The Culturally Rich Get Richer

Allow for a moment this flash of irritation. It does have the ghost of a point.

Why can the success of others arouse such annoyance?

No doubt envy plays its bitter part. To see success for thee but not for me can hurt. Elite British culture in particular dislikes success — it is, after all, either a product or signal of vulgarity. Other shades of the national character disapprove of anyone trying too hard, or outwardly enjoying or getting a kick from doing well.

But there are likely other things to consider. One need not always reach for the discreditable motive.

Throat clearing aside, then, let’s get to it. This week, a now famous and preternaturally successful writer published an objectionable Q and A column in Vice. I know. Imagine.

It was objectionable on content and character grounds. Content first.

Her correspondent writes that he is poor. His life has little to offer. He feels broken and depressed and even the little money he sets aside for ‘fun’ brings him little of it. ‘Jack’ wants reassurance, but, more clearly, his letter speaks of someone who simply wants some help.

Our columnist takes up his cause but not his case. He is treated to a charmless seminar. Austerity appears. So too do the ever-handy dismissals of ‘boomers’ who think the youth should cease eating avocados and instead get on with the business of earning a living. The suffering correspondent is advised to see if talking to the CAB might help.

Now character.

Our columnist is the child of a good, expensive education and speaks in the tones perfected by the privileged.

She has had a succession of media jobs at a young age, many of them requiring (and allowing) the successful applicant to speak their brains.

The columnist seems to be on TV news more often than the weather.

She has published a book on financialisation, with which a number of well-informed types took issue, under the imprint of an ideological publishing house.

All the measures of success, given to one clearly enjoying their results. A gleeful commentary on Twitter surrounds each TV appearance, with a fun meta game insisting that the economist, analyst and advice columnist is not just all of these things, but also something of a legend.

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