The class which does not want to be named....

....always falls prey to its central weakness, its own vanity.

A friend tells me about new luxury condo developments in Philadelphia. Apparently, a cutting edge technique for building developers catering to the now middle-ageing children of the old main line bourgeoisie is for new condos to not be placed on the open market. Rather, you may purchase one of these luxury abodes by invitation only. It is called the 'Friends and Family' plan, and the purpose is to whip up interest amongst our always competitive and tight-knit social betters. Not only does it ensure an even more homogeneous 'neighborhood' than would have been achieved through the exorbitant price tag alone, but it has that lovely ring of exclusivity for which many will pay top dollar. After all, only a select few are able to even see the homes, let alone make an offer.

This is all very absurd, for numerous reasons. I also hope (but somewhat doubt) that this would be in violation of various state and federal fair housing laws. I am pretty sure the 1968 Civil Rights Act saw these sorts of faux-private arrangements (they are, after all, being organized by building developers who presumably aren't covered by the 'room to let' exemptions) as a not-too subtle run around against fair housing, and sought to have them outlawed.

This is not to suggest that the developers are trying to maintain 'a certain type of neighborhood.' In fact I suspect that if suitably bougie and networked African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, or what have you were to receive the special invite and make an offer, that the developers would love to have them. Our new 21st exclusivity is so much more tolerant than our old 20th century exclusivity. The point, rather, is that the developers see this as an excellent way to raise the prices on units that they would have been marketing to this crowd regardless.

There is always money to be made on the vanity of the bourgeoisie.