certainly people everywhere would like to be better off (than
they/others are); it's a *preoccupation with making it a matter of
category that seems strange to me -- especially since class-ness is
not obvious at all here, the categorisation is subtle to the point of
it feeling like a figment of my imagination. it might be. but there's
something that cannot be denied, especially in context of bettering
oneself intellectually, constantly learning about the world,
discovering languages everywhere: it's all regulated, more & more, by
money. get a good job, find the paycheck. "if you learn something on
the way, good for you". no no. I'd rather be fully rounded,
'polytropos', first and THEN maybe look at cashing in.
naïve. I'll see the error of my ways yet,, there must be a balance.
KS
2008/5/26 judy prince <[log in to unmask]>:
> Fascinating!
>
> Well, now, K, wanting to be "upper class" (again, wotever that means
> precisely!) seems a universal desire! Folks generally want wotever those
> who're "better off" have. Has that ever been different anywhere? I doubt
> it.
>
> I'm still confused about the term "working class". The impression I'm
> getting from mostly socialist analyses is that those who've not gone to a
> university are considered "working class", whether they're making as much
> money---or more---as/than the "middle class" (which I'd always figured was a
> working class!).
>
> I'd like to get more of a feel for wot those in other countries than mine
> (USAmerica) regard as their "working class"---and have the term denoted as
> well as connoted, as you have done here.
>
> Judy
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> "I can't read my library card." Jeff Hecker, Norfolk, VA, USA
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "kasper salonen" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008 6:04 PM
> Subject: Re: New beats (???)
>
>
> 2008/5/25 judy prince <[log in to unmask]>:
>>
>> Anybody out there willing to define, describe---specify---wot "working"
>> class means to them, to any of us, to UK'ers, to USAmericans, to
>> Australians, to Italians, to Finns?
>
> hm. to finns (to ME), it's the idealistic, honest, semi-socialist,
> not-quite-actual remnant of tougher times, when it was real people who
> put the 'work' in 'working class'. if struggling finances were enough
> to designate people as working class, every student I know would be;
> despite the 'high education' we're getting for free.
>
> the term working class (työväenluokka) is one of the most vividly
> antiquated finnish words I can imagine. to use it negatively is a
> massive faux pas, to use it positively is tongue-in-cheek.
>
> I get the feeling that most finns want to be upper class, & it
> aggravates me no damn end.
>
> KS
>
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