Chip

How does it work.I always saw it as being three classes. Working, middle and upper. Bet then, if I am a working man should I be classed the same as a drug dealing, unemployed no intention of working scumhead.

Likewise, if I as a working man earn more than a bank manager, who I think is traditionally seen as middle class, does that make me any less of a person in class than him just because he's a bank manager.

The only class I think is clearly defined is the upper class with your aristocrats, Royalty etc.

How would you define the British class system or dont you even think as some do that we havent got one.

Or should it be seen as this:
The British as a nation are very concerned about which class they belong to. There are several classes which can be defined as follows:

Upper Class = Somebody who is so rich they don't need to work.

Middle Class = Somebody who wishes they were upper class but who are in fact working class.

Working Class = Anybody who works

The middle class are the worst type of class because they are the only ones who actually care what the other classes think of them. The Upper class are so rich they don't give a monkey's what the common 'oiks' think. The Working class who class themselves as such don't let their lives be spoilt by trying to aspire to something which is plainly out of reach. Essentially remember if you work you are Working class and there's nothing that can change that, unless you win the lottery or get adopted by the Queen

Chip.

OllyK

The traditional difference between Working and Middle classes (IIRC) was whether then work was manual or not (in broad terms).

It's all just pigeon holeing and I am not sure that it has any real value. I know what I do for a living, and I know what my aspirations are in terms of career, personal life etc etc. but as far as I am concerned I am just me.

Dracoro

Although the thing SHOULD be about CLASS. You can be loaded and have no class whatsover. Equally you can be poor but have lots of class. It's all about how you carry yourself and behave, your 'poshness' etc. After all, david and victoria are loaded yet they're very common, certainly NOT upper class by any stretch of the imagination, and previously from the working classes. The Neuveaux riche if you like.

I disagree that only the 'middle' classes care what class people think of them in. It's down to the individual. For every middle class person you get that has delusions of grandeur, there's a working class person with a chip on their shoulder and an upper class person who looks 'down' on others. It's all a load of crap really.

Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with having 'classes' (or categories as it probably should be known as) but prejudice between the classes is what's wrong.

Holy Ghost

ray winstone made an interesting comment recently about this.

he said that the working class has changed out of all recognition to what it used to mean - now, the new working class are the ones that don't work.

astraboy

so it must go like this then:
Upper,
Middle,
Working,
Underclass (non workers),
People from Birkenhead.

Hey, tell me i'm lying
astraboy.

Chins

Guess you must be middle class and aspiring to be something your not - according to the theory in your post. The working man would not even utilize one brain cell to post this

Daz34

Also I think it is possible to go from being working class to middle class but not higher. I am undecided about whether the middle classes can downgrade

Darren

Leslie

The Class System as such does not exist anymore Chip. Of course there is a wide spread of circumstances that people find themselves in these days, but in many ways that is more up to them and their own abilities, rather than what you were allowed to do in the old days according to the status of your parents.

Now whatever apparent class system is in place is largely due to the imaginations of many people and how important they think they are.

Les

Prince Popeye

Upper Class= toffs who inherit everything and become merchant w*nkers sorry bankers

middle-upper class- people who have a million and have upper class values

middle-class- live in Barrat homes and wash their mondeos every sunday

Working Class- leave skool at 16 and get a job grafting. Tend to have kids early and go down the WMC on a friday night for a spot of Darts or Dominoes.

Underclass- what we call the CHav. Low-life of Britain who have ten illegitimate kids and live on welfare all their life. Have no morals watsoever.


Thrity years from now we'll have a new breed of underclass as the inbreeding of Chavs will create an even more incessant breed of pond-life. ITV will have to cater for this and put trisha and bad girls on a separate channel 24hrs a day to cater for these mutants. Plus mcdonalds will have to re-introduce a Chav size portion of Fries as King-Size isn't enough to feed Chav babies. They need at least 10,0000 calories to reach that Chavtastic size of 21 stone by the time their 5. Buy shares in Liddles/Aldi and Netto as these are set to quadruple in price soon, due to the Chavs obsession with Crap food. Supermarkets will stop selling salad and fruit as they are a no-no to the CHav.

Brendan Hughes

...and they'll all drive Imprezas.

Brendan Hughes

Well, someone has to post it....



Three Men on Class

Cleese: (In bowler hat, black jacket and pinstriped trousers) I look down on him (Indicates Barker) because I am upper-class.


Barker: (Pork-pie hat and raincoat) I look up to him (Cleese) because he is upper-class; but I look down on him (Corbett) because he is lower-class. I am middle-class.


Corbett: (Cloth cap and muffler) I know my place. I look up to them both. But I don't look up to him (Barker) as much as I look up to him (Cleese), because he has got innate breeding.


Cleese: I have got innate breeding, but I have not got any money. So sometimes I look up (bends knees, does so) to him (Barker).


Barker: I still look up to him (Cleese) because although I have money, I am vulgar. But I am not as vulgar as him (Corbett) so I still look down on him (Corbett).


