3 ms·

Not surprising to a British reader. Sutton Trust research [1] finds that positions of influence in the UK, and the professions generally, are dominated by the 7

• xapata 6y ago
  The UK is probably worse off for having such an obvious clue that someone is high class. Accents are harder to switch than clothes and a haircut.
  • JKCalhoun 6y ago
    Maybe. Growing up in the U.S., my obvious lack of straight teeth (single mother could not afford braces for my sister or me) gave away my pedigree.
    • ska 6y ago
      I suspect the main difference between the US and UK this way is the honesty of the process. In the US a ton of money an energy is spent on social signalling and class definition, but also on maintaining a fiction that "class" isn't really a thing. I do think the US class system is easier to fake, as it relies a bit more on superficial signifiers than institutions and history than the UK. The myth of the "self made man" is also held dear, so you can do ok if you play to that story; you'll still may never really belong but your kids probably will.
      • sjg007 6y ago
        Class in the US is a function of Zipcode.
        • ska 6y ago
          That's one factor. And for the most part, accessible "merely" with money which is one of the things that make it more superficial.
    • throwaway2037 6y ago
      Second login with my throwaway account today! Apologies in advance: This stuff is much too personal to post under my real identity. Exactly this, in my experience. I am from a upper-middle-class family. I live in East Asia now, and wealthy by local standards. Whenever I travel to developing countries in Asia, I am regularly reminded of my upper-middle-class-plus-plus status by the straightness and whiteness of my teeth! Yes, literally, I can count on many, many hands how many times random strangers approach me on the street/bus/train/hotel/airport in developing countries with comments about my straight and/or white teeth. (Please: Do not read humble-brag into that.) Could we, perhaps, say that accent is a big social divide in UK, whereas teeth are a big social divide in US? I would love to hear from Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies, Saffers, etc...(anyone!) about experiences in their home culture.
• JKCalhoun 6y ago
  I'm not so sure. I think to put a finer point on it, if you grow up in an environment where your family expects you to succeed and be wealthy, where your peers are expected to also succeed and be wealthy it gives you both the training, the knowledge, and drive to succeed. Never mind the means (dosh) to higher education. In the U.S. my parent's were working class, broken home. Neither parents had ever invested, knew anything about 401Ks, Roth IRAs, neither owned their own home, knew about mortgages.... So I was beginning at square one and had to teach myself all these things, pay for my own college, etc. Unless "networks and connections" allow you access to the Next Level (and I have observed this may in fact be true, allowing some to "fail upward") I think the bigger hurdle is not having the environment that gives you an investing and monetary success mindset. I have taught my children as best I can. We'll see how this experiment plays out with the next generation....
  • monadic3 6y ago
    > I think to put a finer point on it, if you grow up in an environment where your family expects you to succeed and be wealthy, where your peers are expected to also succeed and be wealthy it gives you both the training, the knowledge, and drive to succeed. Yea, but more importantly it also gives you easy access to capital.
• sjg007 6y ago
  This is exactly why, in the US, the Ivy league has its status. Yes you learn the same stuff but it's the network effects.