Rob Henderson: How luxury beliefs took over the elite
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UnHerd's Freddie Sayers meets Rob Henderson.
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Why are the top 1% so politically correct? Rob Henderson coined the term ‘luxury beliefs’ to explain how affluent people signal high status with ‘woke’ ideas. In his new memoir ‘Troubled’, Henderson tells the story of a difficult childhood and how it opened his eyes to the hypocrisy of America’s elite. He joined UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers to discuss the concept of luxury beliefs and much more.
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// TIMECODES //
00:00 - 00:45 - Rob Henderson describes his experience with campus politics
06:15 - 07:33 - Are woke college students well-intentioned or cynical?
07:33 - 09:36 - Understanding luxury beliefs
09:36 - 12:32 - The real-world harms of luxury beliefs
12:32 - 14:55 - People in the real world don’t care about race, class or politics
14:55 - 19:30 - The importance of strong, stable families
19:30 - 20:32 - Is Rob Henderson a conservative?
20:32 - 22:40 - To which class does Rob Henderson belong?
22:40 - 24:36 - How does UK campus politics compare to the US?
#UnHerd #RobHenderson #LuxuryBeliefs
Here's the thing about totalitarian systems. They don't require your agreement, they require your acquiescence. Every time you keep your mouth shut when you disagree, and just go along, you add one more brick to the totalitarian prison being built around you. If you don't know this, your feelings have already told you this, have they not?
Woke isn't a totalitarian belief system. It's too unhinged and incoherrent. It's far more a set of broken ethics or a moral system.
Yeah, but...what to do.
Speak up! Say your piece. If that gets you booted out, you're better off out. It doesn't much matter if you walk off, or get booted off the Titanic, you're still better off outside it. "Go woke, go broke" is a cliche for a reason - totalitarian systems all fail because they're not in touch with reality. If you have to choose between reality and "acceptance", go with reality, it's a far better and more constant friend.(and a FAR more hostile enemy).
Speak up, say your piece. If this has negative repercussions, you're probably on a sinking ship already. Whether you walk off or get kicked off, it's better being off. An institution that denies reality is one you don't want to be in. Reality is a better friend than social acceptance, and a FAR more dangerous enemy.
Not really, no I lived in a totalitarian state for 15 years. In many ways I still live. People voice their disagrement in dictatorship, a lot. But they DO NOT DO much. For example in Russia you really can speak badly about Putin. I will not advise you to do it, but you could. But .... people in Russia do NOTHING. That is the key. They are not engaged. They do not care about politics. They do not care about power. They do not care about Russia. Russians are hyper-individualistic. They look after themselves and that is about it. The problem in USA is the overproduction of elites. There are just too many people with education and wealth and all feel they deserve to lead. And they DO too much. Too much identity politics, too many rallies, too many campains, waaay too much politics. January the 6th is such an example. All those people should have stayed home. In the same sense, all those people who do all kind of trans stuff & drag queen hours also should stay home. USA is medicating kids and this is wrong. As I said, too much education and too much wealth. In a related thing, talking about totalitarism is difficult. Here in Eastern Europe there are millions who regret the "good old days" in Communism. Those people did not understood their own experiences.
As a Working Class woman (UK), Who grew up in the London Docks, I despise and have always despised these middle/upper class types who look down their noses at us, and who cannot conceive that we, the great unwashed, are not as stupid or as in need of their leadership as they think 🤬
Well, but aren’t you doing the same when you put them under the same blanket?
@@mrtopcat2 well, its easy to tell which side you are on. This is class war
@@margaretgreenwood4243 Easy to tell which side? Have you seen in the video how people have wrongly applied the same assumptions to Rob Henderson as well? And yet here you are making the same assumptions.
@@mrtopcat2 Mr Henderson is absolutely correct in what he says.
@@margaretgreenwood4243 Then why would you make assumptions about which side I am?
