Bridgerton Dining and private schools are similar. It is not illogical when you consider the money spent on silverware and big buildings. Of course, they did employ people to polish it, and they paid nothing (or maybe room and board) with no chance for the workers to build wealth.
These groupings reminded me of the self-support groups of people of a similar ilk, like a gang. We are all looking for social support (belonging), and finding a common value can be the basis for a gang. If resources such as food and water were scarce, it may be of some constructive value to form a coalition to protect what you have and assure access to your future needs in competition with fellows of your species. A gang member may be willing to murder a non-member (“other”) who is perceived to threaten them in some way. And a gang member may be willing to train and encourage emerging candidates for membership.
Now, if we could just consider all humans to be one Big Gang that includes all races and economic levels, we could look to protect the planet’s resources for our gang’s future, and enjoy each other’s company along the way.
There really are enough resources to go around when we cooperate and reduce our infestation of Earth. Living things have a biological imperative to reproduce. So a plan to mitigate our population growth will have to overcome the strong desire to live. That will be our sacrifice of some of our potential progeny for the greater good of our species’ survival. (Wow, do we have a controversy here!) But, planned or not, infestations are self-limiting when the life-giving resources are exhausted.
“Preppy boys” have their own air of ownership. They feel entitled to everything they have and everything within their reach. We can use public education to produce people with the high degree of confidence this expresses. Some public school grads do face the world with the self-assurance that they will make it to wherever it is they are aiming. They can be humble and confident if they are not shown unwarranted favoritism. But we do need to encourage them to value their worth and ability to contribute to the Big Gang.
