What class are you?

[Traitorfish]

Upper-lower-middle class, working on lower-upper middle class. My dad's a teacher, I'm an architecture student.

 

[Virote_Considon]

I'm lower Middle Class, myself. My family has dragged itself up from being in the "Underclass" in the early-mid 90's, to being Middle-Class. Now, here's looking for the Upper Class!

 

[intj_rational]

The working class... otherwise known as the poor. But I'll change this in a few years when I graduate.

 

[Newbunkle]

Earlier I thought I was lower middle class, but I just realised I say "dinner and tea" instead of "lunch and dinner", so maybe I'm upper working class, lol.

 

[scherbchen]

I'm a level 23 multi-class Cleric-Ranger..... oh wait

curses! you beat me to it...

 

[Richard Cribb]

Working class 'til I die.

Of course, that's by a UK / European definition, not the normally accepted US one based on income / wealth. FWIW, I'd be at the top end of either of Godwynn's charts, but income doesn't mean anything about class in the UK.

That goes for me as well, I was born into the working class and even if my social status have fluctuated quite wildly during the years, I will always be rooted in it.
I also agree that it is doubtful to define class on the basis of income/wealth.

Okay, and I'll counter with a crack addict welfare queen collecting $20,000 a year certainly doesn't work for the government handouts either.

And then of course we have people with no class at all...

 

[downtown]

I also agree that it is doubtful to define class on the basis of income/wealth.

I guess thats really the only way we define it in America. If class is not defined by money, what is it defined by? What are the class values?

 

[Thorbal]

I guess thats really the only way we define it in America. If class is not defined by money, what is it defined by? What are the class values?

Social structure research happens to be my main focus in my studies - you would be surprised just how different the "classes" ( the term currently used in German sociology is "milieu" to pronounce other factors than just money ) really are. Aside from financial capital, there are also very harsh differences in cultural and symbolic capital. Education etc. And the education you get and your family background also define the patterns of speech you use, which in turn also defines your "prestige" , job chances and so on. And these incorporated patterns ( your habitus ) are not going to change a lot when you move up the social ladder, so you are instantly recognizable as an upstart or parvenu by those who have been there all their lives as well, reducing your life chances. I could go on and on all day but to summarize it: there are a lot of culturally dependant factors - "taste" being one of the central ones. There are no classless societies, the indicators determining class have just shifted towards more sublime aspects.

Examples for class values would be:
lower classes: social coherence, family values, helping out others, ability to quickly adapt to different jobs and improvise
middle classes: hard work, autonomy, independence, oriented towards advancement, "protestant work ethic" ( in some milieus ) , hedonism in others, fewer children than working classes - focusing educational and other capitals on fewer children to secure their advancement, more emphasis on "planning your career" , which the lower classes cannot because their environment is too unstable for it, ...