From what I can tell, that’s about the upshot of Charles Murray’s book that’s set the blogosphere alight this past week.
I haven’t read the book and probably won’t with the likes of this and this and this review giving me the gist.
And the gist is that the ‘upper class’ are richer, better educated, more likely to go to church, more likely to stay married and more likely to raise kids that will themselves be even more educated, rich, churchgoing and married than themselves. Fine.
But there are two extra bits that Murray (and everyone else) is focusing on. First, the churchgoing part above is a clue to this cutting straight past the labels ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’. Second, and most importantly for Murray: these people are self-segregating.
Most of the commentary discusses the geography of this trend, which is apparently stark. The ‘elite’ don’t venture out of their bubble and so the non-‘elite’ don’t get to see what being ‘elite’ is all about. This is meant to ice their and their kids’ chances of moving up.
Therefore, says Murray, the elite have a duty to get themselves out there more.
My parents always worried about what kind of kids my sister and I hung out with. They figured our peers would influence our habits much more than they could.
Charles Murray agrees then turns to them and asks: “but who are YOU hanging out with?”
Full disclosure: Murray would probably say that you, dear reader, and I are both in this elite. As are our parents and everyone we know, basically.
Not Unreasonable 