‘Luxury Beliefs’ Are the Latest Status Symbol for Rich Americans
18th August 2019
A former classmate from Yale recently told me “monogamy is kind of outdated” and not good for society.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.
I suspect that a lot of it is just teenage rebellion hardening into habit, as with the Parlor Pink ‘socialism’ of the affluent throughout the 20th century. Like people who go to church because everybody else they know does but who do whatever they want during the week, there is no actual connection between What I Say and What I Do. They say what they say because they are expected to say it; they do what they do because that’s what they want. The hypocrisy of wealthy environmentalists is an enduring cliché, and it’s so endemic that people almost expect it.