I don’t think the author writes about the “in your face” signaling, because nobody does that anymore once a certain high socio-economic status is reached (mostly by birth-related accidents), but about the “implicit”, for lack of a better term, signaling. Which most of the people the OP talks about certainly do in abundance. In other words I think the author talks mostly about that “implicit” signaling.
This "implicit signaling" sounds indistinguishable from people just doing the things they choose to do on the direct merits of those things. My whole point is that this whole meta game of signaling status is way overblown. I just don't think the vast majority of people live this way at all.
