I vote for calling them whiterpeople instead of whitepeople. Then we could say "That's mighty whiter of you," etc.Speaking of the perils of family formation among whiterpeople, see "Parent Shock: Children Are Not Decor."
Plus it would google better.
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
I think this ties into your affordable family formation thesis.
ReplyDelete"Whiter" people as well as immigrants who pack 4 families to a home and pave over front lawn for 6 car parking lots both contribute to the affordable family crises.
"Whiter" people tend to avoid kids and thus put the full force of dual middle class+ incomes towards their status seeking mortgages. After all, it's hard to find kids that match Italian designer drapes and leather furniture.
Pick up a copy of "Dwell" and the first thing any sane person would notice is that not one single piece of furniture in that damned magazine is child friendly. A 2-year-old wouldn't survive 5 minutes in any of the places they show.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, god bless her, has whiterpeople pretentions so I actually know what Dwell is. (a fancy-schmanze decorating home improvement mag)
ReplyDeleteShe also reads "Domino" and "Real Simple" and admits it's just good furniture porn. As long as she can get the knock-off versions at Target I guess I can deal with it. But it does drive home the message that we're in a whitepeople-whiterpeople inter-racial marriage.
Re: The New York Times article
ReplyDeleteA bit overwrought, perhaps because the kids came so much later, but given enough time, these parents will discover poshtots.com (Yum!) and that it is possible to spend close to $10,000 on a crib, $2000+ on a cradle that will only be used for about 4 months, and many more extravagances. We started our family right away, honeymoon in fact, and never experienced this "problem": our interiors were done at the same time the children came along. No, my problem as lusting after things (at Poshtots!) we couldn't afford... because the children came so early. Let's not even get started on the clothes...
How about the two homosexual 40 year olds? Poor them, kid ruining their collection and all. And the lady who valued her floating stairs' appearance more than her kids safety? Whoa!
ReplyDeleteArticles like that give me same feeling I had reading the Weekly World News (unfortunately out of business now). Their articles were made up to be ridiculous-funny, but I guess they could no long compete with reality.
It's ridiculous that as a 27 year old (first child due in June, btw) I have no friends who have children, and the friends I have who are married/engaged have specifically said they do not intend to have biological children.
ReplyDeleteA comment by one of my aunts (with 7 first cousins and 3 siblings on my side, I'd bet heavily against any of them having a child in the next 7 years): you're going to have the most spoiled baby ever.
She might be right.
Sideways: I have no friends who have children, and the friends I have who are married/engaged have specifically said they do not intend to have biological children.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you, I'd get new friends.
Seriously.
[Although I'll go ahead and predict that you're going to drift apart from your childless friends, and make new social acquaintances in the child-bearing community, without the need for any conscious decision on your part. It's just going to happen.]
There is a logic to whiter people not having kids beyond freeing up monies to pursue status during their working careers.
ReplyDeleteIn retirement, they'll also be able to suck off the working children of their cohorts who do and directly transfer wealth and status from those who do have children.
It really makes less economic sense than ever to have children today.
What is the problem? The English upper classes knew quite well (and practised that knowledge for centuries) that parents are the last persons fit to bring up their own children. But the downward levelling of our society towards middle-class has sadly put an end to traditions like that, although the means would still be there.
ReplyDeleteThese are privileged children. They could be given their own living space. Now those idiot parents let them spoil beautiful, precious and valuable things or deprive themselves of their (the beautiful objects', not the children's) presence, just because they (the parents) don't have the backbone to tell them to keep their hands off this that and the other. Instead they indulge their every whim. They can, after all, afford to buy something better. WHAT sort of attitude will children like that develop as grown ups?
Vernon Scruggs scratches himself as he swigs a cold one in front of his trailer at the Bide a Wee park in rural West Virginia.
ReplyDelete“Yeah, we keep a loaded gun sittin’ on the dresser in the bedroom. It’s dangerous around here and ya gotta be prepared for anything, at anytime. Not havin’ a loaded gun in easy reach would be too much of a change to my lifestyle, and I’m not prepared to make it.”
“But it’s all good”, he smiles, “cuz we taught the kids, ‘now you don’t go near that gun, hear?’ They know better. I don’t foresee any problems.”
How many minutes after that interview was published would it be before social services of rural Va was paying a visit to Vernon? Will Mrs. Manhattan’s admission to the world that she sees no need to safety proof potentially deadly stairs for her child, because the aesthetics of doing so don’t please her, and anyway, they’ve taught the child to use the rail, result in a similar call? Just wondering.
Here on the "eastside" suburbs of Seattle (Redmond/Belllevue/Kirkland), we're overrun with this species of whiterpeople.
ReplyDeleteSteve, I don't know about the term "whiterpeople" -- there's GOT to be a better world for these extravagant modern-day Marie Antionettes.
That site, btw, is just scary-insightful.
"Steve, I don't know about the term "whiterpeople" -- there's GOT to be a better world for these extravagant modern-day Marie Antionettes."
ReplyDeleteHow about LaWDoGs (liberal white do-gooders)?
"How about LaWDoGs (liberal white do-gooders)?"
ReplyDeleteOr maybe David Brooks's term "BoBos" (Bourgeoisie Bohemians)?
"whitepeople-whiterpeople inter-racial marriage."
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one!
Am I the only person who'd like to have "status-seeking granola-for-brains urban yuppie" not have "white" in it, considering that the culture seems to be expanding beyond its ethnic base, as Mr. Cheng in the "Children are not Decor" article demonstrates?
ReplyDelete