7 ms·
I would suggest that class distinction in Britain is tautological in nature, that British elites don't want to be elite so much as they cannot easily get used t
by seabass-labrax 3y ago
I would suggest that class distinction in Britain is tautological in nature, that British elites don't want to be elite so much as they cannot easily get used to the norms of any other class. One's class is too deeply embedded to feel truly comfortable in another class. I think it's mutual, too: a small number of those from lower classes attempt to imitate the elite (with varying degrees of success), but I think the majority wouldn't want to move into a different class if they could.
This is my purely personal perspective, and I think it puts me into the camp of ascribing class behaviour to Pierre Bourdieu's 'misrecognition' theory as described in the paper. Perhaps part of the effect is that (some) mannerisms and behaviours of the upper classes in Britain are simply more useful to those in positions of power. This then cements the notion of these classes as befitting social institutions - the social error is ascribing the virtue of the institution back to its leaders, who may well not be any more virtuous than the average across classes.
- 082349872349872 3y ago> "I'm really awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas."
- pharmakom 3y agoThe upper classes love to experiment with being in the lower classes, so long as they can retreat back if it gets too real.
- karim 3y ago"Common People" by Pulp is a great example of that
- RockCoach 3y agoAlready a few years old but in my opinion still hilarious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3TT1VE8Jq0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3TT1VE8Jq0
- AdamN 3y agoOne of my favorite books on the subject - "Down and Out in Paris and London"
- tcgv 3y agoWhich even though targeted middle and upper class readers, is in good part autobiographical [1], from a time when 'George Orwell' was living under harsh conditions and experienced poverty. It's a great reading. I read it in preparation for my first vacation in London ;) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_Lond...
- euroderf 3y agoThe Paris part is an absolutely fascinating dissection of the various roles and their hierarchy and interactions in a large restaurant. A classic. I found the London part rather ho-hum in comparison, altho YMMV.
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- tsunamifury 3y agoIn British society this has been proven over and over as the majority identify as working class even with their socio economic status does not at all match. In America a it’s a completely different class of worms that mostly identify as middle class and we have what British would call middle class rich.
- jjoonathan 3y ago> British elites don't want to be elite so much as they cannot easily get used to the norms Like working and coping with (comparatively) low income? Most people have to work and cope. If you don't have to work and cope, that makes you fundamentally unlike most people, because even if you do work and cope, it'll be on your terms. Even if some of the work and some of the cope is genuinely fun and engaging, I guarantee that nobody wants to have to do it and therefore that elites want to be elite even if it is gauche to say so out loud.
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