This has been going on for decades. Only now has the monster grown so ludicrous and large that more people are seeing it.
i don’t disagree. However I also believe slightly differently that many of “us” on the other side, such as the American Christian conservative family I grew up in, many of us totally dropped the ball, as it were, for many decades, unfortunately, recognizing it as it happened and grew, talking and speaking and praying against it amongst ourselves, yet also somehow, simultaneously totally underestimating the enemies resolve to destroy our freedoms. And while it may not we too late, and while we must fight regardless, some of us just completely underestimated the enemy and haven’t done as much as we should to protect all peoples’ freedoms against, for one example, the tyranny of the plandemic.
I love the title of this talk. "Luxury beliefs'. That's awesome, I'm going to remember that....
It is very telling when he said "I want to hear what these students BELIEVE." He hit it on the nail, it is a belief system.
I don’t understand. What’s your point? As opposed to not being a belief system?
Yes, indeed! A new fundamental "ELITOCRACY"- bolstered up by narcissistic, religious self- complacency... A new generation, inspired/gifted to turn this world upside down!😌😇 A new path to success and eternity- as they are ideologically- firmly convinced ...for future generations
@@divinegon4671The implication is that it isn't based on rationality while, presumably, theirs is.
@@johnboylan3832 ok I see
In our society higher education has morphed into big business. The primary driver of this business is not education per se, but money; The students are the customers, the product is accreditation considered necessary to gain access to careers of the upper and upper middle classes. The student customers pay high prices for this product to ensure that they won't face the bleak futures of average people and ultimately, as in any business the customer is always right. Don't like the silly, petty demands of your affluent customers? You're in the wrong line of work. Find another business.
The elite of the woke era have made themselves so unenviable. No one has to explain the appeal of the Kardashians- essentially elevated middle class- but dynastic wealth and the media/tech elite have given themselves over to suffocating moral hauteur and performative self-flagellation, while deglamorizing both themselves and the cities they inhabit. Except for themselves, no one believes the Ivy League elite are even smart- for every rinky-dink contrivance that’s stupid on its face- gender ideology, Russia collusion, “the insurrection”, &c.- you can be sure its most fervent believers are clustered at the postgraduate level of education.
Rob Henderson is a gift that keeps giving. Thank you man!
There is no such thing as cultural apprpriation. No one is able to gatekeep culture.
If someone lies to themselves to justify bad behaviour, they are still responsible for that bad behaviour. If they conveniently forget to consider how their beliefs benefit them, they are not good people, and do not deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Why? Does that mean you can't be a good person if your IQ isn't high enough, or if you aren't prone to the introspection women are more likely to exhibit? How does your statement fit in with diversity and inclusion?
On the topic of Halloween costumes, Prager U’s videos on how Mexicans, the Chinese and people of a few other cultural backgrounds react to the white American interviewer wearing traditional attire from their home countries are gold (spoiler alert: they find it great.)
I’m hoping people can predict the outcome of the video you referenced without knowing anything about it. I know I was able to
Halloween is Celtic tradition,so according to woke logic is not ok to celebrate the Halloween unles you Celt.
He’s absolutely right, many ‘preach ultra liberalism and practice conservatism’ in their private lives…
Mr Henderson is a very decent and intelligent gentleman. What struck me about the stories about the ignorant students who made assumptions about his 'privilege' is that they see empathy as a zero sum game.
I like this guy
You get the prize for the most worthless comment - ever.
I loved Rob's essay on this subject that I saw in quillette.
I went from Connecticut to California. Near the end of the trip we went through Red bluff. I remember the stop sign was like a box hanging in the middle of the intersection with a stop on each side. I thought that was the weirdest stop sign I've ever seen. Me and my traveling companion got in an argument and as a result forgot the gas up.
🤔
That stop sign saved the cost of four separate posts and the labour needed to install them?
His book is awesome and an easy read as well.
Duplicitous sociopaths😂😂😂 this one had me chuckling😅
Being in the crowd the q and a was a rewarding session!
