What makes someone Upper rather than Middle class?

[Max Raker]

[ QUOTE ]
Everyone would agree Oprah is upper-upper class, and the guy on the park bench is lower-lower class but where do you personally draw the lines in between?

[/ QUOTE ]

Some people would not let Oprah into the upper upper class because of her lack of an aristoratic upbringing. I think that most people in the US do not think like this though.

[FatalError]

[ QUOTE ]
as low as this sounds to some, if you make 6 figures (in USD) you are upper class, no matter where you are in the world.

some people will think this is silly but its really hard to argue that someone who has a higher income that 90-95% of world isn't upper class. Further, someone making 6 figures is easily doubling the national average.

people who make 200K and say they are middle class because they have 3 kids and they live in a very rich neighborhood where they are just average are just renaming themselves because is fashionable to be middle class in America.

EDIT: obviously I contend your class is strictly a function of wealth and income. I definitely think it is the case in any country that doesn't have apartheid or a caste system. The "cultural" definitions of class are flimsy, meaningless definitions made up by the feel-good sciences to drive conclusions that have already predetermined. ie "I think I am middle class, so any definition of middle class must have me in it, since i make 250k a year, class can't reasonably be defined by income."

[/ QUOTE ]

You're talking about keeping up with the jones where your class is only compared to those around you

[kazana]

For me, the whole upper-class is more myth than reality. It's mostly about perception.

In my home area, many people think of our family as "upper-class". I assume mainly because of our family businesses owning a fair deal of real estate, employing a sizable fraction of people in and around our home town, our family being big, and last but not least, our companies having been around for about 100 years and still run by family members. Some people even believe the family has "special rights" and can influence local politics, which is pretty much all bollocks.

Not a single family member I know of would consider him/herself upper-class. Some degen nephews and nieces of mine like to believe they're going to inherit rich some day, and try to live some high-flyer life style, but they're severely mistaken.
The last ones I could vaguely imagine thinking in terms of class were my late grand parents, but I think they saw the family more as a "dynasty" thing - with no attachment to the term upper-class, but more in the style of everyone being "family" and therefore a valuable member of society. Every now and then they'd state weird things like "Behave yourself in public. Remember you're a <Surname>".

Oh, and just for completeness' sake, my estimated net worth is around $0

[theben]

lots of factors such as:

-old money/new money
-social circle
-power/prestige
-behavours/lifestyle
-upbringing/education

very few people are "upper class", even those who bag 7 figures

[britspin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The true upper class is going to look down on the latest goober from Amazing Race.

The upper class isn't out there flaunting their new Bentley on 22's. Neither fame nor money make you upper class. It's a way of life and a style of thinking that you grow up with and it's very difficult to change.


[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. It's difficult to become upper class if you are nouveau riche. You won't be accepted because you aren't from old money, and your only chance is probably if you are a woman intent on marrying "up".

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it possible to QFT a QFT?

I'm reminded of a comment about Michael Heseltine, who was a very wealthy Conservative politician. A Tory grandee once insultingly described him as "the kind of man who bought his own furniture", (as opposed to inheriting it, natch).

This attitude is also part of the stories around why Prince William dumped his girfriend. Her parents are nouveau, and her mother allegedly used the word "toilet" and chewed gum at social events. Both are signs you're not upper class.

[tagtastic]

middle class:




upper middle class:




upper class:

[britspin]

Nope, that looks way too new.

upper class:

[luckyjimm]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The true upper class is going to look down on the latest goober from Amazing Race.

The upper class isn't out there flaunting their new Bentley on 22's. Neither fame nor money make you upper class. It's a way of life and a style of thinking that you grow up with and it's very difficult to change.


[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. It's difficult to become upper class if you are nouveau riche. You won't be accepted because you aren't from old money, and your only chance is probably if you are a woman intent on marrying "up".

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it possible to QFT a QFT?

I'm reminded of a comment about Michael Heseltine, who was a very wealthy Conservative politician. A Tory grandee once insultingly described him as "the kind of man who bought his own furniture", (as opposed to inheriting it, natch).

This attitude is also part of the stories around why Prince William dumped his girfriend. Her parents are nouveau, and her mother allegedly used the word "toilet" and chewed gum at social events. Both are signs you're not upper class.

[/ QUOTE ]


But then again, Clarke bought (rather than inherited) a castle!

[Peter Harris]

Anthropologist Kate Fox lists some of the following, off the top of my head:

calling it a "Lounge" or "Drawing Room" NOT "Sitting/Living/Front Room"

Inheriting rather than purchasing furniture

Calling it a sweet, not a dessert.
Ditto Napkin, not Serviette

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
Ditto Napkin, not Serviette

[/ QUOTE ]

Napkin is standard in the US, I dont think I've ever heard serviette used by anyone and I doubt that most Americans would even know what a serviette is.