as an audio book.

You could read it while you listen to the hum of a well-oiled server.   

[JustinCharge 2,397]

i see it for it is.  the left starts with the assumption that married couples do not vote for the left.  they then use mental gymnastics to find reasons to destroy traditional marriage. this is just someone who is well-educated and deploying that education to pursue tribalism.  same for religion and rugged individualism.

[listen2me 23 1,541]

You can call it a Lib vs Republican thing in a sense.  But it is also a city vs rural thing.  

It is a cheap way for city folks to feel good about themselves.  Throw a BLM sign up.  Vote for Liberals who disguise themselves as for the poor and oppressed.  Yet just like the one story Honcho posted, they won't bat an eye at a predator raping a girl on a train they are riding.  

Go to rural communities.  No they may not put up token signs supporting a corrupt movement.  No they won't vote for the "feel good" candidate.  But they will help their fellow neighbor.  They couldnt sit there and let a girl be raped.  

In cities you are just a number.  No one cares about anyone.  So token "caring" is used.  In rural communities you help your neighbor and total strangers and because of that there is no need to seek token movements or token moral superiority.  

[RLLD 3,455]

15 hours ago, Utilit99 said:

I'm with Dave Ramsey on the current status symbol in this country should be someone who is debt free. 

I remember when I first became debt free years ago, it was glorious and it still feels that way today. 

THIS!!   Holy crap.  Want to see peoples standard of living just soar, live within your means until you are ready to afford the luxuries.  It is as simple as this.  Earn it first, then have it.

[Cdub100 3,380]

15 hours ago, Utilit99 said:

I'm with Dave Ramsey on the current status symbol in this country should be someone who is debt free. 

I remember when I first became debt free years ago, it was glorious and it still feels that way today. 

I was working towards being debt free until I switched my philosophy after I saw what they were doing with covid. The inflation that is happening is devaluing money. I had 6 years left to pay off my house until I built this new one and I got another 30 year mortgage then I took out a loan to build out a pool and currently have two car payments. I'm making more now through crypto staking then the interest rate on those loans. I have enough money tied up in investments to pay off all of my debt including my house but I'm making too much money. 

I've actually been thinking a lot about what happened after the 1929 stock market crash which businesses survived. What was better to be over leveraged or debt-free or somewhere in between

[Mike Honcho 4,021]

13 hours ago, jerryskids said:

You could read it while you listen to the hum of a well-oiled server.   

[JustinCharge 2,397]

28 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

You can call it a Lib vs Republican thing in a sense.  But it is also a city vs rural thing.  

It is a cheap way for city folks to feel good about themselves.  Throw a BLM sign up.  Vote for Liberals who disguise themselves as for the poor and oppressed.  Yet just like the one story Honcho posted, they won't bat an eye at a predator raping a girl on a train they are riding.  

Go to rural communities.  No they may not put up token signs supporting a corrupt movement.  No they won't vote for the "feel good" candidate.  But they will help their fellow neighbor.  They couldnt sit there and let a girl be raped.  

In cities you are just a number.  No one cares about anyone.  So token "caring" is used.  In rural communities you help your neighbor and total strangers and because of that there is no need to seek token movements or token moral superiority.  

one of the big problems in california is that urban craziness entered rural areas.  it used to be that people in rural areas in california would clear brush and kindling before fire season.  but urbanites went on the attack to stop that and force rural folk to back off.  so now we have huge fires.

[tubby_mcgee 686]

43 minutes ago, listen2me 23 said:

Liberals won't bat an eye at a predator raping a girl on a train they are riding.  

That's because liberals see that kind of stuff as "normal".  Just like thuggery and blacks running around shooting people all day long. 

[frank 2,144]

I believe I can fly.