What kind of adults are being created? What will they do when the elders are gone and all they have is one another? Being thoughtful is a good thing to learn and be taught. Walking on eggshells and not even being truly honest is quite another!
thanks for posting
Here's a ChatGPT summary: - Rob Henderson transitioned from the military to Yale University in 2015. - He was impressed by the students' ability to absorb and synthesize information. - Henderson struggled initially with academic demands and campus politics. - He observed a campus controversy over Halloween costumes and cultural appropriation. - Students protested against professors, calling them racist and demanding their firing. - Henderson was called "privileged" by a student when he asked why the email about costumes was offensive. - He chose not to use his identity as a counter-argument to learn more about students' beliefs. - Henderson noticed that students made assumptions about his identity and experiences. - He worked in a psychology lab and took many classes, leading to the development of his "luxury beliefs" concept. - Henderson believes that 10-20% of elite students cynically exploit social issues, while the majority have good intentions but lack self-reflection. - He discusses the concept of "luxury beliefs," which are status symbols among the elite that can have negative consequences for less fortunate people. - The elite may support fashionable movements to distinguish themselves from the masses. - Henderson criticizes the idea of "trickle-down meritocracy" or "trickle-down diversity," where equity is seen as having a demographically representative 1%. - He argues that real equity should focus on improving conditions for marginalized communities, not just representation in elite positions. - Henderson discusses the disconnect between the stable families of the affluent and the deteriorating family structures in lower-income communities. - He highlights the promotion of addictive technologies by tech executives who restrict screen time for their own children. - Henderson is open to financial assistance and welfare but emphasizes the importance of culture, habits, mindset, and families. - He identifies with his working-class roots despite his educational journey and feels moderate or centrist in his views. - Henderson finds campus politics in the UK less intense than in the US but still problematic. - Main message: Rob Henderson shares his experiences transitioning from the military to Yale, his observations of campus politics, the concept of "luxury beliefs," and the importance of stable families and mindful technology use. He also discusses his personal political stance and the state of campus politics in the UK.
The most important elements you overlooked is that from the eighties economic situation for the working and middle class it started to get worse which is at base of family destination.
The irony of the montage of class signifiers at the beginning of this video.
You point at an irony but never state how so.
Fussel, "Class"; Veblen, "Theory of the Leisure Class". It's been said, better, before. A far more interesting luxury belief to analyze might be that of class determining moral responsibility. This interview feels like a book tour clip.
who are you even talking about? it’s fine if that’s your opinion but you of course will well know that people like me and many other have no idea who the two you mentioned even are. It may be an unfortunate fact that these ideas must be rehashed and rewritten about each generation, because humans are forgettful and most are not scholars who read whoever the heck a Fussel is. However you’ve piqued my curiosity about archane or forgotten socio-psychological philosophers so, maybe I’ll google them later.
ah yes our token, haughty, well-read philospher guy in the comments section who mentions authors who few care about anymore as if those authors ought to be on the tip of all our tongues. Maybe they should. Nevertheless, they are not. And then we get someone in the comments with the luxury of time or career choice to know who even in the heck a Fussel is. ‘Twould be better should ye help us out sir, and be less haughty to a worker dude like me who has not the faintest clue, but I do like to learn anew. In the meantime, I love to snark in a comment section on people like you, with “luxury” 😅 of mentioning authors the vast majority of millennials and zoomers I am assuming have no idea even who they are or would have been.
Curiously, nobody dares provide the solution to these events and trends. Unfortunately, Pol Pot provided the answer.
Pol Pot retarded his population further. What’s required is a less restricted discourse, the opposite of Pol Pot. Ban tik tok, learn global history, remove censorship.
i think some of the talkers and authors definitely are offering solutions. Nevertheless if the culture does not shift back or shift again through a mass adoption of their ideas, a “revival”, if you will, then, welp, maybe the wokists will win. Which certainly no doubt, would be no good at all, as Pol Pot himself showed in his genocides of his peoples. As Stalin showed, as Mao Tsedung showed, as any number of other freedom hating dictators and kings have showed all throughout history.
