It’s easy to get wrapped up in social status. As I pointed out in my previous post, In Defense of Being Flashy, Americans love to position themselves in hierarchies using complex symbols. From a Gold Rolex to IG hedonism this is the age of “if you’ve got it flaunt it.”
It’s not always so simple to understand these new social codes. This week I’ve gone across the internet to find content that can act as your decoder ring. We move up the age bracket from pop culture to watch culture and end with a story of all American bravery as a palate cleanser.
Nothing’s made me feel as bleak as watching the first couple episodes of Euphoria. For those unfamiliar, the HBO show follows a gaggle of glamazon supposed high schoolers drifting through an effortlessly cool drug haze.
I never suspected that Vogue would agree with me, but their culture writer Samuel Getachew does in a recent opinion piece. A native of Oakland, also the home of series star Zendaya, he says all the louche drugged out characters are way too realistic. He questions the ethics behind promoting this nihilistic lifestyle as a desirable aesthetic. Kids are already making bad decisions, why justify it?
Another interesting point is the intersection of social status and destructive behavior. Gen Z vies for cool points by promoting their DGAF attitude from instagram to Tik Tok. They should try reading my next pick by Polina Pompliano, who takes the status game head on.
Why You’ll Never Win the Status Game
Substacker Polina Pompliano deep dives into the unwinnable status games we all play. In this personal look she takes us from high school Uggs, to Canada Goose, to Rob Henderson’s luxury beliefs. Pompliano gives a visceral sense of why everything we want seems just out of reach and why this is so destructive.
The post tees up her profile of author and story telling scientist Will Storr. After reading, keep going down the click rabbit hole on her The Profile newsletter, well worth ten bucks a month.
While we’re on the subject of status games let’s talk about one of my favorites, watches. Jack Forster, writing for watch blog HODINKEE, delivers a concise tour de force on why mechanical timepieces are more than an irrational eccentricity of affluent older men. This should be manna from heaven for you watch nerds out there, tired of explaining to uninitiated friends and relatives how you could spend that much for something which only tells time.
If I were you I’d steal some of Forster’s talking points. Remember most people have zero clue about the history, complexity, and aesthetic beauty of a fine wrist watch.
If by this point you’re tired of sociology and status, head over to Field Ethos for a good old American action story. Richard “Demo Dick” Marcink served multiple tours in Vietnam becoming a legend for wearing local clothes and stacking a big body count. The medal clad high school drop out went on to be instrumental in the formation of SEAL TEAM SIX. Hollywood couldn’t make up a story like this!