"Subsidizing the markers of status doesn’t produce the character traits that result in that status; it undermines them."
The government decides to try to increase the middle class by subsidizing things that middle class people have: If middle-class people go to college and own homes, then surely if more people go to college and own homes, weâll have more middle-class people. But homeownership and college arenât causes of middle-class status, theyâre markers for possessing the kinds of traits -- self-discipline, the ability to defer gratification, etc. -- that let you enter, and stay, in the middle class. Subsidizing the markers doesnât produce the traits; if anything, it undermines them.