Bobos In Paradise

Bobos in Paradise

Bobos is the term that author David Brooks uses to label the new rising upper class of today's society. Bobos are the creation of two merging social groups; the bourgeois and the bohemians. There has been a traditional clash between the bourgeois world of capitalism and the bohemian counterculture. "The bourgeoisie were the square, practical ones. They defended tradition and middle-class morality. They worked for corporations, lived in suburbs, and went to church. Meanwhile, the bohemians were the free spirits who flouted convention. They were the artists and the intellectuals Ð'- the hippies and the Beats." (p. 10). But these separate worlds have merged into one. This merging is what the book is all about, the new establishment. People with one foot in each world and the new codes of etiquette and morality they have come to hold onto. There is no arguing that the bobo culture exists and has instilled itself as the dominant culture in our society today. This is best explained with both a consensus and conflict perspective. In order to fully understand how the bobo culture came into being and its very nature one must take into account how they developed both through constant battle between bourgeoisie and the bohemians and a certain amount of cohesion between the two groups.

In the beginning of the book, the tension between the bourgeoisie and the bohemians is explained in great detail. One clearly sees how both groups are in constant conflict with each other to gain control of society. Brooks refers back to the 1950s, where it was much easier to tell people apart. An excellent example Brooks gives is of the Cornelius Vanderbilts against the Henry David Thoreaus. You were either a bourgeois that prized materialism, order, rational thinking, self-discipline, and productivity or you where a bohemian that celebrated creativity, rebellion, self-expression, anti-materialism, and vivid experience. Never would the two groups meet on any common ground. Each group had is own values and despised those of their opposites. One group was in power while the other one was ousted, and every so often the group that was in exile would rise up and overthrow the group in power. It had always been this continuous battle of both groups coming in and out of power. One of the clearest examples Brooks points out is the era of the 1960s. The counterculture of the time rejected and challenged the WASP's lifestyles and their values. This era witnessed the radical and drastic changes brought about by the civil rights movement and later on the hippie movement.

Then during the 1980s and 90s the breaking point came about. This was the time period when the yuppies and eventually the bobos began coming into power positions in society. The yuppies rejected the materialistically-oriented values of the business community but still held important jobs in the professional sector. Now being the dominant culture in control, they began to eliminate those values and guidelines of society originally instilled by the WASPs. They began to implement the bohemian ideals and values into society and overthrew the old regime of the WASPs. The bobos really ushered in this new age. As opposed to the WASPs, the bobos would no longer judge people based on their family history or what their class rank was. An individual's place in society was based solely on merit and not on one's family bloodline. They had become the new elite. Brooks gives a comical and clever example of this transition. The couples featured in the New York Times wedding pages in the past would always have an elaborate break down of what family the bride and groom came from, what their parents did for a living, what unions they where part of and so on. Now they list what schools the couple attended, the type of education they got, whether they graduated at the top of their class, and what kind of extracurricular or volunteer work they do.

It is clear to see through a conflict point of view how the bobos came into existence but in order to understand their nature you must see them through a consensus perspective. As you take a closer look into the bobo culture, you begin to see something very stunning. The bobos have adopted some of the bourgeoisie ideals and incorporated them with the bohemian lifestyle. This new educated elite has invented a "way of living that lets you be an affluent success and at the same time a free-spirit rebel."(p. 83). An example of this is the CEO in a causal polo shirt at board meetings, or the broker on Wall Street covered with tattoos. This was unheard of before the age of the bobos. These changes are not only evident in the work place but also in their everyday lifestyle as well. A bobo cannot just press a pair of pants; they have to practice the Feng Shui of Ironing, where "a wrinkle is actually 'tension' in the fabric," and "releasing the tension by removing the wrinkle improves the flow of ch'i."(p. 59)