Fascinating interview.
Both sides in the woke and culture wars are participating in a luxury debate. It animates a very small group of people. But especially those who can find ways of monetising it through books, brands, gimmick ideas. and appearances.
It's not the debate that is a luxury, it is the BELIEFS - they are antithetical to the viability of civilization, which makes the debates over those beliefs important.
@@michaels4255 It's all being blown out of proportion by people who earn income from it. and need rage to survive. Most people are detached from this naval gazing. The 'debates' are both tiresome and banal.
Did the upper classes revert to stable families, or did the folks who achieved stable families simply become the upper class?
The student virtue signalling is NOT the problem. These are children competing under a particular set of rules. They will NOT be judged by their character, the quality and extent of their efforts, or their results, but by their trivial characteristics; this applies from President Biden appointing his VP on the basis of her sex and skin pigmentation, on down to the most trivial office, including K12 classrooms.
People who are not prepared to accept responsibility for themselves are not adults at 45, and the problematic academic culture of infantilisation of students is extending their adolescence out into their 40's. The whole leftist politics of envy only further cements this trend.
Thank you……..well said .
I remember the story about the kid from Red Bluff who died after tumbling down a hill at Lassen Volcanic NP.
I love Rob Henderson!! What a great person
Great and lowly are RELATIVE. 😉 Incidentally, are you VEGAN? 🌱
What does Vegan have to do with it? Veganism is an ethical choice. @@TheWorldTeacher
@@TheWorldTeacherAre you… okay?
@@jasminealixandranorthY’all are whack!
Every single good thing we can celebrate about our culture, or any other culture, is built on the natural evolutionary advantage conferred by cultural appropriation. One of the best things any person can do is evaluate what is good about another culture/person and then emulate that good thing.
Freddie. "Do you now think of yourself as Conservative?" Why does the label matter? Does it matter to you Freddie? How you appear to other people? You need a label to hide behind?
A benefit is not a "handout" and because someone appears "able bodied" this does this not mean they are not unwell, so much for an elite education.
For example, benefits given to a veteran are not a handout, while benefits like free housing to illegal immigrants (or American single mothers, for that matter) are indeed "Handouts"...
At 13:40 Freddy mentions a man becoming a lesbian which is impossible surely. A man now viewing himself s a woman but who wants a relationship with a woman is still having a heterosexual experience. Parents on high incomes have their children involved in sports, music, after-school activities. That's why there's less screen time for those children.
I thought he said that his foster parents, a man and a woman, got a divorce, then his foster mother came out as a lesbian, and got into a relationship with another woman, and then he said "I had two moms."
I'll listen to it again..thanks. @@simonestreeter1518
Article: How the Ruling Class Became Vulgar "Well, they do need to keep these institutions going. They’re just not, it seems. There’s a hostility to reason, science, and culture - which, when the bourgeoisie was on the rise in the nineteenth century, used to be very important to its mission of establishing its legitimacy and domination of society. Now they just seem to be dominated by moneymaking and the accumulation of the maximum amount of money in the shortest period of time."
Very well said!!❤👏 To me the force of coherence is at stake- more thanever before: history showed that whenever those uniting/binding powers [respect for the elderly, family-coherence, love, solidarity..] were declining, the whole empire was on the verge of dissolution/destruction! It disappeared before long. Such lack of appreciation became evident in the way those elites treated the approved authorities- e.g. in science! Arrogance alone was not enough to win over the pandemic: established capacities like Dr Bhattacharya, Dr Sucharit Bhakdi, Dr Arne Burckhardt, Dr Martin Haditsch, Dr Angus Dalgleish... asf were NOT asked for advice!! Nearly pushed aside, if possible, the new star of the "I am the science!"-generation gave a lamentable example: such procedures will reveal the true quality of those se of future rulers, very soon-I'm convinced!! They still have to be "put on the scales "!! Will it suffice??
