Money has replaced cultural capital as the elite’s sole status marker

Evidence

Here, the traditional barriers between Old Money and New Money continued to erode. Historically, cultural capital had served as a divider between aristocratic estates and upstarts; knowing how to dress, speak, and socialize in elite circles was as critical as wealth itself. But the twenty-first-century elite demanded the obliteration of such barriers, insisting that money alone should afford access to everything. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 776

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Exclusive access and insider cultural knowledge create prestige independent of money. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 216; New Money universally signals status through conspicuous consumption across eras and cultures — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 309