[LateRuin]

>If I tell you how “good” someone’s family or health is, you can tell me if they are a millionaire or not?

Yes, I can. That's the point -- the rich and poor are far more visually distinct today. Take for example obesity/overweight and marriage status. The poor are far more likely to have both an elevated BMI and to be single parents / divorced / never married

[analog31]

I wouldn't have thought this until I had kids, who "forced" me to greatly expand my social milieu beyond my fellow geeks and musicians.

Our kids got involved in some activities (e.g., violin lessons) that are almost exclusively the domain of the upper middle class. I remember attending a large group recital with maybe 100 kids, and virtually none of them were obese.

[dgreensp]

I have young kids. If violin lessons are apparently so expensive as to require you to be a millionaire (not merely, say, a six-figure-earner), what is a class or event I can go to to see all the poor, obese kids that I haven’t come across yet? I don’t live in a frou frou part of my town. It seems more likely to me that cultural forces are at play.

[marnett]

> what is a class or event I can go to

they are poor. they don't go to events or extracurricular classes...those cost money.

[stillsut]

> the rich and poor are far more visually distinct today.

That is one narrative - the stepford wife vs the welfare mom, the soylent drinking tech worker vs the beer drinking factory worker. True to some extent.

But it was Taleb in Antifragile that noted in a room full of banking exec and policy guys, only the wait staff will exude physical dignity. I think you can extend that observation further and see the lower working class (like waiters, personal trainers) opening up an appearance advantage on the upper intellectual class (lab rats and office workaholics). Not so for the true elite though - vc's, celeb's, etc.

To generalize: The comfortable and sedentary elite have an advantage of appearance over the comfortable and sedentary poor. But being poor and trying to escape it is a more healthy lifestyle than to be upper middle class and try to escape into the elite.