Kerby Anderson

David Brooks took on the difficult task of reminding us that class distinctions in America do make a difference. For that he was pilloried in the social media. He was trying to explain how the privileged elite are “ruining” America. He unfortunately came off to some as an example of another privileged elite. He may have fared better if he had not mentioned taking a friend (with only a high school education) to a sandwich shop that has sandwiches with nearly unpronounceable Italian names.

If we ignore that paragraph, he really had some important observations. For example, he showed how upper-middle-class parents confer certain benefits on their children that are often unavailable to others. Put simply, they spend more time with their kids.

He also focused on how the privileged also are able to exclude other people’s children from the same opportunities. Richard Reeves writes about this in his book, Dream Hoarders. Zoning restrictions are one way. Well-educated people tend to live in places like Portland, New York, and San Francisco. I talked about this is a recent commentary about bubbles. Many of the people in blue states and liberal cities are socially isolated from the rest of society. Many of these zoning restrictions also serve to keep the poor and the less educated away from places with good schools and good job opportunities.

Another structural barrier is college admissions. Educated parents live in neighborhoods with the best teachers and some of the best schools. This gives an obvious advantage to students who want to go to the college of their choice. David Brooks does not mention other advantages that occur to me. Students with affluent parents may not need to get a summer job so they can do internships or volunteer work that look good on college resumes. They can also afford to take test prep courses in order to do well on the SAT test.

David Brooks identified a real concern, but unfortunately too many decided to lampoon his attempt to explain why it is a problem.