Companion to the Bobos In Paradise review (ACX-381, 74). A strong intellectual companion. Sharp critiques of Brooks's monocausal Harvard-admissions thesis (Hochmann and Melvin note the WASP decline predates admissions changes and happened across the whole West; the postwar managerial revolution is the missing link). The Ivy-admissions history is the richest section — Erusian's 'Harvard didn't get meritocratic, it got exclusive/status-symbol' thesis vs Phil Getz's more tendentious anti-white-male account. The 'might hereditary aristocracy be good?' thread (WASP self-cultivation for leadership; Kade U's oligarchy-vs-imperial-bureaucracy contrast) is genuinely thought-provoking, as is the inheritance-as-'dark matter' thread (Guy Downs, GalenLK's vivid old-money-party anecdote) and the Philly-Mag exposé that Brooks fabricated his anecdotes ('GPT-3 prompts avant la lettre'). Scott's replies on elite overproduction and unspoken inheritance are thoughtful.

Quality 71 · Strong. Strong (71, upper companion band). Dense with high-quality argument on meritocracy, admissions history, and class, with real Scott engagement — just below the How Asia Works / Columbus companions because more of the insight is the commenters' than Scott's.

Claude’s paradigm shift 50 · Moderate. Moderate (50). Surfaces strong competing frames (exclusivity-as-status, imperial-vs-oligarchic elites) but curates rather than originates.

Real-world impact 1 · Negligible. 1 — a companion commentary; negligible independent real-world effect.

Highlights From The Comments On Bobos In Paradise