Class

[Snook]

Maybe, but i don't think the working class care that much. The working class also seem to mix with the upper class better than the middle class, in my humble experience... so i'm not sure that theory works. A large portion of the middle class just seem to look down on the working class as if they are scum... maybe that's it, and the upper class seem to see the middle class as rather snobbish wannabes.... Again, i think people should just be judged on a personal basis, and not because of their class or any other superficial reasoning.

[t020]

Maybe there's resentment both ways then. A few generations ago, most of the now m/c were w/c families. If they could "better" themselves, maybe they feel others should too? Conversely, the w/c may look at the m/c in the same way that you seem to - "he's middle class therefore he thinks he's better than everyone".

 

I think everyone should be judged on a personal basis too, but I don't think that the middle classes should have to be apologetic for being middle class.

[Snook]

I know what you mean, i feel very apologetic for being middle class, but i think that's because so many middle class people go around saying that working class people all spit and swear and drop litter, and i don't want to be associated with that.

[kilauea]

I feel I have skirted around the classes a little in my life and I think for me the biggest diferentiator is "culture". Fashion, music, food (btw - I might have assumed you were of a "different" class to me by the very fact you were eating at burger king), choice of car etc.

It has to be remebered that you can have still have class - as in style - on a low budget.

I don't believe money has anything to do with it. I am "dropping out" soon from a very well paid job to a fairly poorly paid one because I believe I will gain greater personal satisfaction from it. I don't think my "class" will change as a result.

[kilauea]

oh yes. And I swear like a trooper (possibly because I was one - an infantry soldier that is), but some of the worst language I hear these days is in the meeting rooms of the so-called middle-class senior management.

[t020]

Originally posted by Snook

I know what you mean, i feel very apologetic for being middle class, but i think that's because so many middle class people go around saying that working class people all spit and swear and drop litter, and i don't want to be associated with that.

 

But I never said *all* did I?

[Mr_E]

We all like to belong. So here are some bits and bobs to consider if you question class.

Behavioural /cultural /sociological differences don't determine class. Money certainly doesn't.

Nobody can classify themselves - or I could call myself upper class and that would be that.

It’s our nature to classify things - its part of our knowledge system. So we classify each other. Therefore someone’s class is determined by what other people think about them.

Behavioural and cultural differences may affect perception - in a general way. But everyone has a different perception of the same thing:

 

One person's snob is another’s jolly good bloke.

One person's yob is another’s lovable rogue.

 

So, if you look down on someone then its pretty much guaranteed that there's someone looking down on you.

People should be happy where they are accepted - with friends or in a community - not in a specific class. So don’t aspire to be part of a class or be apologetic for being in a class because there’s nothing you can do about it without changing yourself. Just live and enjoy.

If you want to be better than someone then take up a sport or play chess. At least the terms and conditions of such games specify the criteria by which someone is better.

Leadership is never attained by someone who discriminates between classes.

It’s not what you drive – it’s how its driven.

Class is like taste – there’s no accounting for it.

 

There are only five classes:

Those with power and self control.

Those with self control without power.

Those with power and no self control.

Those lacking power and self control.

Those who wouldn’t understand the above.

 

Is Posh (Spice/Beckham) really that posh?

[Titian]

I feel that the people who put importance on "class" are the ones who are lacking it.

[Tony]

Hear Hear, well said Bonny.

 

 

Now then, let's check back on this thread

[Cyclone]

Originally posted by Snook

I know what you mean, i feel very apologetic for being middle class, but i think that's because so many middle class people go around saying that working class people all spit and swear and drop litter, and i don't want to be associated with that.

 

That's backwards. I certainly didn't say that working class people can be identified by this behaviour. I said that this behaviour identifies a lower class of person.

In fact working class is very much about job and income. That's pretty irrelevant though, some of my friends work in warehouses, others in offices, and one not at all. They are all well spoken, well manered people though.

 

I went through a phase when I swore a lot, it happened to be when I was in the reserves and was just the norm there. When I left I consciously stopped the swearing as it was unpleasant and unneccessary.

 

Low income does not define someone as being lower class. But being lower class often means they have low income.

Cocktail/Dinner parties - does that have nothing to do with class? Will someone who swears all the time and mugs old ladies for their pocket change go home, change into evening wear and host a quiet gathering?

 

And the people who are decrying class and saying that it makes no difference to yourselves. Go and re-read your responses on the Chavs thread. That's the type of class i'm talking about, class defined by behaviour, not by birth or type of employment.