I'm greatly impressed by the new book "Status Anxiety" bt Alain de Botton," a young Swiss-born Sephardic Jew living in London, according to his bionote. Here's a sample of the great reviews the book has received so far. The book is brief, but thoughtful and sprightly.
There's a rumor that George W. Bush and John Forbes Kerry have been calling each other the last several days t o read various passage and then discuss them. Several regulars in this intellectual cabaret based in Little Rock are joining in the JFK/GWB conversation.
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San Francisco Chronicle - 13th June 2004
We're so vain Alain de Botton probes why status is so important to us and explains how it makes us miserable
"Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." Henry David Thoreau, “Walden” 1854
"Greed is good." Gordon Gecko, “Wall Street” 1987
If we are what we drive, the SUV has a lot to say about us. A dangerous behemoth that is a far greater threat to the environment than other automobiles, it's also a four-wheeled middle finger to those around it, a rolling fortress that boasts of its gleaming enormousness and begs for our jaws to drop in awe.
That such an object can be a symbol of our times is a reflection of Americans' growing wealth. (Unlike the Model T -- a genuine workhorse of its day -- the SUV, in relative terms, costs a lot more money.) It's also the result of the increasing importance of status in our society.
And we are more worried about what we're seen driving precisely because we are all better off.
This paradox is spelled out concisely and convincingly in Alain de Botton's "Status Anxiety," a readable, edifying exploration of our fears of where we stand in society and how we can best mitigate our concerns. The author of "How Proust Can Change Your Life" and "The Art of Travel," de Botton, who lives in London, steers clear of an angry polemic that simply accuses people of being full of envy. Instead, he has written a generous and humane book that offers up thought-provoking solutions to status anxiety, a worry he says is "so pernicious as to be capable of ruining extended stretches of our lives."
As he defines it, status anxiety is a relatively modern phenomenon: "For most of history ... [v]ery few among the masses had ever aspired to wealth or fulfillment; the rest knew well enough that they were condemned to exploitation and resignation."
It was the great movements toward democracy, especially the American Revolution, that "altered forever the basis upon which status was accorded." This, in turn, helped fuel people's desire to be like the Joneses -- or better. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed as early as 1835, "In America, I never met a citizen too poor to cast a glance of hope and envy toward the pleasures of the rich."
Meanwhile, anxiety over one's place in society didn't improve when belief in an afterlife (and its attendant glory) grew dimmer for many. Add to that the Social Darwinist philosophy, arguably still alive for some, that the wealthy are rich because they deserve to be. Conversely, this thinking goes, the poor deserve to be poor and therefore should not be valued. De Botton reminds readers that even Andrew Carnegie, the celebrated philanthropist, had limits to his generosity. As the industrialist wrote, "Every drunken vagabond or lazy idler supported by alms is a source of moral infection to a neighbourhood."
It turns out that snobbery also has its own history. According to de Botton, the word itself was born in England in the 1820s, with its apparent roots in "s.nob," short for sine nobilitate, or "without nobility." Ironically, its meaning somehow shifted over time.
Today, making money in and of itself is, of course, still held in high esteem. As de Botton writes, "The ability to accumulate wealth is prized as proof of the presence of at least four cardinal virtues: creativity, courage, intelligence and stamina. ... Financial failures are judged to be similarly merited, with unemployment's bearing some of the shame that physical cowardice earned in warrior eras."
So, what's a poor boy -- and a status-hungry society -- to do? De Botton's answers, buttressed by a wealth of insightful quotes and wonderful artwork, are as compelling as they are crisply laid out, emphasizing faith in one's self while retaining one's humility.
First, he suggests taking comfort in philosophers' wisdom. One healthy outlook, from Epictetus, is more than 2,000 years old: "It is not my place in society that makes me well off, but my judgements, and these I can carry with me." And, more cynically, from Chamfort, in the 18th century: "Public opinion is the worst of all opinions."
De Botton also urges us to celebrate art, "filled with challenges -- ironic, angry, lyrical, sad or amusing -- to the status system." In a spirited rebuke of "crass moralism" propagated by tabloid journalism ("with its lexicon of perverts and weirdos, failures and losers"), he praises the art of tragedy, which can inspire sympathy. Satire, too, can be powerful in correcting abuses.
Politically, de Botton maintains that only good can come from people seeing through pomp. "A man may have a great suite of attendants, a beautiful palace ..." he quotes the 16th philosopher Michel de Montaigne as saying. "Measure his height with his stilts off. ... What sort of soul does he have?"
