3 ms·
The _visibility_ of the class system is one thing that surprised me about the UK. It seems to be a very visibly stratified society. Unlike in the US where every
by m0zg 7y ago
The _visibility_ of the class system is one thing that surprised me about the UK. It seems to be a very visibly stratified society. Unlike in the US where everyone likes to pretend they are a temporarily embarrassed millionaire and assumes there's ample social mobility (which there isn't as much as they think), in the UK most folks seem to know exactly where they belong, and they seem to be more content with their position in the class hierarchy. Or at least that's the perception from spending a month in London and vicinity. I'm sure someone will argue vehemently against it.
- mprev 7y agoEconomic class seems very visible in the Bay Area, to me as a Brit visitor. Class is as much cultural and, in terms of upper class, hereditary here in the UK. I could never be upper class as I don’t have the right ancestors.
- alasdair_ 7y ago"class" means something different in the UK than it does in the US. Wealth is often a side-effect but there are plenty of aristocrats without money who would still be considered upper-class. It's more a combination of social graces and breeding. In the USA, someone like Donald Trump would be considered upper class but would never be considered so in the UK.
- krapp 7y ago"Class" in the US is more explicitly defined by race then elsewhere, because the US was founded as a white supremacist slaveowning society.