Although not working class by any means, I experienced a similar kind of culture shock after going to state schools until I was 16, then spending two years doin

Although not working class by any means, I experienced a similar kind of culture shock after going to state schools until I was 16, then spending two years doing my A-levels at a very expensive boarding school. I was the commoner, surrounded by people whose parents own diamond mines in South Africa, investment banks in Hong Kong, large country estates in Scotland. There were some nice people there and I made some good friends, but there were also plenty of other people with the unquestioning belief that Rebanks describes - effectively that they were born to rule. It could be really intimidating, to the point where the belief was so strong that it bent reality and could convince other, less-well-off people to play into the submissive role that their confidence implied. However, if you started not to play the game, they became really unsettled, like they didn't have any flexibility - it was all based on a fixed set of scripts that most people didn't deviate from. Also reminds me of that school report of Boris Johnson - "Boris really has adopted a disgracefully cavalier attitude to his classical studies. It is a question of priorities, which most of his colleagues have no difficulty in sorting out. Boris sometimes seems affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility (and surprised at the same time that he was not appointed Captain of the School for next half). I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else." Plus ça change. https://twitter.com/lettersofnote/status/1094970662828101632?lang=en https://twitter.com/lettersofnote/status/1094970662828101632...