The New Case for Social Climbing

Meritocracy is make-believe. It’s all about who you know.

By Xochitl Gonzalez

I was born to be a social climber. The Evita score was ever present on my grandparents’ stereo when I was growing up, and I idolized Eva Perón, who made her way from poverty to the highest echelons of government and society. She was a woman who, at least from the musical’s point of view, saw clearly where she was in life and decided she wasn’t going to stay there. What did a tiny thing like class background matter to a person with wit, determination, and a knack for making friends? These were qualities, I realized, that could transform your future. They were also things that money couldn’t buy. Which worked out nicely, because my family didn’t have any. Read the full piece at the Atlantic.