Bill, Winston, and the Lady

by Staff Report
Prince William

Prince William (left) travelled in economy class during New Zealand trip ... Prince William flew "cattle class" under the pseudonym Mr Pinkerton-Smith during his recent visit to New Zealand, it has emerged. The Prince and his security team are understood to have taken their seats with other passengers in the economy class cabin of an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 on the flight from Auckland to the earthquake- stricken city of Christchurch. Air New Zealand has refused to confirm the media reports, a spokesman saying only: "We don't release details regarding individual customers." The revelation will only enhance the Prince's soaring reputation in a country that prides itself on a tradition of egalitarianism. The Prince spent five days visiting people in disaster-ravaged regions of New Zealand and Australia last week, in what his aides described as an "emotionally raw" tour. – UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: They're handsome, talented, wealthy and so very kind. True, they represent the Western, monied elites, but one has to forgive them for backing the status quo as they are genuinely "good" people.

Free-Market Analysis: Sometimes when one looks for emergent power elite dominant social themes they are easy to spot. One of the most obvious, though least discussed memes of the elite, is the presentation of powerful and talented people who are backers (or part) of the status quo as exceptionally generous and empathetic. Just yesterday in the mainstream media there were three examples of this sort of gambit featuring Prince William (see article excerpt above) Winston Churchill and Lady Gaga.

Prince William first. The UK Telegraph (known for royalist sentiments) yesterday ran a story about Prince William's travels to flood-and-earthquake-ravaged New Zealand "down under." According to the Telegraph, the Prince's "easy-going charm and empathy with the grieving resonated widely and have clearly boosted the popularity of the monarchy."

The Telegraph recited Prince William's itinerary in some detail. He stopped off in Christchurch to attend a memorial service for 182 people believed to have died in the February 22 earthquake that flattened parts of the city. According to the Telegraph, New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said the Prince had been "met with much enthusiasm and goodwill from New Zealanders."

The Telegraph then the New Zealand Herald – the country's "biggest selling" newspaper. A headline, "New Zealand finds fresh heir in Prince William," was attached to a complimentary editorial on the visit. "... In him we have met a future king who knows when he should be here and, even more important, seems comfortable when he is here." The paper's editorial concluded: "The man New Zealand has seen over the past few days may be the saving of the British monarchy in distant English-speaking realms. He is at home here."

Prince William's trip provides us with a good example of thematic mechanism we referred to at the beginning of this article. In fact, Western elites are as almost never before under sustained attack for the failure of the larger economic environment that they have created and promoted. Thus media coverage of its most prominent representatives busying themselves with good works and doing so in a self-effacing manner (Prince Williams took a one-hour trip in "coach") can be seen as valuable promotional aids in fighting back against the perception that the elites are manipulative, exploitative and uncaring.

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