And Thomas Sowell explains very well what it is that happens in the 60s and 70s in the US - a dependency on the welfare system keeps people from wanting to get married or earn more
I really like this guy
Just wondering how RH got into to Yale with such poor HS grades.
Through a veterans access programme after several years in the military.
The same way the 'late' president of Harvard garnered her position :)
@@jasminealixandranorth That's certainly not true; as an Asian-American he is likely to have been discriminated against in higher ed admission to an Ivy League university. The Supreme Court recently ruled, I believe, that such discrimination violated the 14th Amendment.
@@jasminealixandranorth she's dead?
I'd be interested in why he chose to go there to study?
Tak!
”Im not opposed to the wellfair state” “Lower income families tend to come from broken single family homes.” Fails to connect the two.
changing the composition of govt representatives isnt supposed to lead to any equity trickling down as much as send a signal to the masses there's some effort underway, so postpone the revolution.
It's not hard at all to transcend class - if: If you have parents who are highly motivated to ensure you are well educated; if the other people in your life, including friends, are good examples and also committed to your well-being; if your time is structured and filled primarily with activities that enhance your well-being; and, most importantly, if you are able to forgo pleasure in the now for a potentially greater reward in the future. Although anyone can theoretically overcome childhood adversity, it can be very difficult. So it's best to create the circumstances to the extent you can that will ensure your child has the best chance to succeed. And this means marriage to someone equally committed to the well-being of your family and the future success of your children - before they are born.
Bizarre that Rob can't see how climate crisis and climate change are luxury beliefs.
So… you’ve kinda missed the point here: For example, he said: I don’t think marginalised economically disadvantaged communities care whether the Dean of Yale is a PoC etc… That’s a luxury belief / value. Climate change, although it’s something you can only afford to care about if you are doing better than ‘just surviving’… the crucial thing is that it will affect everyone… cos it’s real
@@benjohnstone8692 says the elite who ARE the people who pollute with their industries, yet expect us lower classes to clean up on our dime.
@@benjohnstone8692 You don't see the parallels in your two examples?
@@benjohnstone8692you just provide it’s a luxury belief 😂
@@benjohnstone8692the myth of climate change is very real. Actual man-made climate change is effectively not real and all the data keeps pointing to this as the truth, more and more. Without accepting this truth, we can never fix all the other problems that the lie of climate change creates, including dei, sel, esg, etc. You must eliminate the first cause or the cancer will always come back and spread.
Don't need the "luxury"adjective. Beliefs and opinions are bullshit and should not be the foundation of a person's philosophy and certainly not governmental policy. That's my opinion and I really believe this 😂😂😂
Seems like I missed the backstory here. Am I supposed to be familiar with this gentleman and his work?
You did not miss anything. It is simply that the comments of his shills here are trying to make it appear as if he has made an important discovery that everyone missed. While in fact he uses fancy words to describe nothing. Just like the tailors in The Emperor's New Clothes.
Yes, it’s up to you to fill in the backstory. Not hard. Start with his book _Troubled_.
No, I see there is a larger piece if I pay. I guess they want me to pay to be in their subscription. And I get that. It's hard times looking for real journalism, and I like Unheard, it just seems to me that we need to figure out the tactics!
You're not opposed to a welfare state because you don't understand how it works how the scam works. On the other hand despite all that there are very few who actually need the assistance. Some people are just in a bad spot. But as a way of life for large groups of people, it's just a way to control them. Also the welfare state tries to create situations where there's more people that need the welfare. I'm trying to be brief
You failed.
I grew on welfare. They penalize you if you work. It is absolutely set up to make you dependent on the state and control you.
It also keeps people poorer. Because as soon as you get a job and try to have a little more money and better yourself you lose the benefits. So people become generational leeches with only hope is voting for more assistance, and selling drugs/body
@@WinstonSmithGPTthen point to literally one welfare recipient not still on welfare, or homeless… the stats are abysmal
It also destroys families. A single mother gets more money than a married couple.
