"what has made this more complicated is that snobbery has had to make way for downward mobility, or the prospect, a real one for the first time in american life, that one's children won't do better than one has oneself done.



in 1781, john adams famously wrote to his wife abigail: "i must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. my sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, commerce, and architecture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."



this probably has to be revised today by many immigrant grandfathers to read, "i must run a dry-cleaning shop so that my sons can go to medical and law school, in order that their sons may study sociology and communications, so that their children can run vintage clothing stores, act in avant-garde theater, and work in cofee shops."

-joseph epstein, snobbery-