It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass. Somewhere along the line, it became socially acceptable, then desirable, and finally glorified. We have lost the plot, by and large.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass while poor. You were always supposed to defer to your betters. The Kennedys got to be assholes. The Vanderbilts got to be assholes. The Pullmans got to be assholes. Their employees and staff were expected to be utterly docile and subservient.
But a century of rising middle class prosperity combined with a Randian self-centerism transformed generations of people into CEO wanna-bes. American libertarian ideology and the myth of the Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire has utterly obliterated class consciousness in the minds of the American working class. Millions upon millions of people have it embedded in their heads that they should be treated like aristocracy.
We have lost the plot, by and large.
We’ve bought into the propaganda of American Exceptionalism. Every American gets indoctrinated into the theory that they’re above average, that they’re Gifted And Talented, that they’re destined to become The President. There is no universal understanding of the human condition, just people who deserve to be under you and people who climbed above you unfairly.