Week 4 Reading Response; Part 1

To describe the kinds of people who are the intended audience of the New Yorker presents a unique challenge. However, a little research into the magazine has helped me to confirm my opinion that the magazine’s target audience is comprised of the social elite. The wealthy upper class, or aspiring middle class, who perhaps, have not reached the ivory tower often associated with the New York elite, but, who nonetheless, are consistently in the game of life striving to reach the pinnacle of their desires.

The lives of these individuals, the target audience of the New Yorker, can best be described as zesty, driven, directed, fast paced and affluent. These people have their minds made up, they are decisive and calculating, they know exactly what it is they seek, and they are going to acquire it! Don’t get in their way; be part of the solution, not the problem. They are successful, and their lifestyle is predicated on this mindset. They seek success in every aspect of their being. After all, aren’t they too entitled to the good life? After all, aren’t we all entitled to the good life? This question, in my opinion, is best answered by the individual’s definition of the word entitled. Indeed, we are all entitled to the good life; a life of wealth, prosperity, health and happiness. However, make no mistake, there is a definitive line between the have’s and the have not’s in this world, and the individuals comprising the target audience of the New Yorker, have most likely risen above the have not’s in this world, and understand the simple principles of poise, precision, and audacity in attaining their desired “good life.”

I am of the opinion that the majority of these individuals maintains some semblance of an honor code, or a set of predefined values that they apply to their daily lives. Things such as loyalty, duty, respect, honor etc. These are critical factors to individual and team success in life.

Starting with the basics, these individuals are concerned first and foremost with self image. Their hair, eyebrows, make-up, nails, and the individual items of clothing they choose to don on a daily basis. The list of concerns these individuals possess or develop is most likely extrapolated exponentially based upon their own preconcieved perception of other people’s perception of them.

Living life by a strict set of values does have a tendency to cause people to become prejudicial in their views or actions. Therefore, I believe individuals who possess integrity, take this, as well as the aforementioned, into consideration in their daily interactions, whether in business or on the home front. These are some of the things that people at this level of society are expected to know. This is not all inclusive by any means, however, those who make a conscientious effort to remember where it is they came from as they climb the ladder of success, are more often than not, highly successful in their endeavors and interactions with others, and come to know the subtle nuances required to enter and remain in this arena.