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Sunday, February 2, 2025

On My Substack Today: Classivores

 An excerpt from my Substack post today:

We can all agree that some people need sunlight, and are suffering a bit this time of year. Some people need humor. Or need to be heard. Or need meat.

I believe a lot of us also need class.

I am not going to try to define class, any more than I would try to define humor. Perhaps riffing on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, I could say, “I don’t know what class is, but I know it when I don’t see it.”

Class is not power. It is not money. It is not vulgarity. Its relationship with social status is spurious. And it is, of course, not cosplaying any of the above. It is a private need.

I am aware of class in certain pieces of classical music. Certain novels. Cars. Furniture. Certainly some architecture.

It is most satisfying, of course, when I see it in the bearing of people. And most rare.

I have spent time bathed in class. I didn’t appreciate the largesse at the time, but it did imprint itself upon me. And I have spent time during which class was scarce.

But I don’t remember a time when class has been as scarce as it is today.

Read the full piece here: The Way of the WASP: Classivores <https://muffyaldrich.substack.com/p/the-way-of-the-wasp-classivores>

24 comments:

  1. " But I don't remember a time when class has been as scarce as it is today. " Postmodernism is the culprit in its decline ... and has ruined the arts, social sciences, the order of stratification ... etcetera and so on.

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  2. Well said! You've put words to my thougts and feelings. I hope the pendulum swings again in the right direction.

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  3. Unfortunately, I think most people associate class with having money. They think because they can buy certain clothes or drive a particular car then they have class. Money can not buy class. As they say: My two cents.

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  4. It got me thinking of the January 1988 edition of M magazine titled Class: Who Has It and Who Doesn't.

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  5. I have a feeling that for at least the last 2,000 years people have been saying "Class is in short supply these days. It didn't used to be like this."

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  6. I believe class is inextricably linked with merit, and that’s why we see so little of it today.

    The prevailing view of class (merit) from the legacy media, academia, and Hollywood has been that it is unfair to a portion of our society who still need to be rewarded based on nothing but box-checking. Therefore, class and merit have become irrelevant, unnecessary, and even frowned upon. One need not possess the qualities of a gentleman to get ahead in such a toxic milieu (see Pajamas, wearing on airliners).

    Yes, class should be based solely on merit, integrity, talent and intelligence - with it always being an individual, not a collective thing.

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    1. To love at ease in one’s own skin - that is class. To seek worthiness is to be class-less.

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    2. No, sorry, but wrong on both points. Let’s face it, a lot of truly terrible human beings are “at ease” in their “own skins.” And since when has striving to become better made one class-less?

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  7. I'm afraid Reaganism killed class. Class is simply intuitive, immediate, and effortless concern for the feelings of others. There is no room for class in a society where people feel that they are on their own, and it's every dog for itself. Who can take the time to cultivate calmness, gentility, good humor, graciousness, quiet charm, self-restraint, sportsmanship, etc. when they are one hospital bill or pink slip away from ruin? And why bother to do so when the market often rewards the opposite qualities?

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    1. I respectively disagree "Reaganism killed class".

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    2. @Anon 2:59PM You have it totally upside-down. Someone with class cultivates the qualities you enumerate precisely when the market rewards the opposite.

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    3. The question was not "how do people with class behave." The question was "why are there so few people with class."

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  8. People have been asking me, dear anonymous internet person, what do you think?

    While there's something to be said for familiarity with and respect for "the best that has been thought and said", I think it has mostly to do with how you treat people. Are you looking out for them, especially those "below you" in whatever circumstance, or are you compulsively taking advantage of them?

    So, what to do? You can buy your way out of some things, but you have to be careful where you end up. Sadly you probably do need a touch of padding, though maybe not too much.

    Decency is a most defiant thing these days. I think we're in for a long spell of hatch battening.

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  9. Most religions share remarkably similar values, at least on paper. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Show love, compassion, and forgiveness to people regardless whether they’re friends, allies, needy people you don’t even know, or enemies. Be generous and just toward others. Be kind, honest and patient. Take care of people in need. These values define class for me more than how people dress, the schools they attend, the company they keep, and the level of cultural knowledge they have. I’ve never met a person I consider to have class who was or is greedy, selfish, hateful, or dishonest.

    We’re all ultimately and primarily responsible for who we are, what we say, and what we do. The best guardrail for class is to maintain high standards for yourself and share that ethos every opportunity you get.

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  10. An African friend, from a very very poor country, visiting America remarked “here, it’s dog eat dog.” De Tocqueville observed the national character of Americans sees the value of anything based upon “how much money will it bring in.” The combination of these two factors amplified by our individualistic, fragmented, short tempered system of digital communications has led us to this point. We are, by and large, a self centered and materialistic society more concerned with individual wants and desires rather than the common good. We have no widely recognized, much less respected, individual or institution speaking with any moral authority. The table is set for a society who will only blame or criticize those with whom they don’t agree, be you a red or a blue. This is the antithesis of class. “You plant ice, you’re going to harvest wind.”

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  11. Amy Vanderbilt suggested otherwise. In the opening remarks of her tome regarding etiquette, she asserted that Americans are the most generous and kind-hearted of peoples ... and, I agree with her. Our hostess, Muffy Aldrich, opened the topic of class which admittedly does include elements of both civility and savoir faire. However, this thread seems to have devolved into rampaging virtue signalling and moral pomposities. Morality vs. social hierarchy are two different concepts. Aspirationally, they overlap ... but, do not count on it. Collars up !!!

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    1. Agree with this. I don't understand the screeds above. From the earliest days, observers like de Tocqueville (since another commenter mentioned him) have been struck by our generosity.

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  12. I was brought up to believe was class was how you treated other people, even when no one is looking.

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  13. I believe that is what is known as "The Golden Rule."

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  14. Unfortunately in the 175 odd years since the days of de Tocqueville, much has changed in society. The vast waters of the churches have largely dried up, leaving behind a society far removed for any concept of a golden rule. Mammon has filled the void. “Greed is good” “ Cash is King”
    On the other hand, there are still those intent on maintaining the old standards and principles for the greater good, although now a shrinking minority.

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    1. And you are in that minority of course?

      BTW no one in the history of the world said "greed is good." That was a movie character and a preposterous one at that.

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    2. Well, Ayn Rand wrote a whole novel to argue that, in her words, "Man's ego is the fountainhead of progress." And Milton Friedman spent a lifetime successfully trying to persuade politicians that, in his words, "There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits." So, yes, the ideas are indeed preposterous. But the people who promote them are, unfortunately, non-fiction.

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