Today we discussed social class. My list of what determines social class:
wealth
appearance
intelligence
being socially adept
interests
philosophy
confidence
REGION
mannerisms
maturity
honesty
What is social class? Why do people regard themselves as all being "middle class"?
If this blog had a higher profile, like BoingBoing, then I could just let the comments write themselves.
We had mention of there being a difference between those who had grown up rich and those who became rich. This reminded me of The Great Gatsby. There is a great discussion in Gatsby (and by "in Gatsby", I mean "in a high school English class") about the ideas of "old money" and "new money". "Old Money" are the people born into rich families. "New Money" are the people who become rich over time. New Money attempt to get along with Old Money, and Old Money treats New Money the same way that Trekkies treat hipsters.
wealth
appearance
intelligence
being socially adept
interests
philosophy
confidence
REGION
mannerisms
maturity
honesty
What is social class? Why do people regard themselves as all being "middle class"?
If this blog had a higher profile, like BoingBoing, then I could just let the comments write themselves.
We had mention of there being a difference between those who had grown up rich and those who became rich. This reminded me of The Great Gatsby. There is a great discussion in Gatsby (and by "in Gatsby", I mean "in a high school English class") about the ideas of "old money" and "new money". "Old Money" are the people born into rich families. "New Money" are the people who become rich over time. New Money attempt to get along with Old Money, and Old Money treats New Money the same way that Trekkies treat hipsters.
Well done, Henry. I'm interested in the comparison in the final sentence. In a longer post, you could unpack it a bit. LDL
ReplyDeleteWill do so at a later date. It will take a while to write it, though. There will be illustrations. Oh boy, there will be illustrations!
ReplyDelete