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I thought this was kind of an interesting post by Claire Berlinski on the website Ricochet (which is a good site by the way), given all talk of elites and such. She formulates a quiz from an essay by Charles Murray in the Washington Post – the operative paragraphs being:
The tea party warns of a New Elite. They're right
So are you an “elite”? Here is the quiz with my answers:
1. Can you talk about "Mad Men?" No.
2. Can you talk about the "The Sopranos?" No.
3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right?" Drew Carey?
4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? I think so.
5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga? No.
5. How about pilates? No.
5. How about skiing? Sort of.
6. Mountain biking? Nope.
7. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? Nope.
8. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? Don’t watch but I know what it means.
9. Can you talk about books endlessly? I guess so.
10. Have you ever read a "Left Behind" novel? No.
11. How about a Harlequin romance? Nope.
12. Do you take interesting vacations? I wouldn’t call them "interesting".
13. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? Nope.
14. What about an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? Huh?
15. Would you be caught dead in an RV? I have actually been in an RV.
16. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? Not allowed to go even if I wanted to.
17. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? Sure. I think I was even there once.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? No.
19. How about the Rotary Club? No.
20. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? I don’t think so.
21. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? Yes.
22. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? No.
With geographical clustering goes cultural clustering. Get into a conversation about television with members of the New Elite, and they can probably talk about a few trendy shows -- "Mad Men" now, "The Sopranos" a few years ago. But they haven't any idea who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right." They know who Oprah is, but they've never watched one of her shows from beginning to end.
Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.
They can talk about books endlessly, but they've never read a "Left Behind" novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).
They take interesting vacations and can tell you all about a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada or an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor, but they wouldn't be caught dead in an RV or on a cruise ship (unless it was a small one going to the Galapagos). They have never heard of Branson, Mo.
There so many quintessentially American things that few members of the New Elite have experienced. They probably haven't ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club or Rotary Club, or lived for at least a year in a small town (college doesn't count) or in an urban neighborhood in which most of their neighbors did not have college degrees (gentrifying neighborhoods don't count). They are unlikely to have spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line (graduate school doesn't count) or to have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian. They are unlikely to have even visited a factory floor, let alone worked on one.
Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.
They can talk about books endlessly, but they've never read a "Left Behind" novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).
They take interesting vacations and can tell you all about a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada or an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor, but they wouldn't be caught dead in an RV or on a cruise ship (unless it was a small one going to the Galapagos). They have never heard of Branson, Mo.
There so many quintessentially American things that few members of the New Elite have experienced. They probably haven't ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club or Rotary Club, or lived for at least a year in a small town (college doesn't count) or in an urban neighborhood in which most of their neighbors did not have college degrees (gentrifying neighborhoods don't count). They are unlikely to have spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line (graduate school doesn't count) or to have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian. They are unlikely to have even visited a factory floor, let alone worked on one.
So are you an “elite”? Here is the quiz with my answers:
1. Can you talk about "Mad Men?" No.
2. Can you talk about the "The Sopranos?" No.
3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right?" Drew Carey?
4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? I think so.
5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga? No.
5. How about pilates? No.
5. How about skiing? Sort of.
6. Mountain biking? Nope.
7. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? Nope.
8. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? Don’t watch but I know what it means.
9. Can you talk about books endlessly? I guess so.
10. Have you ever read a "Left Behind" novel? No.
11. How about a Harlequin romance? Nope.
12. Do you take interesting vacations? I wouldn’t call them "interesting".
13. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? Nope.
14. What about an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? Huh?
15. Would you be caught dead in an RV? I have actually been in an RV.
16. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? Not allowed to go even if I wanted to.
17. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? Sure. I think I was even there once.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? No.
19. How about the Rotary Club? No.
20. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? I don’t think so.
21. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? Yes.
22. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? No.
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