NationStates Jolt Archive

Due to the fact that every gawd-damned person seems to say they are middle class I'm going to go ahead and put up a friggin poll on the matter. Please feel free to post your defention of what is lower, middle and upper class while you're at it.

-argh, I've got it checked but lets find out if I can actually tell it what I want in the poll.

The idea behind the poll is to check off one for income, one for houses, one for cars.

/Poll currency is US dollars.

where's the poll

where's the poll
wait

If you're lower class, you probably aren't on the internet. If you're upper-class, you're probably not on a forum like this, and are sitting next to your pool drinking daiquiri's, while the servant-girls bring them to you. Either that or having an aneurysm while your share investments begin to plummet in value.

So that's why nearly everyone here would be middle-class.

I's jus po'

(read it out loud. it makes sense)

Lower class people have to go to their shitty public library to get internet.

oi!

what currency are you talkin' about?
USD?
EUR?
YEN?
pounds maybe?
florins are nice too
and i especially like zloty

lower class is those who have to rely on government programs just to get by

upper class is inherited fortune (think vanderbilts)

the rest is middle class. we who can make it on our own but still have to work for a living (unless we are retired or not old enough to need to support ourselves)

I could of sworn I put it in there, USDs.

3 year median income by state:

Clicky (http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income03/statemhi.html)

Compare your income. Then decide.

I don't even think I qualify as lower - no car (don't desire/need one) and make about 20k a year.

You're as rich or poor as you feel you are.

I don't even think I qualify as lower - no car (don't desire/need one) and make about 20k a year...

Yep ... you'd be economic lower class (the US doesn't have social classes ... yet) ... you're in good company (ie. the majority of the US)

During the years social class has dealigned it is the three classes are becomming more and more alike. In time there won'tbe much definition between the three but only peoples opinions :p

I dont know about the US, so ill vote as if it was GBP

I don't know the bounderies, I just consider myself middle class because I live in a nice 4 bedroom house with lots of land and we have 3 cars, I don't know how much my stepdad earns but I think it's enough for us to not be lower class and not enough to make us upper class

Due to the fact that every gawd-damned person seems to say they are middle class I'm going to go ahead and put up a friggin poll on the matter. Please feel free to post your defention of what is lower, middle and upper class while you're at it.

-argh, I've got it checked but lets find out if I can actually tell it what I want in the poll.

The idea behind the poll is to check off one for income, one for houses, one for cars.

/Poll currency is US dollars.

A poll that equates class to income and values in dollars is typically american. There are several problems with this scheme.
1. Property values, car prices and income simply are not comparable between different countries.
2. A truly upper class person, in Europe, anyway, probably does not own a car, or if they do it would be something practical rather than a ferrari or porsche, would have no idea how much their property is worth as it has never actually been on the market. It was granted to their family by some king or queen about five hundred years ago. And they make their living by being a landowner, with rents and dues and such like, rather than a salary.
3. Someone who is an extortionist, bankrobber, mass murderer and downright nasty person, would have investment income, lots of cars and property, and therefor become upper class.
4. Education and culture mean nothing. It does not matter if you can read or write, all that matters is that you have money.

Class is a very slippery concept indeed. It has more to do with how others see you than what you think yourself to be. It has to do with the respect that society has for you and what you do. If in the USA, the only thing that generates respect is money, then this may be a measure of class there. I can assure you from experience that this is not the case in Europe, nor in South America. I believe it not to be the case in Asia as family honour is important in most asiatic communities. (Australia and New Zealand, I believe to be more European, but I am just guessing). Africa is very complicated, but It seems unlikely that a single factor. like money, would be dominant.

I have to say that where I live (Sweden), class is almost a non-existant issue and is almost completely irrelevant/invisible. So, it's always strange seeing the British and the American obsession with this class thing.

I don't know the bounderies, I just consider myself middle class because I live in a nice 4 bedroom house with lots of land and we have 3 cars, I don't know how much my stepdad earns but I think it's enough for us to not be lower class and not enough to make us upper class
one way to test if you are upperclass or not is "if my stepdad lost his job and couldnt get another, would we be able to keep living like this?"

upper class people might work, but they dont NEED the money they make from their jobs.

I have to say that where I live (Sweden), class is almost a non-existant issue and is almost completely irrelevant/invisible. So, it's always strange seeing the British and the American obsession with this class thing.

Class may not be a hot issue there, but you definately have an aristocracy, a trading class, and a working class. Each of these groups have, to a greater or lesser degree diferent intersts and goals in their lives. Class does exist, throughout europe. It does not mean rich/poor, nor is it just a British/American obsession. It is a sociological concept that has been adopted by marketing agencies etc. to target advertising more effectively. It affects your life, directly, whether it is a hot topic for discussion or not.

Well, I would say that middle class begins at 60k and ends somewhere at 130k

Class may not be a hot issue there, but you definately have an aristocracy, a trading class, and a working class. Each of these groups have, to a greater or lesser degree diferent intersts and goals in their lives. Class does exist, throughout europe. It does not mean rich/poor, nor is it just a British/American obsession. It is a sociological concept that has been adopted by marketing agencies etc. to target advertising more effectively. It affects your life, directly, whether it is a hot topic for discussion or not.

To an extent, I guess that is true.
However, our taxation system makes it incredibly difficult to get into a situation where you can survive without needing to work.

The real issue here is why we even need to make this sort of distinction. :headbang:

The real issue here is why we even need to make this sort of distinction. :headbang:

We, being the consumer, do not need to. The advertiser does, otherwise they spend too much money trying to sell fords to Italian nobility and Ferraris to american farmers.

Well, I would say that middle class begins at 60k and ends somewhere at 130k

This sounds like a frequency range (Sorry, silly post I know) ;)

I dug out my Sociological Theory notes for this one.

Going strictly on income

Lower class is less than 30K
Middle class is 30K to 750K
Upper class is 750K+

More helpful, though, is the following:
Lower middle class is 30K-50K
Middle middle class is 50K to 75K
Upper middle class is 75K to 750K

But, as people (I think mainly from outside the US) alluded to, sociologists define class based on other things, as well, such as level of education, occupation, values, whether the money is "old"/"new," hobbies, and a whole slew of other factors.

Hmmm... Lowerclass - people who have a mansion with servants
middleclasss - mansion without servants (other than cleaners)
upperclass - large house withour servants
Uber-upper-class - hut.