And it never hurts to keep death in mind. No one can argue with what the 17th century author Sir Thomas Browne wrote of dead nobility: "Who knows the fate of his bones, or how often he is to be buried?"
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"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." William Gibbs McAdoo. US Vice-President under Woodrow Wilson.
I'm greatly impressed by the new book "Status Anxiety" bt Alain de Botton," a young Swiss-born Sephardic Jew living in London, according to his bionote.
Here are some thoughts from a young Montreal-born Ashkenazi Jew living in Toronto:
Does de Botton discuss the notion of status as it could relate to societal progress? From what I can gather, this review indicates that the discussion in the book is regarding status as it relates to material possessions. But it seems to me that there are other notions of status.
For example, a physicist might not regard a BMW X5 as a status symbol. But he might regard as status symbols publications in major journals, a position in a major university's physics department, an important theorem carrying his eponym, etc.....
I would suggest that in the absence of notions of status, there may not be an impetus for a given society to progress, but, rather, to remain static.
Quote:
De Botton also urges us to celebrate art, "filled with challenges -- ironic, angry, lyrical, sad or amusing -- to the status system." In a spirited rebuke of "crass moralism" propagated by tabloid journalism ("with its lexicon of perverts and weirdos, failures and losers"), he praises the art of tragedy, which can inspire sympathy. Satire, too, can be powerful in correcting abuses.
Are there not measures of status within the many branches of the world of art? I would tend to think that there are (I'm aware that this point is a bit tangential, but it might be ironic to suggest that one indulge oneself in the world of art in order to distance oneself from the notion of status, when the art world likely does have its own measures of status).
Any other opinions out there, or any responses to my thoughts?
Some thoughts from an Arizona born person living in Arkansas:
Quote:
Orignially posted by Garnder:
Today, making money in and of itself is, of course, still held in high esteem. As de Botton writes, "The ability to accumulate wealth is prized as proof of the presence of at least four cardinal virtues: creativity, courage, intelligence and stamina. ... Financial failures are judged to be similarly merited, with unemployment's bearing some of the shame that physical cowardice earned in warrior eras."
This quote rings true, but for me doesn't tell the whole story. Upon further investigation of the individual 'who knows how to make money', it is determined that he lacks integrity or cause, the admirability of his wealth as a status symbol is lost. Making money for and in itself is rather boring...
Quote:
Originally posted by russ:
I would suggest that in the absence of notions of status, there may not be an impetus for a given society to progress, but, rather, to remain static.
I would see status as a slight incentive for individuals to progress, since it gives us a gauge to which we can compare our accomplishments, whether material, intellectual, athletic, artistic, etc. Some might work/study harder to achieve a certain status, others would spend themselves into debt or cheat. Those truly having an impact on societal progress would exist and continue working, with or without the notion of status, driven by their own passion of discovery and change.
I think status is used as a substitute for frontiers that could be explored and conquered in the past. Think how the nation and maybe the world were gripped by lunar exploration.
Here's a note from a Dallas born mostly Gentile with maybe a touch of Cherokee living in the pretty part of New Jersey--but first a note about identiying de Botton as Sephardic. Back in 1970, I had a real jolt in Spain, on realizing that 1492 was a really bad year in western civilization, as it marked the triumph of christendom over the other two abrahamic faiths. I had visited Granada, spending a lot of time in the marvelous buildings of the Alhambra. Then came Cordoba, where an utterly magical Moorish mosque (pardon the alliteration) had been grotesquely renovated by plunking a Christian cathedral right on top of it.
In Spain, during some parts of its ancient history, Christian, Jew, and Muslim had coexisted. Or maybe it was that the Moorish rulers were more tolerant religiously than Ferdinand and Isabela. Perhaps if in 1492 Jews and Moors had not been expelled the subsequent history of the west would have been much less violent--and the present condition of our own world much more peaceful.
But, here's a link to a short review of "Status Anxiety:" in the Atlantic Monthly and a very long interview with de Botton.
Thanks, y'all, for giving me something interesting to ponder today. I'd like to pick up the book for reading during my upcoming vacation.
Quote:
Originally posted by Gardner:
Back in 1970, I had a real jolt in Spain, on realizing that 1492 was a really bad year in western civilization, as it marked the triumph of christendom over the other two abrahamic faiths. I had visited Granada, spending a lot of time in the marvelous buildings of the Alhambra. Then came Cordoba, where an utterly magical Moorish mosque (pardon the alliteration) had been grotesquely renovated by plunking a Christian cathedral right on top of it.
Aren't these some of the best types of "light bulbs" when traveling? Seeing something that makes you really understand/appreciate the underlying history.
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