Yeah it's bourgeois, so what? I've been poor and I've been not poor. Not poor is better, trust me. Being not poor and cultured is way better.
There are few things more annoyingly bourgeois than fetishizing poverty.
There are few things more annoyingly bourgeois than fetishizing poverty.
I haven't misrepresented you. You literally said that a 'bourgeois' activity has less value compared to "harder realities of life for the less well privileged". That's putting poverty on a pedestal. That's fetishizing it.
No. Working your ass off to barely scrape by is not in any way better than learning new things, being kind, or any of the other things enumerated in this article. That ridiculous crab mentality is what kids who are born into poverty have to deal with if they express any aspiration to make something better of themselves. It is its own kind of smug complacency, far more malicious and destructive than someone taking pride in more 'bourgeois' accomplishments.
Seriously, give me 'nauseatingly bourgeois' culture any day. If that makes you feel insecure, maybe try reading a book or something.
"Striving to be cultured" is not the same as "social climbing" and ultimately is not an end in itself.
Cultivating oneself is a way of using one's limited lifetime well and wisely. Ultimately, this offers the best shot at a satisfying life, and the most chance to benefit others.