Another good read as always, Lisa! I hadn't considered how two-tiered we've become, but I am aware of the "pay to play" nature of some activities in which I have engaged. I had top-tier airline status on one of the major carriers for years due to my extensive work travel. I don't travel much at all for work now (and I don't miss it!), I lost that status, and now my travel experience is very different. I still use the airline lounges when I travel, however - one holdover from my velvet rope days I guess. Executive floors in hotels offer special lounges for those who pay or stay often enough, which I've accessed on occasion. Concerts and sporting events feature VIP access and Club seats, which I sometimes enjoy. Even the government is in on it - Global Entry and TSA Precheck speed you through immigration for a fee, and you can get your passport renewal expedited for a couple hundred bucks, all of which I've used. While we have always had stratification in our societies, especially with travel and leisure services, it does feel like the costs for this continually ratchet up. Those of us who occasionally enjoy these special privileges-for-a-fee will have to pay more and more until we no longer deem those privileges to be worth our money - a conclusion at which I find myself more frequently arriving. Modern problems, I know, but an example of how the shittification of life is characterized by a fluid demarcation. So it's fluid shittification. Perhaps it should be called diarrheafication?
Thank you for this piece. One thing about the velvet rope economy I’m noticing — people will do or pay or risk ANYTHING to get that feeling or the possibility of being within the rope, even briefly. I’m thinking of the wedding industry in particular, but also of the college admissions racket that dangles the (seemingly guaranteed) carrot of a job that gets you inside the job. Right now in my wealthy Philly suburb, desperate parent/student duos are scheming frantically to come up with new entrepreneurial projects, memberships, internships, exotic volunteer opportunities in order to pad their applications, not mention trying to game the SATs. So much love and hope for their children — expressed as a rotten, sweaty froth of fear.
Great connection to the college-admissions Hunger Games. I'm in a few Facebook groups for college admissions and paying for college, as things have changed so much since I was the kid applying to and going to school, and it's terrifying and infuriating how these kids' lives are constructed and how these parents throw elbows. I get why they do it -- as you so aptly summed up -- but it's so heartbreaking to see.
Another good read as always, Lisa! I hadn't considered how two-tiered we've become, but I am aware of the "pay to play" nature of some activities in which I have engaged. I had top-tier airline status on one of the major carriers for years due to my extensive work travel. I don't travel much at all for work now (and I don't miss it!), I lost that status, and now my travel experience is very different. I still use the airline lounges when I travel, however - one holdover from my velvet rope days I guess. Executive floors in hotels offer special lounges for those who pay or stay often enough, which I've accessed on occasion. Concerts and sporting events feature VIP access and Club seats, which I sometimes enjoy. Even the government is in on it - Global Entry and TSA Precheck speed you through immigration for a fee, and you can get your passport renewal expedited for a couple hundred bucks, all of which I've used. While we have always had stratification in our societies, especially with travel and leisure services, it does feel like the costs for this continually ratchet up. Those of us who occasionally enjoy these special privileges-for-a-fee will have to pay more and more until we no longer deem those privileges to be worth our money - a conclusion at which I find myself more frequently arriving. Modern problems, I know, but an example of how the shittification of life is characterized by a fluid demarcation. So it's fluid shittification. Perhaps it should be called diarrheafication?
Bully for boycotting! If our votes in the polls get negated, then the votes with our wallets will echo through the halls of Wall Street.
Thank you. Trump has made it very easy to exploit the 90%. No end in sight. So sad. I only get my news from Colbert these days.
Thank you for this piece. One thing about the velvet rope economy I’m noticing — people will do or pay or risk ANYTHING to get that feeling or the possibility of being within the rope, even briefly. I’m thinking of the wedding industry in particular, but also of the college admissions racket that dangles the (seemingly guaranteed) carrot of a job that gets you inside the job. Right now in my wealthy Philly suburb, desperate parent/student duos are scheming frantically to come up with new entrepreneurial projects, memberships, internships, exotic volunteer opportunities in order to pad their applications, not mention trying to game the SATs. So much love and hope for their children — expressed as a rotten, sweaty froth of fear.
Great connection to the college-admissions Hunger Games. I'm in a few Facebook groups for college admissions and paying for college, as things have changed so much since I was the kid applying to and going to school, and it's terrifying and infuriating how these kids' lives are constructed and how these parents throw elbows. I get why they do it -- as you so aptly summed up -- but it's so heartbreaking to see.