Global Social Climbers

You see them in Shanghai or Dubai, between Singapur and New York: a new breed of political-economic elites. Highly educated, polylingual, cosmopolitan, alert Young Professionals. Having a great job at a Multinational Company, Investment Fund or International NGO, they constantly shuttle between their global networks of friends and that hands-on charity project they founded on the side. You preferrably meet them in skylounges, weddings at a fancy Umbrian castellos or at international conferences on climate change. It is hard to dislike them as they sport fantastic social skills, an open attitude and have plenty of good stories to tell. It even makes sense to work with them, as they have excellent networks and superior knowledge of informal information. What bugs me is their lack of interest in any deeper analysis, of any long-term committment to a cause, or even in friendship beyond networking and partying. Using that sustainability and human rights lingo and sometimes even striking a development and social justice pose, their shallowness adds to the growing cynicism of many in the Global South. So while I welcome the evolution of the materialist yuppie, I still smell the social climber beyond that glossy fassade.