Forget the 1%, the Top 9.9% are the "New American Aristocracy"

The top 9.9 percent is the new American aristocracy, filled with people who have dropped the intense dress code of the old days, put their faith in facts, and are a maybe a bit more diverse than previous generations.

In a new piece for The Atlantic, Matthew Stewart, author of author of Nature’s God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic and The Management Myth, writes that people in the new aristocracy pretty much have it made: they are crushing the competition below in health, family life, friendship networks, and level of education, and of course, money. This might be good for them, but it is even better for their kids. But this process of consolidating wealth and passing privilege on to the next generation is “strangling the economy, destabilizing American politics, and eroding democracy,” Stewart writes. Gaining entry to the exclusive 9.9 percent club is usually thought of as a success, but in the end, does anyone actually win?

“One of the hazards of life in the 9.9 percent is that our necks get stuck in the upward position,” Matthew Stewart writes in the piece. “We gaze upon the 0.1 percent with a mixture of awe, envy, and eagerness to obey. As a consequence, we are missing the other big story of our time. We have left the 90 percent in the dust—and we’ve been quietly tossing down roadblocks behind us to make sure that they never catch up.”