Non‑work Norms as Status Tool

Elites sustain conventions that intentionally prevent private‑life optimization (career‑maximizing regimentation) so that status competition remains limited to visible, costly, and socially sanctioned domains. Those norms function as a coordination device: they make fully careerized lives socially devalued even if such lives would be more economically efficient. — This reframes debates about meritocracy and elite privilege by showing how cultural norms—not just wealth or access—are actively used to restrict what kinds of achievement are socially rewarded outside work.