Marx's Views on Wilco's Last Album

A lot of people have asked me within the last year what a hipster is. I suspect that is because I myself am one (proudly). Often I give a simple summation of any micro-culture and state "Look at the clothes we wear, music we listen to, bars we frequent, topics we discuss, and things we find important. That is what a hipster is." This, however, has got me thinking of the 'hipster' in a larger sense. If you tire of reading this already, here is the short answer:

 Forever 21/homemade fashion/music geekery, anything indie, punk, or geek rock, bars like Sputnik or The Thin Man, anything having to do with music, pop culture, literature, art, and whatever else we may be majoring in, and lastly, the hot topics of the day: being green, living collectively, reading obscurely, dancing frequently, discussing endlessly, and enjoying the simple things in life (like knitting and riding bikes).

Normally I'm not a proponent of run-on sentences, but this answer must be said all in one breath. It adds to the appeal of the short answer. Anyway, today I was reading up on Gilbert and Kahl's model of U.S. class structure for a paper due in my sociology class. It's a very interesting read so far, and it spends the first chapter discussing Marx's and Weber's view of social class, status, and stratification. I found myself applying what I was reading to my mental file on 'Hipsters'- of which you now know- I am undeniably one. It is almost impossible to not apply the following to whichever of many groups you or I may belong to:

"Status, the second major order of stratification defined by Weber, is ranking by social prestige. In contrast with class, which is based on objective economic fact, status is a subjective phenomenon, a sentiment in people’s minds. Although the members of a class may have little sense of shared identity, the members of a status group generally think of themselves as a social community, with a common lifestyle (a familiar term we owe to Weber). 

Status groups are normally communities. They are, however, often of an amorphous kind. . . . In content, status honor is normally expressed by the fact that above all else a specific style of life can be expected from all those who wish to belong to the circle.

Weber specified many of the interrelations between class and status, between economy and society. Because of class position, a person earns a certain income. That income permits a certain lifestyle, and people soon make friends with others who live the same way. As they interact with one another, they begin to conceive of themselves as a special type of people. They restrict interaction with outsiders who seem too different (they may be too poor, too uneducated, too clumsy to live graciously enough for acceptance as worthy companions). Marriage partners are chosen from similar groups because once people follow a certain style of life, they find it difficult to be comfortable with people who live differently. Thus, the status group becomes an ingrown circle. It earns a position in the local community that entitles its members to social honor or prestige from inferiors.

Status groups develop the conventions or customs of a community. Through time, they evolve appropriate ways of dressing, of eating, and of living that are somewhat different from the ways of other groups. These ways are expressed as moral judgments reflecting abstract principles of value that separate “good” from “bad.” The application of these principles to individuals establishes rankings of social honor or prestige. These distinctions often react back on the marketplace; to preserve their advantages, high-status groups attempt to monopolize those goods that symbolize their style of life—they pass consumption laws prohibiting the lower orders from wearing lace, or they band together to keep Jews or blacks out of prestigious country clubs. (Weber regarded invidious distinctions among ethnic groups as a type of status stratification.)"

Up until that last part, you were totally thinking of hipsters, weren't you? Or were you thinking of yuppies in the 80's, like Tom Cruise in Rain Man? And here the funny thing is, all along… we were talking about the proletariat.. and those damned capitalists.

It was a striking idea to me, as I sat there analyzing modern U.S. society, and post-industrial society in general, that such broad (and decidedly hip) sociological topics could apply to myself and my own lifestyle. Re-reading the text, I could see why so many people (especially hipsters themselves) tend to dislike the common stereotype of hipsters. I mean, look at those guys up there- elitist assholes. But then you read it, from another part of your mind, and you see a different enemy, or a different friend, or the lower classes, or your uncle's gun buddies. The truth is, the above selection (pieced together from the first chapter of the book The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality, by the way) could and does apply to all of us… so why all the hate towards hipster kids? Scene queens? Me and mine? I like to think that I am, if anything, more accepting of others then they are of me, and here I discover… we're all just the same assholes, running about our routines that (hopefully) make us happy, unwittingly engaging in social constructions that dominate our every move. Life is so funny sometimes. 

And Mr. Weber was a smart guy. He even goes on to tell us that all of you who so adamantly deny you're hipsters…yes, You… likely are one anyway, no matter what you say. Well, that is more my opinion spun from the yarn of his rhetoric, but here, read on:

  "Indeed, the very notion of class interest was highly ambiguous for Weber. In his view, there are multiple classes in modern societies and they are continually changing. Under such conditions, individuals may think of their own identities, and shared or conflicting interests with others, in varied ways. Someone whom sociologists would identify as working class might think of himself as white and middle class, because he believes he has nothing in common with minority workers and supposes himself to be a middle-income, average American. Or, he might strongly identify with other workers, whatever their race, and become class conscious in the Marxian sense. Neither would surprise Weber."

Fascinating things. It seems that the more we pull apart, the more we look down in contempt… the more I seem to be reading about how we're really all the same. So grab your PBR, kids, and dance like you want to. Because it doesn't matter what they call you, or what you call yourself. We're all dancing at the same party anyway.