Here's Ace on "elite" vs. "establishment." Sounds like the kind of crap people pull on Angelenos every fucking day. We just yawn.

Okay, look: there are a few different ways to determine what constitutes "class" in America.

1) E.B. "Aren't Jews outside the class system, anyway?" Um, okay. Whatevs. Yawn.

2) "Who is the most intelligent? Let's reward that." Sure. Because either you were born that way, or you were given a certain level of stimulation very early on in life. That's so to your credit.

Bite me. Yawn.

3) People who were born to a certain level—defined not so much by education or financial security, but by being able to tell who manufactured a particular piece of silver without looking at the marque.

Yawn.

4) Adhering to a code of conduct which maintains that all people are equal, no matter what the externals might indicate. (This happens to be the only type of class I really recognize, personally, and it's the reason I shop in Beverly Hills: because no one ever looked at my mother funny when we shopped there together, however frayed her sweatshirts were. Their motivations might not have been pure, but they were doing the right thing.)

5) Money as a measure of class. It ain't perfect, but it's more egalitarian than any other measurement, because in this country you can always get some, if you want it badly enough.

6) "Well. At least I don't live in the Los Angeles area; I'm from New York." Okey-doke.

Yawn.

7) "Well. At least I don't live in the Los Angeles area; I'm from San Francisco." Fine. Sounds good to me. Goodness; look at the time! Yawn.

My father is fond of telling me that he's a "elite" because he subscribes to the New Yorker. No, really: He's not quoting Freakaoid he sort of means it.

"On the other hand," I tend to counter. "I read books. And I finish some of 'em."

It's like shooting fish in a fuckin' barrel. I could use a bigger barrel.

"Class." "Elite." Please define your terms. I'm going to bed.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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