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January 26, 2011
The New Non-Citizens of the World
The Rise of the New Global Elite - Magazine - The AtlanticWhat is more relevant to our times, though, is that the rich of today are also different from the rich of yesterday. Our light-speed, globally connected economy has led to the rise of a new super-elite that consists, to a notable degree, of first- and second-generation wealth. Its members are hardworking, highly educated, jet-setting meritocrats who feel they are the deserving winners of a tough, worldwide economic competition—and many of them, as a result, have an ambivalent attitude toward those of us who didn’t succeed so spectacularly. Perhaps most noteworthy, they are becoming a transglobal community of peers who have more in common with one another than with their countrymen back home. Whether they maintain primary residences in New York or Hong Kong, Moscow or Mumbai, today’s super-rich are increasingly a nation unto themselves.
Posted by Vanderleun at January 26, 2011 9:29 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
That would not be such a bad thing, except that many, no, most, perform capitalism naturally and have no more idea of it as a theory than a box of rocks. Their increased power and wealth only tend to make them of a socialist mind; the kind which invites ideas on liberating other peoples wealth and time.
Posted by: james wilson at January 26, 2011 10:27 AM
Wasn't it Marx that spoke of "rootless cosmopolitans" and their benefit for the communist revolution
Posted by: Scott M at January 26, 2011 1:03 PM
The detachment of the super-rich from any nationality has been a theme for The Atlantic for several decades.
That doesn't mean they are wrong. A sufficiently rich person has never had it so good.
He/she can have multiple citizenship, own homes in many pleasant places, move assets, communicate instantly with anywhere, and quickly travel in private jets.
Some of these people may be high achievers but the main requirement is the wealth. The idea of one's native country naturally becomes vague and over time seems to mean nothing.
Posted by: KTWO at January 26, 2011 1:36 PM