4 ms·
I suspect this is more of a signalling game. Elites became socially liberal to distinguish themselves from the unsophisticated middle class, in a time when weal
by Moshe_Silnorin 10y ago
I suspect this is more of a signalling game. Elites became socially liberal to distinguish themselves from the unsophisticated middle class, in a time when wealth wasn't a good signal. Now that everyone has a bachelors, the middle class is dying, and liberalism is trendy among those who would previously have been part of the not-college-educated middle class, I expect elites will become more conservative.
Though we really need to define our terms here, there are many dogmas associated with liberalism that are just as antiscientific as conservative dogma, denying the predictive power psychometric tests, the very, very large role of genetics in life outcomes and education, the implications of this on class, the obvious benefits of nuclear power and genetic engineering, the importance of modern agriculture over "organic" alternatives, the dressed up faith-healing that is alternative medicine.
- woah 10y agoHasn't nuclear power proven to be extremely dangerous? It doesn't seem worth the risks.
- talideon 10y ago> uneducated middle class The very idea that the middle class might be uneducated is... odd.
- Moshe_Silnorin 10y agoFactory workers in the 1960s were not college graduates and often not highschool graduates. I've edited this to be more clear.
- a_humean 10y agoIt is very much an American phenomenon calling factory workers Middle Class. Elsewhere in the world the middle class refers to members of the professions - doctors, lawyers, academics, politicians, senior civil servants, successful managers of medium and large businesses. To be middle class refers to working people of usually very high non-manual skill, high cultural and societal status, and usually university educated. The middle class might not own the country, but they certainly run it. A factory worker in say France, UK or Germany is member of the working class, and in terms of their skill, status, and economic and political power aren't really distinguishable from a US factory worker.
- talideon 10y agoFactory workers would be working class. The middle class are people like shopkeepers, doctors, accountants, teachers, large farmers, and so on.
- sn9 10y agoYou can have blue-collar workers without college educations that make close to or more than $100k. It's a useful distinction in the context of this discussion.