Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Sleep, the Newest Status Symbol Among the Wealthy

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sleep, the Newest Status Symbol Among the Wealthy

by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair. This is this week's contribution to us ordinary Americans to help us keep in touch with the one percent who have so much influence over our lives. Today we look in on the way they maintain self-esteem and the esteem of others (status) and how that has changed over time.

Ironically, wiling away hours in a state of blissful unconsciousness has become, of all things, a status symbol. Hallmarks of position and power change with the times, but present customs provide an unexpected and sharp contrast to the not-so-distant past. For much of the nation’s existence, industry and productivity represented what the rich wanted to project as a persuasive image. Unwavering devotion to Wasp- fundamentally Protestant—discipline was all the rage. Wealth and accomplishment were cast in material molds, the marketable fruits of productivity and profits. Now, it’s less tangible and more ethereal, like the dreams of carefree sleep. Today, there’s a growing appreciation for what isn’t done, rather than what is, a phenomenon marked by the telling yawn.