Category: Personality Tests

Apparently Charles Murray in the WaPo has defined the cultural divide to identify what makes up the New Elite (vs, presumably, the Old Plebeians).  This divide is what is righteously driving the Tea Parties so mad (or, as he quotes Glenn Beck, “On one side, we have the elites, and the other side, we have the regular people.”).

Given how little I care for the TPers and Beck, I figured I’d fit squarely into the Elitist camp.

While most of it has to do with elite preppies going to elite schools, Murray gives a whole series of cultural descriptors so you know who’s truly a New Elitist:

Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.

They can talk about books endlessly, but they’ve never read a “Left Behind” novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).

Et cetera.

Claire Berlinski then created a test — from Murray’s own criteria — so that everyone could figure out whether they are a Plebe or one of the hated Elitists.  Let’s take it and see what happens!

How Plebeian Am I?

1. Can you talk about “Mad Men?” No. I know what it’s about, but have never watched it.

2. Can you talk about the “The Sopranos?” No. I’ve only watched a few episodes, on business trips (we don’t get HBO at home).

3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on “The Price Is Right?” Nope.

4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? No. I’d be surprised if I’ve watched more than 5 minutes of an Oprah show.

5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga? No. I took a couple quarters of yoga while in college — but not much animation about it.

6. How about pilates? I think he gets a bum rap in the Gospels, but … um, you mean the exercise regimen? I have a friend who was (is?) involved in it, but … no.

7. How about skiing? No. I went cross-country skiing a bit as a youth, but not much since. Intentionally hurtling down a mountain, and paying for the privilege, doesn’t float my boat.

8. Mountain biking? Not even street biking.

9. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? Nope.

10. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? No. Metropolitan Museum of Art?

11. Can you talk about books endlessly? Now that I can do! Yes.

12. Have you ever read a “Left Behind” novel? Nope, but I love the “Tribulation Force” blog series that Slacktivist does on them. Endlessly amusing.

13. How about a Harlequin romance? Nope.

14. Do you take interesting vacations? Well, I find them interesting, so yes. My blogging audience has to suffer through them, too (which may explain the size of my blogging audience).

15. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? Nope.  Never been much into backpacking. I like comforts like “mattresses” and “indoor plumbing.”

16. What about an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? Where? No.

17. Would you be caught dead in an RV? Yes. I’ve both vacationed and slept in them. I could see renting one for some trips, but it’s not likely.

18. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? Yes. I am fairly certain we will eventually end up on a cruise ship. I have no idea if this will be horrid or lovely, and it may or may not depend on where we are cruising to.

19. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? Yes. Never been there, though (which is true for most places in Missouri).

20. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? No.

21. How about the Rotary Club? Yes. I participated in several Rotary Club speech contests as a high schooler, getting up to the state level on a couple of occasions. Not my choice for spending my lunches as an adult professional, but those who like that sort of thing will find it the sort of thing they like.

22. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? I am a child of suburbia, so, no.  Closest would be 8 mos. living in Ft Collins, Colorado.

23. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? Never lived in an urban neighborhood.

24. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? No.

25. Do you have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian? I don’t think so. Not as has come up in conversation.  I have some acquaintances who are, though.

26. Have you ever visited a factory floor? Yes.

27. Have you worked on one? No.

My initial read was that you get “Plebe” cred for positive answers on 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.  You get “Elite” cred for positive answers on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16. It’s not clear if you lose cred for having a negative answer, so we’ll leave that off.

On that basis, I get 5 Plebe points, 2 Elite points.  That’s 29% Plebe, 20% Elite. So … I guess I’m a bit more Plebe than Elite, but not much of either.

Kevin Drum’s scoring mechanism is more geared to one or the other, based solely on what makes a good Plebe (e.g., not being able to talk about Mad Men makes one Plebeian, as opposed to simply not Elitist).  In that case, you get Plebe credits for negative answers on the Elite scores.  On that basis, I get 13 out of 27, or a 48% Plebe score (or, conversely, a 52% Elite score).

Is that enough to avoid the torches and pitchforks come the TPer Revolution?

(Needless to say, this — Murray’s article, specifically — is dreck of the worst kind, as the commenters at Steve Benan’s site put it most pungently. But mildly amusing, if only to see what some folks consider to be signs of Elitism, especially Harvard grads who work at libertarian think tanks.)