Comments | denorios: So I was thinking about class...

denorios

So I was thinking about class...

Apr 03, 2013 11:42

Mainly prompted by this article and class calculator on the BBC website, which posits the new theory that there are now seven classes: elite, established middle class, technical middle class, new affluent workers, traditional working class, emergent service workers and precarious proletariat.

( Class seems to be a particularly fraught topic of conversation, particularly in the UK, but I have to confess it's not something I've spent a great deal of time thinking about. Perhaps that is an indication of my class itself - that it's not something I've ever felt impacted negatively on my life in any way, so it's something I've taken for granted. And I'll hold my hands up to that. )

thoughts, news, actors: benedict cumberbatch, actors: tom hiddleston

Comments 2

rachel2205 April 3 2013, 14:40:46 UTC

I too feel no need to apologise for having gone to an independent school (which was a big financial struggle for my parents, but they did it because it was the best school for me, and I think is one of the best decisions they made), or having done a PhD, or working at an elite institution. However...

Why is it okay to be insulting or prejudiced about one class and not another, simply because one is perceived to be 'higher' or 'better' than the other? One way of answering this is: do people taking the piss out of Benedict Cumberbatch for being posh have any power to affect his career or prospects? On the other hand, do the Conservative ministers critiquing people on benefits for being shirkers have the ability to affect those people's standard of living ( ... )

denorios April 3 2013, 15:04:06 UTC

That is true - prejudice from a position of power or influence against those below you (economically, financially or whatever) is very different from the reverse - because of that power imbalance it has the potential to be far more damaging. But I think that tolerating one side and not the other doesn't help in eradicating that prejudice - both sides need to recognise that those kind of attitudes simply get in the way of real understanding and accommodation.