Towards An Ethos of Snobbery, I Need Your Help
Have you noticed it too? Have you noticed as you go out into the world each day that people are getting more and more annoying? So many people today are simply uncouth, rude, loud, grubby and stupid. And the trend seems to be against the forces of civilized Society. -- Society with a capital “S.”
Recently a woman told me she admired a certain political figure because he was decisive. She is not alone. Instant action is the rule of the day. Men who make snap decisions are looked upon as commanding and strong. We aren’t stopping to think anymore, and we certainly haven’t stopped to think about our assumptions regarding decisiveness. For what value is decisiveness, really, when most decisions are stupid? I submit that the world would be a better place if more people thought and fewer people engaged in decisive action.
But contemplation has been eclipsed by shows of forceful action. Class, refinement, distinction, and erudition have been tossed to the curb along with thoughtfulness.
We need to pull back from the garish brink. We need to acknowledge that living in a consumer society doesn’t mean we must hastily consume whatever second rate, gimcrack gewgaws are thrust at us. They would have you believe that it’s all about “lifestyle.” Snobs don’t have “lifestyles.” Snobs live well, live graciously, live beautifully, live intelligently, and live thoughtfully. The rhetoric of consumer choice is alluring because it seems so downright egalitarian. And to challenge the concept of equality is an explosive risk. But people, I am sorry to break the news to you. Equality is an illusion. There is a difference between Amy Vanderbilt and some slack-jawed lummox who thinks that lighting his farts with a Zippo is droll.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the lummox is any less entitled to human dignity, rights, or happiness. I’m just saying that there is a hierarchy of things that come under the classification of “good living” according to long held cultural traditions.
We need to rescue snobbery from the jaws of the perjorative. Why do people hate snobs? It is because we recognize as signifiers of class association what so-called "elites" believe are universal principals. We understand that hierarchies of class distinction are determined by those who control the signs of social sophistication. The snob seeks to enjoy life by negotiating such structures. We know that there are very few spaces left where culture does not function as capital. Such knowledge endorses the social signs at the same time it threatens the hierarchy by revealing its arbitrary qualities. We snobs should revel in our role. We are mischievious cultural capitalists who understand the limits of our superiority far better than elites.
This is all very rarified and wearying. I need your help. In working towards an Ethos of Snobbery, I invite your input, your comments, your ridicule, and your admiration. Snobs of the World, Unite!
Recently a woman told me she admired a certain political figure because he was decisive. She is not alone. Instant action is the rule of the day. Men who make snap decisions are looked upon as commanding and strong. We aren’t stopping to think anymore, and we certainly haven’t stopped to think about our assumptions regarding decisiveness. For what value is decisiveness, really, when most decisions are stupid? I submit that the world would be a better place if more people thought and fewer people engaged in decisive action.
But contemplation has been eclipsed by shows of forceful action. Class, refinement, distinction, and erudition have been tossed to the curb along with thoughtfulness.
We need to pull back from the garish brink. We need to acknowledge that living in a consumer society doesn’t mean we must hastily consume whatever second rate, gimcrack gewgaws are thrust at us. They would have you believe that it’s all about “lifestyle.” Snobs don’t have “lifestyles.” Snobs live well, live graciously, live beautifully, live intelligently, and live thoughtfully. The rhetoric of consumer choice is alluring because it seems so downright egalitarian. And to challenge the concept of equality is an explosive risk. But people, I am sorry to break the news to you. Equality is an illusion. There is a difference between Amy Vanderbilt and some slack-jawed lummox who thinks that lighting his farts with a Zippo is droll.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the lummox is any less entitled to human dignity, rights, or happiness. I’m just saying that there is a hierarchy of things that come under the classification of “good living” according to long held cultural traditions.
We need to rescue snobbery from the jaws of the perjorative. Why do people hate snobs? It is because we recognize as signifiers of class association what so-called "elites" believe are universal principals. We understand that hierarchies of class distinction are determined by those who control the signs of social sophistication. The snob seeks to enjoy life by negotiating such structures. We know that there are very few spaces left where culture does not function as capital. Such knowledge endorses the social signs at the same time it threatens the hierarchy by revealing its arbitrary qualities. We snobs should revel in our role. We are mischievious cultural capitalists who understand the limits of our superiority far better than elites.
This is all very rarified and wearying. I need your help. In working towards an Ethos of Snobbery, I invite your input, your comments, your ridicule, and your admiration. Snobs of the World, Unite!
1 Comments:
The word "snob" has negative connotations because a snob is someone so desperate to rise socially that he will kiss the feet of the person above him, while kicking the heads of those beneath him.
You're describing something more like a bon vivant. Or an elitist. Or some such.
Great blog--I wish you'd post more!
--P.
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