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How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

theguardian.com

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Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#121

Post by floatrock »

murph-almighty wrote: post #24

Intergenerational mobility is a really interesting topic- I played around with a transition matrix for a high school project about Markov chains. I can't dig up the table right now but I believe it was based on data from around 2008 and was split into quintiles- i.e. the table tracked the income jump between you and your parents with bucket sizes set at every 20%. What I'd really like to see is a similar table with s…

I've seen nytimes or fivethirtyeight or one of those visualization shops do interactives on the topic.

Can't find the exact one I'm thinking of, but the visualization halfway down the page here shows expected income quintile as a function of your parents' income and location: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/business/in-climbing-incom...

This youtube video also shows expected income quintiles based on the income quintile you've been born into: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XFh_tD2RA (about a minute in)

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#122

Post by confounded »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #102

I suppose it's passe to report like this, but the irony of making this statement, "Nevertheless, the country remains enamored of these rags-to-riches tales which perpetuate the myth that, in the US, anything is possible if you pull yourself up by your bootstraps." , in a story where they are talking to someone who did exactly that means it isn't a myth is it? Myths by definition are 'not real', 'imaginary', or 'alleg…

> So this story clearly happened, it is clearly real, so it doesn't qualify as a myth.

The myth is that of social mobility (upwards and downwards) based on merit, being the primary way that society stratifies itself.

I have seen an inverse relationship between hard work and wealth within people I know, and even periods of my own life.

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#123

Post by saget »

ericd wrote: post #94
tytytytytytytyt wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Ikea has some really good furniture one could assemble themselves, too...

The only way to become wealthy is to spend less than you make. The only way to stay wealthy is to spend less than you make (and have your investments outpace inflation). One of the best ways to do that is to not inflate your lifestyle, like starting to think you're too good for things like putting together your furniture from Ikea.

Some of the wealthiest people I know are also the cheapest. The other week my gf's parents (very well off) refused to go to a clinic that their insurance didn't work at after their son cut off the tip of his finger. Took them and hour to find a place to go. It seemed absurd from my perspective to put a few hundred dollars in front of a medical emergency when you can afford a private plane, but I guess that's part of why they're rich.

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#124

Post by hkmurakami »

saget wrote: post #71
pb wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with burgers? Expensive restaurants often have really good burgers.

I think it has to do with it being a finger food and having less "class" associated with it. It's not always an issue but I have definitely received judgment for ordering a burger

Friend's father is thoroughly blue blooded and won't even eat fries with his fingers (will use a knife and fork)

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#125

Post by walshemj »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #11
gorpomon wrote: post #7

I spent a summer in NYC a few years ago. While living in NYC I did get a flavor of higher class living with some roommates of mine. It really is true that there are unspoken codes and mores to follow, and it was uncomfortable when I didn't. However, this is one issue that's hard to put solely on the foot of the rich or a broader system. Passing in many avenues, not just by class, is really deciding you want to be the…

> It really is true that there are unspoken codes and mores to follow, and it was uncomfortable when I didn't Any examples spring to mind?

In the UK its still an unspoken rule don't wear brown (shoes) in town - work in the city and you will still be looked at oddly.

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#126

Post by seszett »

specializeded wrote: post #27
seqastian wrote: post #2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_mobility#Worldwide American dream? better say in Europe.

*Canada, France, Germany, or the Nordic countries, as determined by a single study from ‘06 with race (apparently?) not taken into consideration for any of them

Race? I'm not sure what that would do here, especially since race usually doesn't change a lot between parents and their children.

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#127

Post by wmeredith »

dizzystar wrote: post #82

This article resonates with me on many levels. I went from below $10/hr to 5x that and never experienced anything in between. The struggle is huge, and I keep having to look inside myself to figure out what "my people" is supposed to mean. A huge different that's obvious to me is the language we use. I often wonder why no one's mother didn't fill the these people's mouth with dawn liquid soap and slap the child silly…

> I often wonder why no one's mother didn't fill the these people's mouth with dawn liquid soap and slap the child silly, but then I realize that honesty wasn't a life or death situation for them.

What? This is just child abuse. Please expand on what circumstances in which this considered OK?

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#128

Post by trowawee »

cryptoz wrote: post #84
trowawee wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the author of the parent comment, but my family shifted from solidly middle-class to members of the 1% over the course of a few years in the early 2000s (my teenage years) as our family business became significantly more successful. Here are some of the things I've experienced that strike me as examples of that: - Talking specifically about money (how much high-ticket items specifically cost, how much anyone spec…

That all sounds so miserable. I think I'd rather stay middle class than deal with that stuff.

I mean, there are social codes in any group. It's not unique to rich people, it's just how humans are. There are middle class equivalents to some of these. Growing up, we didn't shop at Nordstrom, but we certainly didn't shop at Goodwill. In most places, there are "middle class" grocery stores and clothing shops. It's just that, if you don't shift groups, you usually don't notice the rules and structures because you've internalized them so much. "What the hell is water?"[1] and all that.

[1]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122178211966454607

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#129

Post by coldtea »

brandonmenc wrote: post #117
trowawee wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the author of the parent comment, but my family shifted from solidly middle-class to members of the 1% over the course of a few years in the early 2000s (my teenage years) as our family business became significantly more successful. Here are some of the things I've experienced that strike me as examples of that: - Talking specifically about money (how much high-ticket items specifically cost, how much anyone spec…

> Talking specifically about money (how much high-ticket items specifically cost, how much anyone specifically makes) is gauche. This is not just a rich people rule. I grew up solidly middle class, and you could hear a pin drop if you asked someone in the room how much they were paid or how much that engagement ring cost.

That would be upper middle class.

(Not to mention in the US even coal miners would describe themselves as "middle class" these days, nobody is "working class" anymore).

Re: How does ‘class-passing’ actually work?

#130

Post by [deleted] »

gadders wrote: post #68
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It really is true that there are unspoken codes and mores to follow, and it was uncomfortable when I didn't Any examples spring to mind?

Being English is a minefield. Here's an old list but some of it still definitely applies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

[deleted]
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