great quote. it reinforces one of the points chris hedges made in his presentation. quoting obama, hedges says: "if you work hard and save, you could be one of us."

The broad based theory of Veblen to which I referred (from Wikipedia) was;

Veblen is famous in the history of economic thought for combining a Darwinian evolutionary perspective with his new institutionalist approach to economic analysis. He combined sociology with economics in his masterpiece The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) where he argued that there was a fundamental split in society between those who make their way via exploit and those who make their way via industry. In early barbarian society this is the difference between the hunter and the gatherer in the tribe, but as society matures it is the difference between the landed gentry and the indentured servant. The titular manifestation of those with the power of exploit is the "leisure class" which is defined by its lack of productive economic activity and its commitment to demonstrations of idleness. As Veblen describes it, as societies mature, conspicuous leisure gives way to "conspicuous consumption", but both are performed for the sole purpose of making an invidious distinction based on pecuniary strength, the demonstration of wealth being the basis for social status.

(though clearly the books detail makes the argument more engaging and amusing)

and while I believe I understand your point about the key words on which you focused, you left out

(of a person or class of persons) considered superior by others or by themselves, as in intellect, talent,

(emphasis added) which was the point of the comment. The intellectual elite in this nation wander by themselves down a deeper path of irrelevancy into the forest. They willfully travel this path with condescending airs towards the rest of mankind. We're not doomed, we're ripe for revolution.

So you're still mad about not being allowed to dump the homeless in a sinkhole. It all comes clear.

Two sentences.

Well, of course, this is part of how that top 2% hangs on to so much wealth. While everyone else fights amongst themselves for the scraps, the über wealthy figure out new and craftier ways to make sure they siphon off a growing percentage of the salaries and savings of welders and adjunct professors, alike. The truth is, whatever your middle-class vocation, you have more in common with the poor people everyone likes to hate because we're conditioned to believe they're bringing us down, man.

Of course welders are underpaid, and so are the adjunct faculty. Both cases result from the ingrained dogma that taxes are evil, especially for the job creators, who should be spared, lest they not create our jobs.

It makes me conjure up a scene that could've been in Blazing Saddles:

Hedley Lamarr and his henchmen stage a robbery of the Rock Ridge Community Bank, cleaning out the life savings of everyone in town. Bart and Jim each form a posse, ostensibly to go after Lamarr. Instead, each posse starts blaming the other for the town's woes, and they end up in an epic battle, beating the crap out of each other. All the while, Hedley sits in a Cialis-like bathtub overlooking the town and laughing with his rubber ducky, while Taggart fills the tub with the town's money.

So do go on. Which of you has the more compelling CV, and the harder row to hoe?