Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2002/11/03/esse_quam_videre.php
Sunday, November 3, 2002
For those of you casting about for something to help you forget for a moment your drab, wretched lives, allow me to suggest Snobbery. In light of the vulgar, unrestrained hedonism with which democracy is practised on campus nowadays, snobbery offers a delightful escape, a breath of fresh air, 'a repudiation of every democratic value.' Nor should it be shameful—in fact, snobographer Joseph Epstein reveals quite early on that snobbery is endemic to the egalitarian end of the social spectrum. Does that last bit sound familiar.... a reshuffling of a recent Wright harangue? Brothers, when smarting under the lash of yet another bellicose 'victim,' take heart! Preen your feathers and condescend away! I assure you that in your derision you engage merely in a snobbery cantilevered by that of your antagonist.
Indeed, Epstein's thorough account of snobbery is much more than a fascinating and witty chronicle of the nature, evolution, and manifestations of snobbery: in some respects, it is also a how-to manual. And so, you might be wondering, 'Why be a snob?'
Quite simple. 'The essence of snobbery...is arranging to make yourself feel superior at the expense of other people.' Now this is something quite splendid...we all know that, no matter what the Declaration says, all men are not created equal. Here we have a handy tool to remedy statesmen's silliness, with which to wipe away our own insecurities, and spackle them to the annoying face of our neighbour, whom we most assuredly do not love (and whose wife is really quite attractive). 'Exxx-cellent!' you say, 'I never liked that wog next-door anyhow. How then, can I too become a snob?'
Relax, Sonny. There are any number of snobberies you can cultivate to bolster your shaky self-esteem. With a bit of footwork, you'll soon be feeling better than ever before, and, best of all, you'll have the joy of watching your acquaintances' egos rapidly receding into the stygian depths (now) so far below. The trick will be finding that one snobbery most suited to your needs and surroundings. Luckily, Epstein details the most fashionable styles. With a bit of tailoring, your new outlook on others will have you merrily on your way. So let's dig in, shall we?
First, if you've just arrived, an arriviste as it were, you could become a material snob, displaying for all to see that you've got the moolah to lease a Lamborghini, the cash to clothe your wife in Karan, and the wampum to winter in Palm Beach.
Having taken care of yourself, you'll want to be sure your children go to 'prestigious' schools (so you can talk about it, of course). No matter that focusing on the 'prestige' of a school somewhat misses the point—the schools have missed it as well, and everyone's in on the game.
Now, if you're going to gloat over your child's ascendancy and your various other successes, you're clearly going to need some place to do that, preferably over elaborate meals where you can display your good taste in wines costing over $500 a pop. And this is where your club comes in. Not so long ago, it was said of a club that it was the nicest in the world because of the people in it. Your cohorts might not be the nicest, but they'll be the '-est' at something for sure.
Still, your club is populated by people like you, and there's always a chance someone will one day outdo you with their snobbery. Name-dropping can elevate, but you'll soon be found out. Fear not! you have a trump card: you're a victim. As long as you're not a WASP, Epstein tells us, whether 'African American, Jew, woman, homosexual, handicapped,' or blue with pink polka-dots (a rare, but nasty skin affliction), your ethnic victimhood will catapult you into a position of moral superiority over anyone who cannot make the same claim.
Unfortunately, your victim-celebrity may soon be challenged by other victims who claim that the evils that befell their ancestors are more grievous still than those that undid yours. The only way to save face here is to show that you are an unassailable virtucrat, i.e. that you hold the better political views, not merely because they are correct, but because they are ratified by what is 'deeply, morally righteous.' As a virtucrat, you care deeply about people, to the point of saluting letters 'Dear Gentlepersons,' while observing other politically-correct forms throughout the body. Political correctness is dear to your heart, because it is yet another way to make yourself feel above the unenlightened.
Of course, if the above do not appeal to you, intellectual snobbery (reverse snobbery) is another option. This is a bit more complicated, insofar as you'll need to be sufficiently perceptive of snobberies you'll reckon beneath you. In many ways, however, it's the most satisfying form, as all but a handful (other readers of the New York Review) will acutely feel their sciolism undone.
So where does this leave us? At the conclusion, of course, that, in shitting on others you'll always (in someone's eyes) be pissing yourself. And this is Epstein's point. His penetrating, good-natured wit unseats even the most hardened snobberies, and throughout the book one sees that he's getting at the inverse of his subject. He wants essence, not appearance. It becomes evident that anything truly enviable is the result of hard work driven by the pervasive convictions of good character. It is precisely this idea that makes Snobbery immediately relevant to Dartmouth, Epstein's lively dismissal of 'higher' education notwithstanding. A reformulation of campus politics based on abolition of victimhood could work wonders, even freeing much-needed monies as certain positions became instantly obsolete. Epstein's line 'my holocaust is greater than your slavery' sounds strikingly familiar.
If, rather than cheerleading themselves and thereby completely missing the point, campus victims (of whatever persuasion) spent the same time working assiduously, they would soon enough equal or even outpace their alleged oppressors, the goals of affirmative action realised without time wasted leveling a playing-field nature made uneven. Arguing against merit is much harder than deriding inanity.
Epstein includes a formula for arriving at a snob-free individual, though noting that the institutions he suggests are chosen not because he makes much of them, but because the world does. It should interest Professor Epstein to know that one of those institutions, Groton School, long ago had the motto: esse quam videre.