I had not heard of this book, published in 2000, until I read another book, “Coming Apart,” which is a 2010 book that talks about a “New Elite” in our American culture and mentions this book by David Brooks several times. As for the author, Brooks, just about everyone knows of him, and many may have firm opinions of him based on his political views. But I would urge one to put those aside when determining the value of this book, which I found in the same level of value as “The World is Flat,” “The end of History and the last Man,” “Future Shock,” “Caste” and other modern classics of general knowledge, related to the American culture and human history. I think that this book is an important one, and I’m befuddled that I did not discover it years ago.
While the book “Coming Apart” focuses on the elite American families of the 60s and beyond, mostly of the East Coast, and how they reproduce and continually improve their lot, Brooks sees the Bobos in Paradise in all parts of our country now, where ambition is centered on career strategies based on college degrees, a knowledge of other countries and travel, and a cultured life. Such attributes do not require coming from the right families or area of the country. They can be home-grown, and that has been the case. The Bobos are the Americans of bohemian fame of the 60s and beyond, who, found ways to save face and still make money and have pleasures and advantages at the same time.
What Brooks does in this book is to describe some modern American social history that, while I have been living through it, myself, has not really been acknowledged or understood as well as it could have been without this book. As such, what he has to say helps me define my personal history in ways I had not before. I will admit to having a history of being a Bobo in Paradise.
Brooks chronicles the story of the bourgeoisie world of American success through the 1950s that was built on white privilege, staying married, going to church, working hard, moving to the suburbs, having gone to college and, later, sending your kids to college, and so on and on. This, vs the bohemian world that exploded in the 1960s and, presumably, sought a better more just and satisfying world.
Values regarding lasting marriages, the purpose of work, where one lived, and, in general, “getting ahead” were all questioned by the bohemians, as they emerged, under the assumption that there had to be a better way to live. But, in the end, per Brooks, the result was that the Bobo culture turned out to be hypocritical, at worst, but with many redeeming qualities, at best. And, it is as if its development was logical, if not to be denied.
Going back to the 1960s, for most of America, things were pretty even between middle class families. Sure, white privilege had giving advantages to whites for housing and higher education after World War II, but there were still tons of factory jobs, and CEOs did not make much more than others in a company. On a personal note, I was the first in my family to go to college. While I was not headed to an Ivy League school, I was still at the lower end of what was to be the advantages of college degrees, advanced degrees, marriages between those with college degrees and the financial rewards of making much more money than those who had not attained a college degree or the experience of going to college.
As for where we lived, in the 60s, most Americans did not stray very far from where they were born. At the beginning of the decade, fewer one in 10 adults had graduated from college. The norm was to marry someone from your hometown and pretty much try to continue living a middle class life as good or better than that of your parents. Why try to break that mold?
But those who were on track to get ahead of the pack were emerging, as more and more were becoming lawyers, investment bankers, academics, government officials and those who would, more and more, be in positions to wield influence over others. Some had become members of the educated class and wealthy class to be known as the “New Elite.” But, to Brooks, a much larger and more important group would be the Bobos, who would eventually see the opportunities of living in a virtual paradise while also making efforts to make for a better world.
Brooks is from the East Coast, so he talks a lot about the society pages of the New York Times and such that was part of his world. Those of us who grew up on the West Coast were much less familiar with boarding schools and private schools. But in either case, a college education would become a basis of separation from others who did not go to college. For the wealthy class, this would be a way to “stay ahead.” For others, it would lead to opportunities one would not have had before. Meritocracy was now a factor along with privilege. The gates to up-scale America, across the country, were open to other than those from the “right” families and/or from generational wealth.
Brooks recalls for us the character of Ben in the 1960s movie “The Graduate,” where Ben “represented all the ethnic strivers who were pouring through the colleges” at that time. Ben, as he was graduating from college, was witnessing the shallowness and hypocrisy of the establishment class. He knew he wanted no part of that, but was too new at it all and inexperienced to know what to do next. The idea that income and possessions would define success seemed awful to him. The advice to pursue “plastics” was obscure to him. What was that all about?
An alternative for Ben and others would be to “drop out,” to see alternative ways to survive financially, while living, primarily, for self-improvement and, perhaps, the betterment of others. “The Making of the Counterculture” was a popular book in 1969 that talked about alternatives to the status quo. But how fun was that going to be, long term? In reality, by the mid-1990s, those with college degrees would be making 70 percent more than those with only high school degrees. And those with graduate degrees would be making 90 percent more.
All kinds of new jobs were being created by the 90s in the Information Age. Higher education was being rewarded. For the most part, for the educated individual, there was no turning back. You were not going to seek a factory job. The gravy train was there for the offering. For those on that train, financial success and abundance of goods and services were to be the reward. Who could turn that down…especially if one could “justify” how one had come to deserve it?
I remember this era well, myself. I had a BA in history and tried teaching for a few years, but I ended up in “data processing” in the mid-70s, when there were no computer science majors and companies were looking for college graduates with skills in languages, math or music. Somehow I fit into that mold and soon found that I enjoyed “data processing,” working for corporations, and making good money.
How could you tell at that time if one of your neighbors was really doing well, financially? You would see the deliveries of new appliances and/or the obvious signs that major improvements were going on inside one’s home. Such spending was to be imagined as a necessity, when it clearly was not. A point was not to be ostentatious with your improvements. Oversized, moderized kitchens were becoming all the rage, in the process of moving to larger and newer homes.
