Class Should Be Understood as Ethos Plus Endogamy
Chapter 3 of The Information Class
This post is chapter 3 in a larger book project, The Information Class. The linked page has a general introduction, chapter titles, and the publication schedule.
At the time of posting, the stock market has sunk by ~10% in a couple of weeks, as it has become clear that Trump’s nihilistic populism— especially his notion of tariffs as some sort of panacea— can’t be assumed to be mere theatrics but is likely to have real impact on the economy. Tariffs happen to be an institutional lacuna where no effective checks and balances constrain an unfit president.
A general theme of this book is that competent people— “the information class”— need to be in charge for civilization to stay healthy. These strange times are, unfortunately, vividly illustrating my thesis. But that doesn’t mean it will be learned. I’m trying to help bring the lesson home.
This is the shortest chapter in the book.
If class isn't income inequality or ownership of the factors of production (see chapter 2), what is it?
A better definition can start with two key elements: (a) ethos and (b) endogamy. A class is a set of people who share a moral outlook and habits with respect to education, work and occupational choice (ethos), and who tend to marry each other and produce offspring who mostly grow up to be members of the same class as their parents (endogamy).
Ethos shapes the economic function of a class by making its members morally adapted to be good candidates for certain jobs. Those work experiences, in turn, shape the class ethos. The word “professionalism” is also helpful in understanding how ethos feeds into occupational choice and occupational success. Being raised in a certain way helps people of certain classes acquire the peculiar professionalism needed by certain occupations and roles.
Family influences shape the economic function of a class by motivating and assisting studies, helping with contacts and advice, and probably to some extent through the genetic transmission of natural aptitudes.
The economic aspect of class is central insofar as it concerns occupational propensities, but inessential insofar as it concerns living standards and wealth. Again, class is about who you are and what you do, rather than what you have. But of course, poverty can render it impossible to perform the functions characteristic of a class, while wealth can sometimes be converted into recognized class status through marriage, investment in human capital or simply—but this is a symptom of decadence—through flattery, if people are given credit for membership in a certain class merely as a way to flatter them after they have become rich.
Ethos and endogamy are conceptually distinct, but of course, they are connected since much moral education takes place in the home. By marrying within your class, you put yourself in a strong position to inculcate in your children the characteristic ethos of your class.