[BostonCard]

I was responding to the original Noonan article:

There is a class divide between those who are hard-line on lockdowns and those who are pushing back. We see the professionals on one side—those James Burnham called the managerial elite, and Michael Lind, in “The New Class War,” calls “the overclass”—and regular people on the other. The overclass are highly educated and exert outsize influence as managers and leaders of important institutions—hospitals, companies, statehouses. The normal people aren’t connected through professional or social lines to power structures, and they have regular jobs—service worker, small-business owner. 

"Since the pandemic began, the overclass has been in charge—scientists, doctors, political figures, consultants—calling the shots for the average people. But personally they have less skin in the game. The National Institutes of Health scientist won’t lose his livelihood over what’s happened. Neither will the midday anchor.

Noonan makes it sound like "average people" have been pushing for reopening and they are being held back by the "overclass".  The truth is that a) a majority of Americans (both "overclass" and "average people") have generally been supporting the lockdown, and b) it is hard to take the "average people" versus "overclass" framing seriously when the capo di tutti capi has been the nation's #1 cheerleader for opening up.  It's a nice narrative, but it is lazy and not supported by the facts.

EDIT: One last point, Noonan mentions "managers and leaders of... companies" as among those in the overclass who exert outsized influence on the decision to stay locked down.  Someone should tell that to Elon Musk, who didn't get the memo.

BC

[BostonCard]

I was responding to the original Noonan article:

There is a class divide between those who are hard-line on lockdowns and those who are pushing back. We see the professionals on one side—those James Burnham called the managerial elite, and Michael Lind, in “The New Class War,” calls “the overclass”—and regular people on the other. The overclass are highly educated and exert outsize influence as managers and leaders of important institutions—hospitals, companies, statehouses. The normal people aren’t connected through professional or social lines to power structures, and they have regular jobs—service worker, small-business owner. 

"Since the pandemic began, the overclass has been in charge—scientists, doctors, political figures, consultants—calling the shots for the average people. But personally they have less skin in the game. The National Institutes of Health scientist won’t lose his livelihood over what’s happened. Neither will the midday anchor.

Noonan makes it sound like "average people" have been pushing for reopening and they are being held back by the "overclass".  The truth is that a) a majority of Americans (both "overclass" and "average people") have generally been supporting the lockdown, and b) it is hard to take the "average people" versus "overclass" framing seriously when the capo di tutti capi has been the nation's #1 cheerleader for opening up.  It's a nice narrative, but it is lazy and not supported by the facts.

EDIT: One last point, Noonan mentions "managers and leaders of... companies" as among those in the overclass who exert outsized influence on the decision to stay locked down.  Someone should tell that to Elon Musk, who didn't get the memo.

BC