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On a societal level, yes it's bad when romance stratifies along classist lines, not only because people miss out on potential compatible partners, but also beca

On a societal level, yes it's bad when romance stratifies along classist lines, not only because people miss out on potential compatible partners, but also because it increases inequality and cements generational wealth/prestige. On an individual level, it's definitely a good idea if you're wealthy. Since so many things correlate so well with wealth, or have wealth as a prerequisite, it could highly reduce someone's signal-noise ratio if they're looking for someone with those traits. For example, if you're an entrepreneur, or an amateur tennis player, or someone trying to play the corporate ladder climbing game like the example in the article, and you want to find someone similar, you'll have much more success finding someone similar to you among wealthy people, even though wealth is not necessarily a prerequisite to any of those things.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> On a societal level, yes it's bad when romance stratifies along classist lines I disagree. It's bad when the society has poor mechanisms for distribution of the gains of economy, and with certain deficiencies the magnitude of the impact will be exacerbated by wealth-stratified life partner selection, independent of the degree to which this associated with romance. However I partner selection is not th source of the harm, it's a factor which aggravates the impact of some actual distributional defects if they are present.
- opportune 9y ago
  If class-based partner selection is not the source of the harm, but exacerbates the harm of inequality, how is it preferable to the alternative? If something is on fire, I would generally say it's "bad" to add fuel to it, hence my opinion. Of course I agree that this is more of an emergent effect of the classist society we inhabit than a cause of it, but most of the reasons that class-based partner selection can be "good" are precisely due to class inequalities in the first place.
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    "Classist society" is instinctive to all animals, it's just how mating and evolution works. I don't think we should, or are even able to, curb class-based partner selection to try and reduce wealth and income inequality. My preference would be to strive make sure that all people have the opportunity for a quality education and upbringing, by ways of guaranteeing shelter, quality food, and work protections to allow parents to spend time with children.
notyourday 9y ago
Class jumping at any scale only happens in literature and movies. In real world it is a fluke.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> On a societal level, yes it's bad when romance stratifies along classist lines I disagree. It's bad when the society has poor mechanisms for distribution of the gains of economy, and with certain deficiencies the magnitude of the impact will be exacerbated by wealth-stratified life partner selection, independent of the degree to which this associated with romance. However I partner selection is not th source of the harm, it's a factor which aggravates the impact of some actual distributional defects if they are present.

opportune 9y ago
If class-based partner selection is not the source of the harm, but exacerbates the harm of inequality, how is it preferable to the alternative? If something is on fire, I would generally say it's "bad" to add fuel to it, hence my opinion. Of course I agree that this is more of an emergent effect of the classist society we inhabit than a cause of it, but most of the reasons that class-based partner selection can be "good" are precisely due to class inequalities in the first place.
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  "Classist society" is instinctive to all animals, it's just how mating and evolution works. I don't think we should, or are even able to, curb class-based partner selection to try and reduce wealth and income inequality. My preference would be to strive make sure that all people have the opportunity for a quality education and upbringing, by ways of guaranteeing shelter, quality food, and work protections to allow parents to spend time with children.

notyourday 9y ago

Class jumping at any scale only happens in literature and movies. In real world it is a fluke.