A Typical, Ordinary, Everyday American
That’s what David Gregory thinks he is.
I think everyone understands the human phenomenon whereby we mistaken deem our own personal experiences to be more typical than they are. People who attended selective colleges tend to talk as if they don’t realize that the majority of the minority of Americans who go to college at all go to unselective institutions. People who earn a lot of money overestimate the number of people who earn that much money. And poor people tend to underestimate how rich the really rich people are. It’s easy to see how this happens and totally forgivable.
But part of what being a journalist is about—especially a journalist who covers public affairs in the United States—is to operate on the basis of actual factual information about the country. Thus, it’s been striking to watch press coverage of the Santelli mishigos and see how many wealthy media celebrities believe that the experience of a wealthy commodities trader is typical of the country. This was on egregious display yesterday during the Sunday shows, and it wasn’t the end of it. At one point, for example, David Gregory was making some point about the stock market and said something about how “it isn’t just the fat cats, it’s you and me” as if he, David Gregory, is a typical workaday American.
Emphasis is mine: It never occurred to me before that, as a poor person (and I am that – my 2008 income puts me well below the poverty line for a single person with no dependents), I might be underestimating how much rich people make. But obviously I do — because I am in absolute total shock that Matthew Yglesias makes significantly more than $50,233 a year.
February 23, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I don’t have a clue as to what Matthew Yglesias does for a living or how much money he makes.
I know, to some extent, it depends on where in the country you live. A journeyman, college educated U.S. government worker will probably get around $100,000 if they work in Washington, New York (Manhattan) or San Fran.
The same job in southern Illinois would be a grade or two lower because they do not need to pay as much to get qualified people.
February 23, 2009 at 8:22 pm
George, Matthew Yglesias blogs at the Center for American Progress. That’s what he does for a living. And we do have a clue as to how much money he makes; we know he makes significantly more than $50,000 a year, because he tells us that in the blog post of his I quoted from above.
February 23, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I obviously missed the part where he tells us that.
February 23, 2009 at 10:15 pm
“That’s non-trivially less than I earn.”
I see. :-|