橘玲

スーパーZIPに住む新上流階級はマクドナルドのようなファストフード店には近づかず、アルコールはワインかクラフトビールでタバコは吸わない。アメリカでも新聞の購読者は減っているが、新上流階級はニューヨークタイムズ(リベラル派)やウォールストリートジャーナル(保守派)に毎朝目を通し、『ニューヨーカー』や『エコノミスト』、場合によっては『ローリングストーン』などを定期購読している。
また彼らは、基本的にあまりテレビを観ず、人気ランキング上位に入るようなトークラジオ(リスナーと電話でのトークを中心にした番組)も聴かない。休日の昼からカウチでスポーツ番組を観て過ごすようなことはせず、休暇はラスベガスやディズニーワールドではなく、バックパックを背負ってカナダや中米の大自然のなかで過ごす。
マレーは、これが新上流階級がスーパーZIPに集住する理由だという。彼らの趣味嗜好は一般のアメリカ人とまったく異なっているので、一緒にいても話が合わない。「自分に似たひと」と結婚したり、隣人になったほうがずっと楽しいのだ。
アメリカでは民主党を支持するリベラル派(青いアメリカ)と、共和党を支持する保守派(赤いアメリカ)の分裂が問題になっている。だが新上流階級は、政治的信条の同じ労働者階級よりも政治的信条の異なる新上流階級と隣同士になることを好む。政治を抜きにするならば、彼らの趣味やライフスタイルはほとんど同じなのだ。

2 thoughts on “橘玲

  1. shinichi Post author

    Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010

    EconWiki

    http://wiki.econwiki.com/index.php/Coming_Apart:_The_State_of_White_America,_1960-2010

    Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 is a social commentary written by Charles Murray. In this book, Murray details his views on the demise of American society and the problems associated with the segregation of America based on nothing other than class. Murray is particularly worried about the creation of a subculture of America which he calls a new lower class, previously made up of people from the working class. The people in this new lower class have lost touch with the four “founding virtues” of America: honesty, marriage, industriousness, and religiosity. At the opposite end of the class spectrum lay the new upper class, polar opposite in characteristics from the new lower class. The problem is not just the creation of this new upper class, but the separation of this class from the rest of society, and the unwillingness to press upon the other classes values held by members of this class.

    Murray worries that this segregation of classes and the lost values of the new lower class will lead America down a path of destruction, and will land us with other once great fallen nations. A conservative and libertarian, Murray argues that the social welfare programs provided by the government are part of what is leading Americans to abandon the values that were once so important. He finds great fault with the welfare state of Europe, and he sees America going in the same direction. On the contrary, he argues for little to no government intervention in the form of welfare programs, but offers little evidence to back up this assertion.

    It is found that the top and bottom of white America live in very different cultures, and the difference between the two cultures has been continuing to increase over time. Murray makes an argument in which he believes that the powerful upper class are living in enclaves and are surrounded by their own kind. While on the contrary he believes the lower class are suffering from erosion that consists of family and community life that strikes at the heart of the pursuit of happiness. With that being said, the divergence between the two groups puts the success of the American future at risk.

    Much of what is said here about the state of America and the growing concern of socioeconomic class relation is indeed a relative problem. For years society has documented the struggle of the lower-class and ventured to at least attempt to get to the bottom of what has and continues to cause poverty in and around the lower-class.


    New Upper Class

    The new upper class includes people who are highly educated, wealthy, hold positions of influence in American culture, and share several lifestyle choices that separate them from the rest of “main-stream” America. The new upper class has separated itself from other classes through choices pertaining to raising children, health and wellness, media consumption, and work-life balance. Specifically, new upper class parents are heavily involved in their children’s education and extracurricular activities; these parents prepare their children for college starting the day they are conceived. Members of the new upper class are generally healthy; they take measures to stay physically active and choose to eat foods that are sustainable and generally detest fast food. Being unhealthy in the upper class is looked down upon by other members of this class. People in the new upper class do not consume media like television and movies as heavily as do those in main-stream America; however, they are likely to read some form of newspaper more readily and if the radio is on in their car it is likely to be political talk. The work environment for those in the new upper class is considerably more flexible than for average American workers, and the companies who employ these people are concerned about their health, happiness, and well being.

    This group has also developed a level of homogeneity through associating primarily with others who hold similar levels of education, wealth, and opinions regarding the above choices. Besides separating themselves through cultural choices, this subculture has also physically separated itself by clustering in “super-zip,” those zip codes which contain incomes in the 95th to 99th percentiles (Murray 2012, 92). Surrounding these super-zips are areas that are only marginally less wealthy than the super-zips, which essentially insulates the new upper class from those who are not in their ranks. This insulation markedly reduces the ability of these people to be empathetic to those outside of their immediate “bubble.”

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