The Middle Manager Aesthetic

From this week’s Roderick on the Line:

Merlin: “If you’re talking on the phone at lunch you’re not a powerful person. A powerful person is allowed to eat without doing work.”

John: “Most people’s concept of what a powerful person looks like only goes up so high - to middle management. Most people, the highest they can conceive of is the middle manager, so they emulate the middle manager’s taste in clothes, in cars, in houses, in music and culture. The middle manager is the aspirational unit for the vast majority.”