> It’s as if the inequality of income and wealth is mirrored in a general inequality of status, where only a few people and institutions matter and everyone else is left to watch the glitterati from the cheap seats.
The author almost gets the point -- and even mentions the substantive reason people care in this sentence -- but then veers off a cliff in the last half of the sentence.
Huge portions of our economy are winner-take-all, with a very small number of winners. And the organizations that win are also increasingly winner-take-all.
The obsession with access to elite institutions makes more sense if you re-write these two sentences:
> We’re obsessed with high-status winner-take-all jobs. Our economy is dominated by superstar companies.
like this:
> We’re obsessed with high-status winner-take-all jobs BECAUSE our economy is dominated by superstar companies.
Is is that people are obsessed with status? Or is that people feel their basic needs -- housing, food, a sense of worth -- are at risk as long as they're not on top? And if they feel that way, are they wrong?
If you want to know why people are obsessed with becoming an Elon Musk, then look at how the man talks about his employees at Twitter. If the world is full of leaders who will stomp on you and lemmings who get stomped out, then you better try to claw your way as high as you can.
The author almost gets the point -- and even mentions the substantive reason people care in this sentence -- but then veers off a cliff in the last half of the sentence.
Huge portions of our economy are winner-take-all, with a very small number of winners. And the organizations that win are also increasingly winner-take-all.
The obsession with access to elite institutions makes more sense if you re-write these two sentences:
> We’re obsessed with high-status winner-take-all jobs. Our economy is dominated by superstar companies.
like this:
> We’re obsessed with high-status winner-take-all jobs BECAUSE our economy is dominated by superstar companies.
Is is that people are obsessed with status? Or is that people feel their basic needs -- housing, food, a sense of worth -- are at risk as long as they're not on top? And if they feel that way, are they wrong?
If you want to know why people are obsessed with becoming an Elon Musk, then look at how the man talks about his employees at Twitter. If the world is full of leaders who will stomp on you and lemmings who get stomped out, then you better try to claw your way as high as you can.