Another great piece! I’ve often found it fascinating how we speak of the criminality of folks who are white and wealthy. First, that the whiteness is ignored altogether (except insofar as it relates to the collar, even though the collar isn’t the only thing lacking color), and then that the combo of whiteness and affluence doesn’t provoke cultural critiques of the group in question. After all, this is precisely what we do with poor folks of color. We speak of the “culture of poverty,” or the “underclass,” but never the “culture of affluence” or “overclass” as groups or cultures with patholoical and dysfunctional norms and value systems.
This is especially telling, considering that every single one of the things attributed to the “underclass” is actually a norm learned from the overclass, and/or indulged by the overclass far more often.
For instance, we are told the “underclass” suffers from a “short-term orientation” and isn’t good at planning for the future. Yet, what is a derivatives trader or hedge fund manager focused on? Quick money, without much concern for the way their actions might impact the larger economy. Indeed, corporate quarterly reports are predicated on delivering short term returns to investors; same with stock buy-backs, as opposed to long term investment in plant and equipment and hiring. So the rich normalize this behavior rooted in the desire for acquisition, and the value of materialism, but the poor (and especially of color) get bashed if they wear nice tennis shoes, have a cell phone or a functioning vehicle as if their desire for nice things indicated something about poor folk culture, rather than merely imbibing the American norm.
Likewise, we are told the underclass don’t have respect for the laws of the society, but well…Wall Street suggests that’s not a poor folk of color thing, and when it comes to something like criminal theft, wage theft costs 3x as much money each year (stolen by employers from their employees) as all the street robberies combined, let alone street robberies by folks of color.
Anyway, just thought I’d add these thoughts to your wonderful piece.
