Different types of class among people

[The X-Factor]

This topic should generate some interesting replies. I was out with my friend Sam Saturday night and over dinner with some other friends we started talking about the different types of class of people and their values. We narrowed it down to 4 types of classes with different values for the most part and before I post these I want to say that in no way shape form or fassion is this 100% correct and only discussion among friends. Feel free to share your thoughts as well.

Upper Class - They value money and personal belongings. I dont really think that family is very important because a lot of people that fall in this have your typical exec type jobs and things to that sort.

Middle Class - I think this is where a lot of people fall in here. Not your poor type folks but they work a 9-5 type job and come home to family. Belongings arent everything but important and money isnt everything to them.

Lower Class - This is where the discussion got interesting. These types of people, in our opinion, were the ones who cared about friends and family more than anything simply because they dont have nice things and often times let themselves go. They live in poor neighborhoods, smoke and do drugs.

This last one we thought of because of the whole Pacman Jones thing and we were like this is a whole other level here.

Gang Class - We started talking about Pacman for a minute and I was like why the hell would he go out and do those kinds of things when he is making that kinda money. Everyones reply was along the lines of maybe he is in a gang and since he has money (this falls under lower class) he has to take care of his friends and if he tries to get out and straighten up then maybe he would be killed.

Now I know this is by no means 100% complete or accurate but I thought it would get some good discussion going here so lets see what the rest of you think.

X

[Colt McCoy]

These descriptions are absolutely asinine. I think whoever came up with this is completely clueless. These generalizations are completely retarded. Implying that people's wealth and their level of caring about family is correlated like this is just dumb.

[MaxPower]

I hope you are kidding.

[The X-Factor]

All,

Unfortunatly I am not kidding. Most of this was from my friend telling me what he thought and me and a few others listening and throwing in something every now and then but if you think about it, its pretty interesting on many levels. Sure this doesnt apply to every person but where I live some of this does hold pretty true to a certain extent. I'm not saying I support it or agree with it but I think its interesting fwiw and I knew before I posted it that people would get on me for it but I like controversy and I like good discussion so if you share another opinion then post it.

X

[Hey_Porter]

Yea, this is messed up. You've GOT to have an upper-middle class, and a lower-middle class, blah blah blah. I don't even know where to start with your totally inaccurate generalizations.

[Hey_Porter]

There's a difference between saying something controversial, and saying something that's just plain stupid.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
Now I know this is by no means 100% complete or accurate

[/ QUOTE ]

no man, I think you pretty much nailed it. the only possible thing is that you may want to add in the Jewish class.

also, in before

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6e/Lost-locke.jpg/250px-Lost-locke.jpg

[Dids]

Utterly horrible, and the bit about "gang class" is just extra stupid and offensive.

The only real conclusion I can draw is that you've got very stupid friends.

Twice I've tried to type up something refuting all of them, but it just isn't worth my time, as anybody who doesn't see the flaws in these definitions instantly isn't really worthy of conversation.

[The X-Factor]

I think its pretty funny how you will take the time to write up a response saying something is stupid/off base or wrong but yet wont take the time to come up with something any better to prove your point. Again, I'm not the one who came up with this and mainly my motivation behind the post is simply to be able to comeback to him and say maybe you're wrong and here is why because I know there are a lot more people here that know more about this stuff than myself. Although in the OP some of the stuff seems off base or even out of line some of it does hold true to a certain point if you think about it. As of yet no one has been able to say anything other than my friends logic is stupid, so prove it wrong.

X

[Kneel B4 Zod]

X,
People aren't replying seriously b/c the points raised are too ludicrous and dumb to discuss intelligently.

Upper Class people don't think family is important?? wtf?? b/c people are rich they don't care about their kids?

some middle class people value belongings but others don't? ok. what do you want to discuss here?

lower class families don't want to be rich? they care about families b/c they have nothing else going on? what about the orphans who have no family? what do they care about?

it seems the whole argument is built around 'money is the opposite of caring about family', which is so dumb that it might as well have been published in the Forbes magazine sports section. there is no debate to be had.

[DCopper04]

I recommend you read Class by Paul Fussell.

[Dids]

X,

I wasn't kidding when I said

"Twice I've tried to type up something refuting all of them, but it just isn't worth my time, as anybody who doesn't see the flaws in these definitions instantly isn't really worthy of conversation."

The opinions your friends have are based on amazingly stupid generalizations and assumptions. The flaws in reasoning are so basic that most intelligent folk are going to reject them on face value.

Asking us to teach you psych, soc and phil 101 is a bit much, and it's in classes like that where you learn the very basics of reasoning that would point out the flaws in that list.

Short answer: If you ever find yourself generalizing across a wide group of people about what motivates and dries them, you're very likely going to be wrong.

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
I think its pretty funny how you will take the time to write up a response saying something is stupid/off base or wrong but yet wont take the time to come up with something any better to prove your point.

