I've been thinking about class mobility and income differentials recently as the 25 minute unscripted video on Juneteenth suggests. Something occurred to me, especially in light of the discussion we're having over at Maxambit.
One of the constant criticisms of the Left and even of sensible people, including me, is that of the 'growing gap' between the rich and the poor. I see the problem as a species of cultural dissonance and class conflict rather than one of a fundamental flaw in capitalism. But there's something I understand, which is a large class of rich people and wealthy industries could not and would not be, unless they were paying close attention to those who are not so rich or wealthy.
This occurred to me this morning as I drove up past Radio Shack in Fort Worth. The HQ is there as is their flagship store. It is well known that Radio Shack has been up against hard times and have been getting the crap kicked out of them by Best Buy. As I perused the flagship store last week, I kept asking myself why I would go to Radio Shack instead of Best Buy. In the back of my mind, I am thinking about the rumor that Dell might acquire the chain for its retail presence. That made me think about the fact that McDonalds is in the real-estate business and that they are huge landlords. But what is different about the tech of Radio Shack? The other thing that was on my mind was that I'm the last person you should ask, because I don't need tech sales or tech service of the sort Radio Shack offers. I just need the product, so for me, I'd rather go to a specialty big box like Micro Center or Fry's. I'm DIY. Now that CompUSA is closing stores and Tweeter is Chapter 11, it's hard for a guy like me to see why anybody would go for Radio Shack.
Now this is the problem that the CEOs of Radio Shack, CompUSA and a bunch of folks in similar businesses have to figure out. In this regard they are blind because their own personal tastes and needs have little to do with what the average consumer of the products in their stores want. If what I want isn't at Radio Shack but Fry's, imagine what the rich guy who already has a 60 inch flat screen wants. How could he relate? But since their very survival is based on the fact that they must serve those customers, then is is a problem they must address.
What if you can't relate and you are not convinced that your survival is based on service to the people to whom you cannot relate?
I think this is a particular blind spot of the emergent classes in America. Moreover it is a blind spot of the most successful ones. Successful groups of people emergent from the lower classes do not feel that their success depends upon the success of people they no longer relate to, or don't want to relate to. Their success is generally predicated on affiliations they can only recently afford. (That's emergent by definition).
What I'm trying to illustrate is the creepy feeling I get around new money, why I think it's often morally suspect, one of the reasons I am attracted to conservatism. I don't like the petty bourgeoisie-ness in that Fanon manner of speaking. It's something I'm often accused of. I think it confuses my critics when I tell them I don't second guess blackfolks, and also don't give a whole lot of eartime to issues that tend to burn up the airwaves. This man shot by cops, that child gone missing, this group of prisoners given a raw deal, this convict sentenced unfairly. I'm trying to grasp the philosophical and operational underpinnings of the entirety of Western Civilization. I'm not particularly impressed by the class distinctions - that's a Western thing and a Christian thing and a Conservative thing. I was in my 20s when I was a role-monkey, but I've been cured of that pettiness. I hope.
Still there is this blind spot which I'm tentatively copping to, so let me make it personal. I've been sold on black power. It was how I was raised, and it's what has led me to political philosophy and theology. I think the black formula was delivered and that essentially all blackfolks needed to do was follow the formula and use some common sense. An axiom of this approach to life was that we blackfolks had everything we needed, just not enough money. So the game was to let all that Civil Rights action get us into the Bigs. Then score, score, score. This generates the same kind of blindness, and we ought to see it in ourselves - when we meet the official black 'leaders' and Talented Tenth types who act like they have it all and the rest of blackfolks have nothing. All the blackness, all the money, all the whatever it is that has taken them to the next phase, beyond the point at which they can relate to those other blackfolks left behind.
I think I avoid that blindness by not second-guessing, but then again, I do believe in survival of the fittest with all due respect to the Africans at the bottom of the Atlantic.
Recent Comments