Corbett: I know my place. I look up to them both; but while I am poor, I am honest, industrious and trustworthy. Had I the inclination, I could look down on them. But I don't.


Barker: We all know our place, but what do we get out of it?


Cleese: I get a feeling of superiority over them.


Barker: I get a feeling of inferiority from him, (Cleese), but a feeling of superiority over him (Corbett).


Corbett: I get a pain in the back of my neck.

Tiggs

"After all, david and victoria are loaded yet they're very common, certainly NOT upper class by any stretch of the imagination, and previously from the working classes. "

not sure you'd call victoria adams working class? she went to school in a rolls!

SJ_Skyline

Tiggs,

you are confusing class with taste!

Chip

No, just wanted to hear other peoples views on this.I know my place in life thank you. Do you I wonder?

Chip.

the moose

Rolls-Royce, the preserve of the fabulously trashy (if new) and the scrap metal merchant (if it's a 1978 Shadow)

Either way, they're incredibly vulgar.

daisy

who cares what people do for a living or what money they earn? Isn't it more important to like who you are and be happy with the people around you?

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

The class system historically was based on wealth, but is now based on breeding, new money to the old working class led to the noveau riche etc of the 70's & 80's.

Lord bankrupt Brocket working class ? More like complete ****.

D

SiPie

Well said Daisy .....

Load of nonsense

ajm

I think we are rapidly approaching a 2 class system:-

1) Normal, well-adjusted individuals
2) Chavs

SJ_Skyline

I blame Tony Blair™

Dracoro

So I'm in the wrong place. Where's the forum for us in class 1)

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

So for example my father who use to own a resturant would be considered working class as he had to work 6.5 days a week and because it was manual labour (or untrained work is another way of looking at it).

He could be considered middle class as he was a businessman who owned his own business.

Not really an issue either way, as he earned a shedload more than most bank managers!!!

Markus

Never really worked out what "class" I am.

I think it'd have to be somewhere between working and middle class.

Do I really care? no, not really. If some sloane ranger wishes to look at me like a piece of ****e on their shoe then let them, I don't really care.
I don't try to aspire to be anything other than I am, and I don't need to flaunt my wealth or class to prove I'm better than someone else.

lem0ncurd

I think that Class is often mistakenly confused with income or wealth, whereas I don't think that they're very related. In fact it is usually the lower class person who uses the term 'classy' to describe something that he deems to appear expensive or exclusive.

I think class is more to do with culture, breeding and attitudes/values. The class of a person cannot be easily 'upgraded' just by increased wealth. I think the standard of, and level of education of a person is one imporant factor in determining his class:

Working class
Left school at 16 with little or no qualifications. Had no interest in school, couldn't see he point of it and just mucked around, had no encouragement from his parents as they likely left school at 16 also.

Middle class
Finished school with some qualifcations. Likely to have gone on to do A'levels and University. Made more of an effort at school and understood the importance of his education. Was encouraged by parents to do well.

Upper Class
More than likely went to Public school and then on to a top Uni as a matter of course. Excellence will have been drilled into him throughout school and he will have been encouraged to be very competitive by his parents and teachers.

Obviously, Education isn't the sole factor, and I'm not saying that you're automatically working class if you left school at 16, but it does play an important part - certainly more than your income.

LC

Jerome

I think the class system is at it's most obvious at the meal table.


Upper class:
Everyone eats according to etiquette. If you have guests, and they make an etiquette error (eg cutting their bread roll in half and buttering it), the host will also deliberately make the error to make their guest feel comfortable. Good breeding at it's best.

Upper middle class:
As above, but rather than also make the error, will simply frown and decide to not invite said guest again. Thinks they are upper class, but they don't have the breeding and never will.

Middle class:
Knows about etiquette. If a guest makes an error, will inwardly smile and feel smug that they are better than the guest.

Lower middle class:
Thinks they know about etiquette, but gets many things wrong. If a guest makes a error, will worry that maybe they have got it wrong.

Lower class:
No etiquette practiced at all. Plenty of eating with open mouths and elbows on the table. Peas are scraped onto the fork with the thumb.

Chav class:
Think feeding time at the primate house. Then consider that chimps would probably have better manners than chavs.

Markus

pmsl @ the chav class one. That'll be me last night eating the fries, sorry, chips, with my hands lol

Jerome

...or me wolfing down my chicken burger with my hands. I'm pretty sure I didn't let having a mouthful of burger stop me ranting about something or other as well.

Drunken Bungle Whore

I've always wondered who invented the rules of etiquette? And, more importantly - WHY???? As long as oyu're respectful and nice who cares how you cut up your bread roll... Some people have very empty lives....

Jerome

See here for info on etiquette.

I agree some people place for too high an emphasis on the finer points of etiquette. I know people who are just like Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced boo kay ).

Markus

True, it did not stop the ranting!

Think the only thing that did stop us talking was the, umm, "scenery" and I'm not talking about the orange Lambo and Hummer that went past

PS: Was it me or did they seem to get younger as the night progressed? Not that I'm complaining of course