I find few luxury political beliefs in the views of conservatives. I find them to be more pragmatic beliefs. They require a more tangible grip surface or else they slip away. I think politics are secondary for conservatives and they pursue their social hierarchy position through other avenues. Conversely, my liberal friends pursue their social acceptance and ego almost exclusively through their politics. Thus they adopt political luxury beliefs almost immediately and don't let go. This tendency is their weakness for education indocrination and media manipulation.
In the past few years I’ve become much more aware of the political beliefs similar to luxury beliefs. I will call them “groupthink beliefs” until I can come up with a decent name.
I think luxury beliefs are a subset of groupthink beliefs. Groupthink beliefs are illogical and / or counter factual beliefs that a group holds, many times as a point of honor in certain political groups.
On the left, these include the luxury beliefs you describe. On the right, these include: Trump is anointed by God to save the USA; the Covid vaccines were developed and sold by nefarious groups to harm people; and straight out of Pravda, Ukraine is ruled by Nazis and Putin and his Glorious Russian Army are doing the world a huge favor by cleansing Europe of these evil Nazi thugs.
Where luxury beliefs generally only hurt people of lower status than believers, groupthink beliefs can hurt the believers too. I have friends who died, apparently believing that taking the shot would be worse for them. Appeasing dictators has not been a successful strategy for the last hundred years or so.
I for one see my college degree as a very expensive piece of paper. I wish I could return it and get my money back. Maybe I could sell it and at least get the cost of the paper it's printed on. It's more than the degree is worth.
You talk about how luxury beliefs are “fashionable”, but that doesn’t always mean sustainable or high quality. It’s kind of like when people spend a huge amount of money on a fashionable wardrobe—the clothing looks nice, but will be out of style and sitting in a garbage can sooner rather than later.
This piece also brings up interesting themes, particularly a litmus test for the possible veracity (or at least value) of our beliefs: “Does this belief endow my life with added value independent of my feelings toward it, or do I endow value on this belief?”
Luxury beliefs are ultimately not sustainable long-term and add little value to the life of the person who believes it.
You talk about how luxury beliefs are “fashionable”, but that doesn’t always mean sustainable or high quality. It’s kind of like when people spend a huge amount of money on a fashionable wardrobe—the clothing looks nice, but will be out of style and sitting in a garbage can sooner rather than later.
This piece also brings up interesting themes, particularly a litmus test for the possible veracity (or at least value) of our beliefs: “Does this belief endow my life with added value independent of my feelings toward it, or do I endow value on this belief?”
Luxury beliefs are ultimately not sustainable long-term and add little value to the life of the person who believes it.
I find few luxury political beliefs in the views of conservatives. I find them to be more pragmatic beliefs. They require a more tangible grip surface or else they slip away. I think politics are secondary for conservatives and they pursue their social hierarchy position through other avenues. Conversely, my liberal friends pursue their social acceptance and ego almost exclusively through their politics. Thus they adopt political luxury beliefs almost immediately and don't let go. This tendency is their weakness for education indocrination and media manipulation.
Rob,
In the past few years I’ve become much more aware of the political beliefs similar to luxury beliefs. I will call them “groupthink beliefs” until I can come up with a decent name.
I think luxury beliefs are a subset of groupthink beliefs. Groupthink beliefs are illogical and / or counter factual beliefs that a group holds, many times as a point of honor in certain political groups.
On the left, these include the luxury beliefs you describe. On the right, these include: Trump is anointed by God to save the USA; the Covid vaccines were developed and sold by nefarious groups to harm people; and straight out of Pravda, Ukraine is ruled by Nazis and Putin and his Glorious Russian Army are doing the world a huge favor by cleansing Europe of these evil Nazi thugs.
Where luxury beliefs generally only hurt people of lower status than believers, groupthink beliefs can hurt the believers too. I have friends who died, apparently believing that taking the shot would be worse for them. Appeasing dictators has not been a successful strategy for the last hundred years or so.
The Graham Factor takes on luxury beliefs, well worth a read
https://grahamfactor.substack.com/p/cops-crime-and-class?r=8ahwm&utm_medium=ios
I for one see my college degree as a very expensive piece of paper. I wish I could return it and get my money back. Maybe I could sell it and at least get the cost of the paper it's printed on. It's more than the degree is worth.
You talk about how luxury beliefs are “fashionable”, but that doesn’t always mean sustainable or high quality. It’s kind of like when people spend a huge amount of money on a fashionable wardrobe—the clothing looks nice, but will be out of style and sitting in a garbage can sooner rather than later.
This piece also brings up interesting themes, particularly a litmus test for the possible veracity (or at least value) of our beliefs: “Does this belief endow my life with added value independent of my feelings toward it, or do I endow value on this belief?”
Luxury beliefs are ultimately not sustainable long-term and add little value to the life of the person who believes it.
I used to think that "marriage is just a piece of paper", and then I got married. How wrong I was.
You talk about how luxury beliefs are “fashionable”, but that doesn’t always mean sustainable or high quality. It’s kind of like when people spend a huge amount of money on a fashionable wardrobe—the clothing looks nice, but will be out of style and sitting in a garbage can sooner rather than later.
This piece also brings up interesting themes, particularly a litmus test for the possible veracity (or at least value) of our beliefs: “Does this belief endow my life with added value independent of my feelings toward it, or do I endow value on this belief?”
Luxury beliefs are ultimately not sustainable long-term and add little value to the life of the person who believes it.