In the United States, we like a good story by Horatio Alger, where someone who starts with very little, works hard and has ambition and becomes a success – but only in abstracto. In real life, American elites abhor them as much as any European aristocrat.
Class doesn’t matter in our national mythology, but in practice our widespread belief in the myth of meritocracy reinforces inequality. Americans tend to overestimate the country’s economic mobility, according to research from Harvard University, and they have great confidence in the fairness of their economic system, despite abundant evidence of racial and other prejudices. In some circles, coming from humble backgrounds and wanting more naked is a moral flaw, a form of greed.
The classism of this attitude isn’t always apparent, as there’s plenty to rightly criticize America’s busy culture, in which overtime is valued and we all expect to get up and grind. The Covid pandemic and rethinking the work culture that forced it has sparked a backlash and a slew of ideas about the end of ambition and whether careers really matter when people die and the planet is on fire.
But that’s not a criticism of the pursuit itself; it is a critique of a corporate culture that still relies on unsustainably long hours, cutthroat competitiveness and exploitative labor practices.
The real question then is: what is it worth striving for? There is a difference between toiling senselessly for a company and working hard because you enjoy it, or you care about what you do, or most importantly, you are trying to get ahead economically. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to do better than your parents. Making an effort – even an over-exertion like Mr. Strong – should not be embarrassing. We strivers understand this because without that effort we could never have achieved great success.
Elites are often socialized to influence “convenience” and avoid expressions of effort. But it is a mistake to see the separation in terms of personal style or etiquette. We strivers can’t act like things come easy, because pretending they do often requires resources we don’t have. We are “unchill” because we have neither the time nor the money to collect or carry out chill’s gear.
It’s worth noting that “Succession,” the show featuring Mr. Strong has made him a star worthy of a New Yorker profile revolves around a streaker, Logan Roy, who grew up wealthy in Scotland and built a media empire. His children, on the other hand, live in a world of rich people who despise it as much as Mr. Strong from Yale quoted in The New Yorker.