Mad
'Luxury Belief Mask' is a more accurate phrase though its mouthful. They don't actually believe these ideas but only put on a mask for social signallig - unlike other luxury goods (watch/jewelry) that they actually own.
Most normal people's behaviours ultimately entangle with the choices and environments they find themselves in. Not many will oppose woke nonsense because it potentially threatens their marriage, relationships, finances for schools mortgages cars etc. They are imprisoned in a culture they may dislike but go along with it because the personal consequences are too much for them to speak out. Most HR depts, companies, ideology and political parties know this, so they can get away with it with minimum or no consequences from those who would control its proliferation. This is why they shame people who do speak out. Most people are sheep or cowards sadly. So this nonsense continues to blight our lives.
This is (these are) the future!?
In my country nearly all blue collar workers are drug tested for weed. Grinds their gears as beneficiaries arnt.
How does a c- HS student get into Harvard or did I hear it wtong.
Students confuse requirements their parents have to succed as trauma? Bunch of whiny kids
How many 'sort of' in this episode?
#RobHenderson here isn't having a dialogue with Freddie enough; he's too focused on speaking to an audience.
Only in America... 🤔(Green Fire, UK)🌈🦉
Clearly these students have fluffy instead of brains, or they're living in a parallel universe 😂
Indeed! They had just entered their cloud of elusive invincibility!! Will this protect those kids/ them against the upsurging challenges this world is facing at present??? "I have serious doubts"
He's a writer,- which means he has an Artistic approach to life.
i understand his job is to write and analyze but I wish he’d have been a bit more blunt and frank. I suppose that just my opinion of his presentation or speaking style though. Seems obvious to me that he is on to something with this “luxury beliefs” idea.
Eye contact seems to be a luxury belief
Amy wax…argued trickledown immorality..
Just under thirty minutes of straight projecting
Sounds like a laugh track?
Yes, that's on brand for Freddy and Unheard.
Evergreen College and the Weinsteins.
Boy you were one naive kid weren't you?
Much ado about nothing ..Who wants to know about this .
Like, like, like, like, like... Jesus...someone tell him to stop the liking. This guy also rambles without really committing to self-evident conclusions. He's scared of pointing fingers at the woke narcissists and calling them woke narcissists.
Controlled 1st position pov, oreintation and direction has been by default input & perimeters that ensured expansionism, it treated matter as if Devine, it' didn't just ignore 3 degrees of separation/motion horizon paradoxes it lied about it the past 80 years in all feilds of study and disciplines. For example ( galaxies are not homogenous) you on the classical observer scale can manipulate your local systems but must re normalize, reorientate, and get mobile to then reset a new 3 degrees of motion. It is, in fact, your here and now time verse our past and future paradoxes as well . Pragmatic common sense literal christian Newtonian actors who has proper orientation and direction it's been targeted and attacked just as he pointed out in the usa elite to be different adoptee those foreign bad magic tricks to dictate fantasy job security expansionism increasing complexity where it doesn't exists. Top down rule dictating literal time ,using simplicity at the top and pushing complexity down upon many different disciplines in public schools, in ben Franklin systems where everything matters.
You are totally full of shite.
But, did he get laid at college?
how many times are we going to hear the same shit. i mean really
Lol
Another flavor of snobbery.
There seems no difference between luxury beliefs and other luxury products. It's exactly the same. They very much do seem to be identity markers. Fashion brands like Jack (is it Wills or Willis? Failing badly there)...but luxury products begin as brands that are not advertised so that they spread by word of mouth within the tribe, One has to be in the tribe to know. By the time people outside the group begin to find out and 'chavs' start wearing Burberry to ape those they perceive to have high status, the high status group have already moved onto another fashion in order to protect their 'elite' status. It's so obviously cyclical; I cannot fathom why people copy them at all. Maybe we should just raise awareness of that fact. Ironically, the fastest way to end 'woke' would be for Trump/Farage supporting people to adopt it. Lol
er yawn
Boring
Everyone send Trump $5