3 ms·
I love this book, but it made me hate everyone :) One of the takeaways I got from it was that every single upper class activity is designed to be incredibly ex
by Noos 9y ago
I love this book, but it made me hate everyone :)
One of the takeaways I got from it was that every single upper class activity is designed to be incredibly expensive and time consuming, just because only the wealthy can maintain those form of activities. Having driveways made out of gravel, that constantly need to be redone at considerable expense, or having a yacht. Despite this, the true upper class is incredibly banal; Fussell describes them as totally uninterested in ideas, reading time and cheap disposable mysteries if they ever bother to do so. There's really a lot of Thurston Howell in them.
I think most people here would dislike how Fussell pegs liking science fiction and technology as a fairly low class activity. But it's funny how right he is, because among the upper-mids here...you hate social media in the same way, and the lower class uses it just as much.
But, oh that book is devastating. Fussell is a wonderful writer, and a keen critic.
- hkmurakami 9y agoI think my most memorable passage from that book is that cats are higher class than dogs because they are (mostly) useless. :P The upper class hobbies are definitely a thing. Equestrian > sailing > skiing > golf probably. Golf only being this low because it was "democratized" by muni courses and popularized first by Arnold Palmer, then by Tiger Woods. Skiing is probably the most approachable of the activities for the upper middle class professional, but it's a $300/day activity that necessitates travel. A fairly devastating expense for many.
- tetromino_ 9y ago> a $300/day activity that necessitates travel A $50/day activity at a local hill + a $150 initial investment (one that will last you multiple winters) in some decade-old used equipment at a local swap event. Skiing is not cheap. But it's extremely expensive only if you have extremely expensive demands - such was wanting to ski while living in an area without hills or snow.
- hkmurakami 9y agoI mean sure, for some of us beach vacations are free bc we live in LA or Florida, but for most of the country it'll cost in the thousands. Ditto skiing with lift passes, travel, and lodging. Having a local hill is the exception rather than the rule tbh.
- tetromino_ 9y agoThe US has skiable mountain ranges near a majority of the main coastal population centers. Hills around the Great Lakes might not be high, but make up for it with the volume of snow. A back of an envelope estimate shows half of the US population having a ski hill within driving distance.
- tmnvix 9y agoEven in New Zealand skiing is a slightly exclusive pursuit. I don't think I ever had a Maori classmate that mentioned a skiing holiday.