Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
My family is from Bangladesh (we take our cultural cues from India) and I agree with you 100%. The society in Bangladesh is unimaginably classist. Sure, here in the U.S. lots of people have classist notions but people have the shame to not talk in public because it's not culturally acceptable. No such thing over there. As you said, the upper classes treat the lower classes as not even of the same people as themselves.
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
> You know what these people call themselves? Middle class. They refuse to acknowledge that they are wealthy.
No, they've got it right. The distinction between middle class and lower class is entirely about wealth, but the distinction between middle class and upper class is not. Wealth is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for being upper class; the distinguishing features are flexibility and power, not money. It is possible to convert money into these things, but most middle-class people who acquire sufficient wealth nevertheless fail to become upper-class because they lack the mental toolkit, or are embedded in power structures that won't let them.
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
it sounds a lot like my own country, Colombia, particularly the part about priviledged people considering themselves middle class.
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
Guess it depends on your culture/background, but your description of upper class people who believe they are middle class sound like people I would call middle class - I'm English. So while you may be completely right in the context of India, your examples don't necessarily explain it well to an international audience.
Being upper class in the UK isn't as simple as being wealthy - certainly nothing so simple as model of car or location of property!
Guess it depends on your culture/background, but your description of upper class people who believe they are middle class sound like people I would call middle class - I'm English. So while you may be completely right in the context of India, your examples don't necessarily explain it well to an international audience.
Being upper class in the UK isn't as simple as being wealthy - certainly nothing so simple as model of car or location of property!
It's certainly not simple but cars and property can certainly be an indicator.
>You’d think if people had more than they need, they would be generous about it, and would see, reflecting on themselves, that others might want to have more as well. This doesn't really make sense to me. People who value relationships or are compassionate generally, in my anecdotal experience, value money less. So of course they'll have less. Th people who rich are the ones who value spending their time getting mone…
Strange. When I have money, I feel generous about it, and want to use that money to help others. I thought most people felt that way. It's one of the reasons that a progressive tax system makes good sense to me. There are many ways that people get to be rich. Some are born into it, and stay rich because of systemic biases. Others "value spending their time getting money over helping others" and get rich that way. Sti…
The class system might also interfere with other motives that sometimes lead wealthier people to act generously even when they aren't particularly altruistic or compassionate. In societies where people see each other as roughly part of the same community, one of the advantages of being rich is that you can be munificent with your money, which gains you social status and prestige. You can see that in smaller American towns, for example, where, at least traditionally, the preferred way of demonstrating wealth was to do things like sponsor a library, host a 4th of July party everyone's invited to, etc., not more "separate" displays of wealth like buying a Ferrari. Some people would no doubt do so out of genuine concern for libraries, the 4th of July, and their neighbors, but there's also a bit of social reinforcement in that serving in that kind of "civic benefactor" role is a high-status position: you're not just giving your money away purely altruistically, but in a way buying a certain social role.
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
Guess it depends on your culture/background, but your description of upper class people who believe they are middle class sound like people I would call middle class - I'm English. So while you may be completely right in the context of India, your examples don't necessarily explain it well to an international audience.
Not even 0.005% of the Indian populace can afford the things I mentioned as examples. Maybe the problem is that we take our cues of what is considered upper class from international standards and therefore fail to acknowledge our own privileges in a local context ?
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
it sounds a lot like my own country, Colombia, particularly the part about priviledged people considering themselves middle class.
It sounds like my own country too, the United States. :-)
Ooh, no comments, I'll bite. The last time I said something negative about Indian society I had my personal details thrown all over HN. Wonder what's going to happen this time. So here's the thing. This article is pretty spot on. We, the privileged of India, do indeed feel entitled. There's absolutely no doubt about that. My theory is that the population pressure in India is so very high that you're always fighting f…
My family is from Bangladesh (we take our cultural cues from India) and I agree with you 100%. The society in Bangladesh is unimaginably classist. Sure, here in the U.S. lots of people have classist notions but people have the shame to not talk in public because it's not culturally acceptable. No such thing over there. As you said, the upper classes treat the lower classes as not even of the same people as themselves…
Yes. And unfortunately it is a bit of a problem even in the US. Recent immigrants (a few of them) continue the rat fight even when there is absolutely no need. It goes away of course, with the time, but in the first few years a lot of harm can be done.