The Upper Middle “Diet Nepotism Survey” examines how members of the oat milk elite derive professional advantages – or not – from family members and family connections. By looking at nepotism as more than discrete acts of patronage, the survey attempts to determine what forms of professional assistance are most common, what forms are most valuable, and what forms are perceived to be the most valuable (there is, as you’ll see below, a big ol’ disconnect).
Survey results suggest that though most members of the professional managerial class benefit from some form of familial advantage, many are reluctant to admit it or to fully acknowledge the degree to which they are (probably) responsible for their own success.
Direct Nepotism
Americans often talk about nepotism as if it were an aberration – an affront to some kind of pre-ordained meritocracy – when in fact it is as natural phenomena. In 1963, British evolutionary biologist W.D. Hamilton formulated Hamilton’s Rule (rB>C) to explain why and when animals help their kin. Hamilton posited that help is forthcoming when r, the coefficient of relatedness, multiplied by B, the reproductive benefit of the help to the helpee, was greater than C, the reproductive cost to the helper. For example, if a parent has one banana is considering giving it to their child 𝑟 = 0.5, B=1, and C=1. The kid is shit out of luck because .5*1 < 1. But if a parent has 100 bananas, 𝑟 = 0.5, B=1, and C=.01 and that kid is gonna eat1.
Professional nepotism seems to follow the same law. The survey shows that nearly half of respondents (45%) received family help securing an internship or entry-level job, and about a quarter (26%) got help later on – 22% reporting both. Early career favors are cheap for parents to give, and enormously valuable for children to receive.
Fig. 1 - % Respondents Receiving Help v. Type of Help
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