[/ QUOTE ]
I did the same thing. The problem was that this is so stupid it's hard to even begin debating it.

[ QUOTE ]
I know there are a lot more people here that know more about this stuff than myself.

[/ QUOTE ]
A lot of people know more about something that's completely idiotic than you do? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Although in the OP some of the stuff seems off base or even out of line some of it does hold true to a certain point if you think about it.

[/ QUOTE ]
No. It really doesn't.

[ QUOTE ]
As of yet no one has been able to say anything other than my friends logic is stupid, so prove it wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]
There's really nothing more to say other than it's just stupid. Is 2+2=5? No. That's wrong. No one should need to give you a mathematical proof for you to see it's retarded.

[Evan]

You: "Rich people don't love their families as much because they have important jobs"

How is someone supposed to "prove" that wrong?

[keikiwai]

this is super silly and shows you didn't think for more than 5 seconds about each class

i'll think for 6 seconds

upper class: there are several families that are wealthy because wealth is passed along within the family.... i would wager that to the patriarchs and matriarchs of these families, family is often VERY important...... also in general, i don't understand where the family is not important is coming from... examples? anything?

lower calss: let's be poor and care about friends and family.... oh how romantic! i mean you're just romaticizing things... oh and let's do drugs too.

oh... time's up, that was 7 seconds

anyway..... i guess you're just young and have a lot to learn about life. have you ever interacted with people who have more or less money than you?

also, if you gain money in life, do you start caring less about family, and if you lose money do you start caring more?



[/ QUOTE ]

also, equating class with money is very democratic of you (no not the political party)........... i'm sure a lot of broke aristocrats would throw up at the thought, and the noveau riche would applaud it... but that's a whole other can of worms

[Hey_Porter]

It's like a Bruce Springsteen song.

[econophile]

x,

for starters, look over this wiki article: link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class)

i will quote two relevant passages.

US class structure

[ QUOTE ]
The social structure of the United States is a vaguely defined concept which includes several commonly used term that use educational attainment, income and occupational prestige as the main determinants of class. While it is possible to create dozens of social classes within the confines of American society, most Americans employ a six or five class system. The most commonly applied class concepts used in regards to contemporary American society are:[6]

Upper class; Those with great influence, wealth and prestige. Members of this group tend to act as the grand-conceptualizers and have tremendous influence of the nation's institutions.
Upper middle class; The upper middle class consists of white collar professionals with advanced post-secondary educational degrees and comfortable personal incomes. Upper middle class professionals have large amounts of autonomy in the workplace and therefore enjoy high job satisfaction. In terms of income and considering the 15% figure used by Thompson, Hickey and Gilber, upper middle class professionals earn roughly $62,500 or more and tend to reside in households with six figure incomes.[3][6][11]
(Lower) middle class; Semi-professionals, non-retail salespersons and craftsmen who have some college education. Out-sourcing tends to be a prominent problem among those in this class who often suffer from a lack of job security.[6][12] Households in this class may need two income earners to make ends meet and therefore may have household incomes rivaling the personal incomes of upper middle class professionals such a attorneys.[12]
Working class; According to some experts such Micheal Zweig, this class may constitute the majority of Americans and include those otherwise referred to as lower middle.[13] It includes blue as well as white collar workers who have relatively low personal incomes and lack college degrees with many being among the 45% of Americans who have never attended college.[6]
Lower class; This class includes the poor, alienated and marginalized members of society. While most individuals in this class work, they commonly drift in and out of poverty throughout the year.

[/ QUOTE ]

more on the middle class

[ QUOTE ]
Today in the US there are multiple theories as to what constitutes the middle class. As the vast majority of Americans identify as being middle class, the term has been used to describe people from all walks of life, from janitors to attorneys.[1][2] As a result the middle class is often sub-divided into two or three groups. While one set of theories state the middle class to be composed of those in the actual middle of the social strata, other theories state the middle class to be composed of professionals, managers who have a college degree.[3] In 2005 roughly 35% of Americans worked in the professional/professional support or managerial field and 27% had a college degree.[4] Sociologist such as Dennis Gilbert or Joseph Hickey argue that the middle class is divided into two sub-groups. The upper middle class consists of white collar professionals with advanced educations and constitutes roughly 15% of the population. In 2005 the top 15% of income earners (age 25+) had incomes exceeding $62,500.[5] The lower middle class (or middle-middle class for those who divide the middle class into three segments) consists of other mostly white collar employees with less autonomy in their work, lower educational attainment, lower personal income and less prestige than those of the upper middle class. Sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert, James Henslin, William Thompson and Joseph Hickey have brought forth class models in which the middle class is divided into two section who combined constitute 47% to 49% of the population.

[/ QUOTE ]

[chisness]

edit: econophile posted this 8 minutes earlier