Social capital refers to how much an individual is connected to others, and the networks which those connections can create. At its best, social capital is one of the most important building blocks of society and democracy. However, it is much more easily gained and used for those who live in privileged communities than for those who are more impoverished.
Robert Putnam states that “associational ties benefit those who are best equipped by nature or by circumstance to organize and make their voices heard. People with education, money, status and close ties with fellow members of their community of interest will be far more likely to benefit politically under pluralism than will the uneducated, the poor and the unconnected. In other words, social capital is self-reinforcing and benefits those who already have a stock in which to trade.” In other words, the rich seek and gain social capital as a means to gain more social capital, while those who had none to begin with are unable to even enter the race.
While the powerful can put their social capital to good use, and use their power to create change, often they only use it to maintain it, and continue this cycle. For instance there is a culture in D.C which starts with the wealthy seeking out Ivy League schools. Once they graduate many of them become politicians who in turn protect the very interests of the Ivy Leagues. Cycles like this lead to politicians like Pete Buttigieg, who began his campaign pretending to be someone who would bring big change, stating that he supported medicare for all, only to later show his true colors as a moderate once his campaign started to garner larger numbers. In truth, politicians like him are all bark and no bite, claiming to stand for something strong, while in reality standing for nothing.
Celebrities worth millions pretend as if they are activists with their acquired social capital, but in practice, they too do very little. For decades, no one in Hollywood did anything to stand up to Harvey Weinstein, but when the metoo movement began they all stood up and condemned him, even though behind the curtain many of them had already known but had simply turned a blind eye to it.
A few weeks ago, a number of celebrities made a video of them all singing imagine, as a way to “lighten the spirit” during the outbreak of this pandemic. But this did nothing but raise the question; is this what they think activism is? This action didn’t really help anyone or give fans hope. It was more for the celebrities to make themselves feel good for “helping people.” They seem to have the inability to contextualize themselves within the world around them beyond themselves. Since most of the social capital they are gaining is within the same circles of other celebrities, they have trouble actually seeing what life is like for every day normal Americans.
Social capital can be an incredibly useful tool to utilize, but it is important that it is used the right way, and for the right reasons. It is also important to not regard social capital with too much esteem, as there is a significant portion of the population who is unable to attain it.
Journalism 2.0 