First, a definition… “bourgeois” refers to the middle class, those who lived in a “burgess.” The word typically refers to values and attitudes of the working class. In Karl Marx’s view, it as synonymous with capitalism.
From time to time, biblical truth finds a vocal support inside academia. On the positive side, this simply reinforces that biblical teaching is, in fact, Truth. All Christians are glad to see biblical truth tested and verified in non-spiritual settings. It’s what we would expect from the God of Scripture and the God of nature. If there a negative side, it might be that Christians would respond, “The Bible has said that all along. Why couldn’t you believe it?”
In August of last year, two professors wrote an article published on the Philadelphia Inquirer website (philly.com), entitled “Paying the Price for Breakdown of the Country’s Bourgeois Culture.” Amy Wax is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Her co-writer is Larry Alexander, at the University of San Diego School of Law. This article has set off a fire storm within certain segments of academia, notably Wax’s employer.
The authors begin by touching on some of America’s problems: poor education, low labor-force participation, drug abuse, violence, illegitimate children, etc. While they admit that the causes can be multiple and complex, their thesis is that fundamentally, America’s problem is with the breakdown of our bourgeois culture. That culture taught this path to success: Get married first. Stay married. Get an education, then a job, and work hard at it. “Go the extra mile for your employer or client.” You recognize the source of that sentiment. “Be neighborly, civic-minded, and charitable.” Those sentiments are very familiar to the Christian. “Avoid coarse language in public;” compare Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:4. “Be respectful of authority.”
In American life, this culture was dominant for roughly three decades, according to the authors. A historian might suggest they were dominant earlier but most would agree that this culture / attitude began a serious descent in the mid-1960s. No, everything was not perfect during those decades. Racial discrimination was much stronger than now. The authors suggest, however, that it was the bourgeois culture that led to the end of racial discrimination and an expanded role for women in society.
“The loss of bourgeois habits seriously impeded the progress of disadvantaged groups.” The welfare state contributed to the destruction of these basic civic virtues as “Uncle Sam” took over financial support for families, reducing the need for mom and dad. Then, single parenthood mushroomed, leaving children to be raised by single parents, which contributed to academic failures, addictions, crime, and poverty.
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Wax and Alexander write that several factors contributed to the end of the bourgeois culture in the 1960s: prosperity, birth control, higher education, reaction to the Vietnam War. These factors “encouraged an antiauthoritarian, adolescent, wish-fulfillment ideal” which were not conducive to a “prosperous adult society.”
Those with a “contra-bourgeois culture” mentality obtained positions of influence in the academy, literature, Hollywood, and journalism, not to mention politics. This mindset sought freedom from the restraints of the bourgeois culture and everything for which America had traditionally stood.
“All cultures are not equal.” Their example is the Plains Indians whose culture would not be suitable to the 21st-century. By the same token, the sub-culture of single-parent families and antisocial habits as well as the view that immigrants should not assimilate are not productive to a healthy culture. These latter views are, in fact, “destructive of a sense of solidarity and reciprocity among Americans.”
The authors warn that if we do not return to these bourgeois principles, the country is only going to get worse. In modern society, those who follow this bourgeois culture experience a better, higher standard of living in a safe and productive environment. At the end of their article, Wax and Alexander call on America to return to the 1950s “posture of celebrating” the bourgeois culture.
I offer two final thoughts: 1.) I am glad that there are those in academia who are willing to state the obvious, even when the repercussions are severe; 2.) Every Bible student will recognize that the foundation for this so-called “bourgeois” culture is biblical teaching. Whether Wax and Alexander understand this or not, they are calling for America to return to her Christian roots, our Christian culture.
Paul Holland
