Wednesday, January 04, 2017

Vox explainer mashup

From Vox today*

How “collective narcissism” helps explain the election of Trump

“Collective narcissists do not have a sense of humor when their group is concerned,” a psychologist says.

... These places appeal to our social desires, too. According to Meredith Poppler, a spokesperson for IHRSA, “[Boutique gyms and studios] cater to a very specific, specialized, and passionate segment who are very willing to pay more for being part of a 'tribe.’” She added: “It’s the sense of belonging where everyone is like them versus a traditional club which caters to many different types of exercisers.” Acolytes like the specialization, she said, and enjoy working out alongside other dedicated spinning/yoga/Pilates/fill-in-the-blank fanatics like themselves. But let’s be clear: A defining characteristic of the tribe using these workout spaces is affluence. It’s people with a good deal of disposable income — and an interest in fitness — who can pay to use these facilities. According to Vogue, they’ve even been relegated to the sphere of status symbol. “It’s become very much a brand in itself, the kind of sport and exercise you do,” Candice Fragis, senior buyer at Net-a-Sporter, told the magazine. Another spinning enthusiast said, “It’s like the only acceptable lifestyle brag.” ...

*Now the revelation.

We've played a trick on you. We've taken the headline from one Vox article about how "collective narcissism" (which seems to be another word for ressentiment) relates to Trump and Brexit but mingled it with the text of an adjacent but unrelated Vox article about metropolitan boutique gyms.

The irony is that the case for narcissism is much clearer in the gyms article than it is the one about Trump. Now there is a deeper analysis to be written about how the class-based narcissism which the latter article well describes was in fact itself a contributor to the election of Trump, whose deplorables were most definitely not in boutique gyms. But that would open up the whole question of cultural class determinants of Trump and Brexit, a topic with which the New Pundits are not comfortable.


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