John Prescott on class

[DodgyAgent]

[QUOTE=Beefy198;669483]

How many public school boys do you actually know?.

Oh lets see.... My wife went to a private school for several years. Her younger half-sisters still do. My best mate's boyfriend, people at uni... should I go on?

Some of them, in fact, do have a complex and it's nothing to do with a fear of inferiority from me. My wife will be the first to admit that she's glad she wasn't at a private school for her whole education, no matter how 'good' it would have been with her academically.

The eldest of her two half sisters is basically a walking stereotype with all her airs and graces. She once told us about an argument she had had with someone where she said that because of her education she was better than him

Either they have been bullied by you and your own prejudice and are therefore made to suffer guilt from having had the gall to get a better education than you or they went to minor private schools.

[Beefy198]

"Minor private schools"? Is that a twinge of prejudice from yourself I hear there?

[Alf W]

Have just watched the bit with the Middle Class chavs. Hilarious.

[Bagpuss]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fb5m8

go to 36 mins
"we aint Chavs, Chavs are from up north"

"You are working class"
"no I don't work I'm, middle class"

North South divide confirmed, there are no underclass down south

[expat]

"You are working class"
"no I don't work, I'm middle class"

[expat]

The joy of going to a public school is that you dont hold anyone in awe. There is no one higher up the ladder that you find intimidating. Some of you lot are really no diffent from the ethnic groups who are uncomfortable with not being within the mainstream. Black people for one.
You dont mind sneering at the chavs, the Indians in bangalore, agents with gelled hair and lots of shiny jewellry, but woe betied any ex public schoolboy making a joke at the expense of your education.

Most public schools do well, and some very well, with idiot children of the rich. I do wish that the government would learn from that: give the schools the resources they need, and they can educate anyone. Eton is the country's most successful comprehensive.

I don't have a thing about anyone else's education being better than mine, since I think mine was rather good, perhaps having started with good material. What is worthy of comment is a society where rich idiots can go to public school and nevertheless come out of it thick, as a few do - and still rule the whole place.

[shoes]

"You are working class"
"no I don't work I'm, middle class"

It's an interesting thought tho isn't it. The people living on benefits don't feel a moral imperative to work. Is it not this belief in a hierarchy and knowing your place is serving others by working for them what defines the working classes?

Is the guy with a mortgage and a loan for the bmw who turns up to the office each day more working class than a benefit scrounger?

Is the procedure following form filling office worker contributing more to society than a benefit scrounger?

Who is better off? The one with the freedom to mess about all day doing what they please or the one in the office waiting for 5.30 ?

[expat]

Is the guy with a mortgage and a loan for the bmw who turns up to the office each day more working class than a benefit scrounger?

No. Working and saving for the future is characteristic of the middle class.

[shaunbhoy]

I wish people would stop trying to find convenient pigeonholes for everyone. The only true definition of "class" that genuinely means anything should be based upon what you have done with the skills you have been born with. That is irrespective of what school you went to really, as a dedicated hard-working individual can succeed in this country regardless of what obstacles fate may place before them. One's success is based on how you prevail despite these hurdles, and it might be argued that the more of them you overcome, the stronger and more capable you become. Life is a lottery and we should be measured against how we cope with all of the breaks and the pitfalls if judgments are to be meaningful IMHO.

[expat]

I wish people would stop trying to find convenient pigeonholes for everyone. The only true definition of "class" that genuinely means anything should be based upon what you have done with the skills you have been born with. That is irrespective of what school you went to really, as a dedicated hard-working individual can succeed in this country regardless of what obstacles fate may place before them. One's success is based on how you prevail despite these hurdles, and it might be argued that the more of them you overcome, the stronger and more capable you become. Life is a lottery and we should be measured against how we cope with all of the breaks and the pitfalls if judgments are to be meaningful IMHO.

Shaun me bhoy that's bollocks. What you describe is admirable, but nothing to do with class. Among other things, class determines what obstacles will be put in your way, what will be removed from your way, and how likely your personal lottery ticket is to be a winner: they are not all the same.