Consumerism was in full swing by the 90s and one could easily avoid reflecting on the growing gap between the rich and poor. The values of the bourgeois were merging with the counterculture patterns of the 60s. Per Brooks, “this (new) establishment was an amorphous group of meritocrats who shared a consciousness….” And, today, this group is in all parts of our country.
For this new group, there were and are new codes of conduct. One is not to be overly snobbish or racist or homophobic. Discretionary income provides opportunities. Per Brooks, who will admit to being a Bobo in Paradise, himself, “Anybody with the right college degree, the right job and the expected cultural competencies can join.”
This new educated class began to enjoy specialized coffee shops and bookstores and restaurants of all types. They headed to Europe or the Far East to experience other countries and cultures. All this could easily be afforded. America was the richest country in the world and opportunities abounded for those with higher educations.
Housing areas become defined by incomes. Those with good jobs could also afford new cars and to send their kids to “good” schools. Yes, there were rebels to all this, but, per Brooks, most were “never as antimaterialistic as they pretended.”
The Bobos found that they liked organizations, as they found success within them. At the same time, there were the goals of continually expanding oneself in all ways possible. A balance was sought, if at all possible. Objects of art that reflected simpler cultures and that were bought during trips to other countries would be displayed in the home, rather than ostentatious, expensive things, as in the past.
Gourmet bread and organic foods were all the rage, as they are now, without any clear proof that they could be beneficial. If one can afford such, it just seems like the “right” thing to do, as one can look back at the days of Wonder Bread with distain.
Many of those who rebelled in the 60s to live in a Walden Pond like lifestyle would later convert their thinking into “that business can be converted into a spiritually satisfying lifestyle.” And, shucks, the money made can be good, too. All this is yet another example of how the activist ethos of the 60s could be absorbed into mainstream America. Confirmed “radicals” could gather at Chez Panisse in Berkeley after a radical meeting and feel very comfortable dining there, as if they were doing the right thing for the planet.
Per Brooks: “What’s happening is simple enough. The Bobos have invaded the business world, and they have brought their countercultural mental framework with them.” They, like Bill Gates, have become today’s “countercultural capitalists.” Not only are they able to build successful companies, but they can also play in a rock band and have concerns about world hunger. These news ones of wealth are not products of the organizational man of lore. No, these are the men and women who think in terms of self-expansion being the purpose of life, not the mindless accumulation of wealth and possessions. The choice of work for this new breed is like something that of a calling. Part of that calling can be to be involved with a company as “cool as you are.”
The Protestant Ethic of hard work and dedication to the task, per se, was fading. What was emerging was a goal of how to become successful, financially, then spend what you have earned to enjoy life.
Importantly, Per Brooks, “Companies will find out that Bobos will knock themselves out if they think that they are doing it for their spiritual selves, not primarily for their increasing wealth.”
A part of this book that I did not enjoy was about the narrative of a young women who has done all the right things to enjoy her Bobo life, if she can move up the ladder of success. Brooks goes on with details of all this for about 20 pages in what must have been a biographical narrative. I did not think that it fit with the rest of the book, as it was much too specific about one individual, who was under pressure to meet the right people, do well when an opportunity strikes, and to never give up in clawing ahead. For some reason, Brooks felt compelled to show this ugly side of Boboland that could be brutal to those who “failed.” It is here that he also points out the limitations of being rich in a world that can demand so much, e.g., of parents trying to keep up with the Joneses in the same neighborhood.
For the Bobos, smoking is frowned upon. Jogging is celebrated. Health clubs are all the rage. For the Bobos, work is not boring. The end of the day does not require one to drink in excess to numb the pain of the workday. No, the new normal is to work hard then to play hard. Exotic vacations are the norm. Bobos, in short, really know how to live! There are “peak experiences” to enjoy and discuss.
Toward the end of the book, published in 2000, Brooks admits to like the Bobo culture that he is part of. He says that, in general, Bobos are good people. They are the Bill Clintons and Barack Obamas and Oprah Winfreys of our modern world. They are offended by racial injustice and cruelty to others. They seek peace in the world, while enjoying second homes. “They have created a new balance of bourgeois and bohemian values.” They preach opportunity, responsibility and creativity. They tend to be centrists, politically. They cherish individuality and freedom of expression. But they also seek community controls, e.g., they believe in stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks.
Again toward the end of the book, Brooks warns that the Bobos may have become more and more conservative in their quest for order. Now that they have made it, they sure do not want it taken away. They enjoy their nice neighborhoods, but to their credit, they also want others to be able to eat healthy foods and lead healthy lives. They know, however, that it is generally good, if not better, to live in a Bobo world.
Finally, Brooks warns of an America possibly in decline. He calls on the Bobos to be involved in keeping that decline from happening. The Bobos are the young elite. They are good at what they do. They should not sit on the sidelines of civic responsibilities, but get involved. For the most part, they have been trained, nurtured and educated to be an important part of America’s future. They need to responsibly take on that burden.
So, the above is my take of this book, as a summary of what I got out of the book. Others may come out with quite different views or summaries. For my part, I recommend the book, highly, and, again, I am somewhat amazed that I had not come across it many years ago. I think that it has a lot to say to explain some basic aspects of our modern American culture.
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Livre très sale
Reviewed in France on January 7, 2020
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Tereza
Sehr schlau und dabei sehr unterhaltsam!
Reviewed in Germany on August 20, 2018Saar Pikar
Can you make me think while amusing me? This book can, and that's exactly what you want from Mr Brooks.
Reviewed in Canada on May 22, 2015Ms. O. Glynn Owen
Discreet bohemian charm of the new bourgeoisie
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