Is classism the new racism?

NJSue
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:31:46 +0000

“I actually dont think anyone of the upper class has an obligation to treat others with courtesy. Aristocrats are people too. They can do dam well how they please.”

I’m using the term 'aristocrat" loosely, of course. We don’t have a real aristocracy in this country. Actually, real aristocrats do have social obligations to their inferiors. It’s called noblesse oblige. Many within the current elite of America honestly believe that they deserve all their privileges and earned them, so they have no sense of obligation to anyone else. That is, in fact, one of their least attractive traits as a class and makes them unfit for real leadership. (This point was made by the late Christopher Lasch in The Revolt of the Elites).