to public school, and everyone watched the evening news with Walter Cronkite. Today,
the professional elite sends their kids to private schools, shops at Whole Foods, and reads
Slate instead of watching Fox. Floods of ink cover the increased segmentation of the
American media market, but almost no one makes the obvious point that the
segmentation is shaped by social class. My circle of friends would no more send a
Hallmark card than eat at TGI Friday’s. We all know what’s classy, though we wouldn’t
be so gauche as to admit it.
Or consider coffee, a daily part of most Americans’ lives. When I was growing up in the
1960s, there were two kinds of coffee: decent and burnt. But over the past 30 years, a
class structure of coffee has emerged. In the Rust Belt city where my in-laws live, you
still go to Dunkin’ Donuts for a good cup. Not where I live in San Francisco: it’s all local
coffee shops, with pour-overs starting at $6 a cup. And what of Starbucks? As Starbucks
has democratized, and its drinks made sweeter and fattier, my PME friends wouldn’t
think of setting foot in a Starbucks. Seeking to recapture that market, the ubiquitous chain
recently announced a new premium coffee for $12 a cup.^54
Not only the mundane is class-marked. So is the sublime. Among the elite, we proudly
announce we are “spiritual but not religious” and invent some unique blend. Developing
one’s own personal mélange of world religions reflects our taste for novelty and our
penchant for self-development. Conventional religion? So down market.
Looking down on religion is a commonplace form of modern snobbery. I think it’s silly.
Personally, I don’t believe in God but I do believe in religion. Religion helps me sit
quietly, listening to beautiful music, among a group of people trying to be their best
selves. I’m offended by the likes of Richard Dawkins—so dismissive of sincerely held
beliefs.^55 Some believe God exists, while others see religion as a metaphorical structure
that gives shape to their deepest aspirations and griefs. Ontological questions don’t
interest me.
Why do elites seek out novelty while the working class seeks out stability? For one thing,
elites can afford it—star fruit costs more than bananas—but there’s more to it than that.
The elite gains social honor by displaying their sophistication; the white working class has
different fish to fry.
The contrast is most vivid at dinner parties. Anthropologist Arlie Hochschild, for her
book Strangers in Their Own Land , traveled to Louisiana where she interviewed and got
to know locals who identified as members of the Tea Party. For Hochschild’s Tea Party
friends, a good party typically consisted of extended family getting together for
- Why Does the Working Class Resent Professionals but Admire the Rich?