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View Poll Results: To which social class do you belong?
Working class - salt of the earth, me. 18 13.85%
Middle class - not common like those people on council estates. 39 30.00%
Upper class - my butler is answering on my behalf. 16 12.31%
Citizen of the world. None of this elitist nonsense for me. 57 43.85%
Voters: 130. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:31
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Of which [British] social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Apologies to all our continental and colonial members here, but this question may be of interest to some of the British members of the forum:

I had an interesting exchange with a colleague this morning, during which she accused me of being 'working class' as I work for a living (at least, that's what she thinks ). She's a Northerner, if that's relevant (I suspect it might be).

I disagreed, suggesting that as I work in a white collar profession, I am solidly and indubitably middle class. I even owned property once - very briefly - and attended university and everything.

It is a curious fact that one often meets people who assert that they are working class, despite having office jobs which involve no more manual labour than pushing a mouse around a desk. Indeed, if one were to only consider those poor sods who have to do physical work for a living (whether skilled or unskilled) as working class, the percentage in most parts of urban western Europe must be something less than ten percent these days, meaning that an awful lot of us must be middle class, no matter how unfashionable that might be. Or that we're all aristocrats, of course...

So, fellow British types - of which social class do you consider yourself to be a member, and why?
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  #2  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:34
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I would say lower-middle class
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:36
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

The British have class?

These are the times where I am proud to have not an inkling of knowledge on how it feels to be put in a certain "social class."
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  #4  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:37
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Okay, I'll bite.

Do we still consider ourselves segregated into "classes" ?
I would think, with globalization and general awareness that has come about in the last couple of decades, we, or at least the educated and the ones smart enough, would not be bothered with this. Everyone is equal, and jobs or professions would and should not cause a divide. Of any kind.

I personally don't really care. We work for a living. Earn money, which thankfully is enough for anything we want. Of course there will be always things which the heart desires, but then no amount of money can help with that.
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:37
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

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The British have class?

These are the times where I am proud to have not an inkling of knowledge on how it feels to be put in a certain "social class."
I'm British and I'm clueless on class...

I can use a knife and fork, and I know not to pick my nose in public. I'm a classy bird.
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  #6  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:39
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Quote:

So, fellow British types - of which social class do you consider yourself to be a member, and why?
Hmmm, I work for a living. I consider myself to be working class.
Middle class are just working class with better paying jobs. Although I have a well paid job, I am happy to be called working class.

Reminds me of an old one line ditty....

"The working class can kiss my arse, I got the foremans job at last..."
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  #7  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:39
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Where does 200k salary put me?

In Canada, I would be considered middle class and white collar [we differentiate salary classes and work type].

Here, I'm just an undesirable ethnic.
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  #8  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:41
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I ain't got no class.

Middle class I guess, but mostly because of my parents. I also work a white collar job (but I don't wear a white collar). I didn't go to university, but I recently came into some land.

Class was usually an inherited thing, so it's quite easy to see how many people would still describe themselves as working class.

When I did temp work during my youth and worked warehouses and kitchens, did I briefly become working class, then moved back into middle class at my first office job?

If you're unemployed, are you working class or upper class?
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:45
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

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  #10  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:45
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

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Where does 200k salary put me?
Only the working class discuss their salary
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:46
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I'd be on the cusp, I suppose. Semi-WhiteCollar, with (thankfully) some good old fashioned manual labour and thought-provoking troubleshooting thrown in...

I could never spend all day sitting in front of a computer screen. I don't know how anyone could. apart from bleedin' Zombies, of course.
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  #12  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:49
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I've always considered myself working class.

Not like this lady;

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  #13  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:49
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I consider myself part of the Professional class.
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  #14  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:50
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Upper class - my butler is answering on my behalf.
Will post in sometime after serving dessert to my master.
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  #15  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:50
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

"the upper-lower-middleclass"

Just slight below the absolutely average
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:51
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

DB - you've got a Midlands accent haven't you? That might be why someone (mistakenly) might think you're working class. Or did she meet you while you were out walking your whippet?

Anyway, I thought most of us fitted into that new class that came up in discussion earlier this year: "International Knowledge Worker".
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:52
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

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Where does 200k salary put me?

In Canada, I would be considered middle class and white collar [we differentiate salary classes and work type].

Here, I'm just an undesirable ethnic.
Social class is only tangentially related to salary in the UK. Mentioning how much you earn isn't really the done thing.
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:52
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

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Hmmm, I work for a living. I consider myself to be working class.
Middle class are just working class with better paying jobs. Although I have a well paid job, I am happy to be called working class.

Reminds me of an old one line ditty....
I don't think class has much to do with income, or even whether or not you attended a posh school. It has to do with how you see yourself and what sort of company you seek. People can also move in different types of class depending on the situation. I think this is so in my case.
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Old 19.05.2010, 12:54
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

Could somebody define those British classes for me?

According to a jewish kid from my hometown who wrote a lot about classes in the past, I am a proletarian, as I work for a salary (and my employer obviously exploits my skills). On the other hand do I own a couple of stocks, so I indirectly own some means of production and would therefore be part of the bourgeoise... so I am a bit confused what I am now.

Citoyen perhaps?
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  #20  
Old 19.05.2010, 12:55
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Re: Of which social class would you consider yourself to be a member?

I strongly associate myself with the gutter class It's basically lower than all the listed options.

On topic I associate myself with this-
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Citizen of the world. None of this elitist nonsense for me.
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