Sublime

Most people, at least among the college-educated set, seemed to have rebel attitudes and social-climbing attitudes all scrambled together. Defying expectations and maybe logic, people seemed to have combined the countercultural sixties and the achieving eighties into one social ethos.

The bobo becomes a model of the one who has most successfully achieved authenticity through the strategy of youthfulness.

The As are already managing their money and want to optimize what they’re doing. The Bs, the largest group of people, are not doing anything but could be persuaded to change that if you figure out what motivates them. The Cs are an unwashed mass of people who are a lost cause.

Money is not the only attribute that is easily used for points of comparisons.

The key is to cater to the lowest common denominator.

late Boomer and Gen X college students were more likely than early Boomers to say that they were going to college to make more money, and less likely to say it was because they wanted to learn about ideas

It suggests that we can go to the store to purchase a chair, a dress, an artwork, and, if we choose right, we might enjoy a healthy dose of approval and belonging as well.

“Be your own credential.”