Those Red Letter Day peeps eventually called me back (1 week late tsk!) to tell me the dates were available for the stop-smoking clinic.
No sooner had I checked, but the first available date was 4th July.
Thanks.
Another 5 weeks.
Life
Going to be away for a week or so, so not sure how much blogging will get done (if any).
Philosophies
Class
Read an interesting article on the Wrinkled Weasel blog the other day which got the old grey matter churning. http://wrinkledweasel.blogspot.com/2009/05/feted-underclass-that-deserves-nothing.html
As with my usual approach to such thinking, I start at the beginning.
An interesting WIKI on the subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class
A direct quote from the WIKI (OK, it is a WIKI so open to interpretation)
"In societies where classes exist, one's class is determined largely by:
- personal or household per capita income or wealth / net worth, including the ownership of land, property, means of production, etc.
- occupation
- education and qualifications
- family background "
"If viewed as a hierarchy a current model would be as follows (below is only a basic model, as factors such as home, attitudes, clothing, speech, and mannerisms affect the basic assessment of reputation, education and position)
- Upper class: Generally holders of titles of nobility and their relatives, some with substantial inherited wealth. Men will almost always speak with the distinctive accent of the most famous of Britain's schools, such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester: it is practically impossible to join this class after childhood.
- Upper middle class: Generally professionals or businesspeople with both good university degrees and professional qualifications, usually with a public school education. A significant proportion of their wealth is often from inheritance, but with earnings this class has the richest and most successful people
- Middle class: Similar to the upper middle class but usually from a less establishment-based background and education. Generally professionals or businesspeople with a university degree, perhaps from a "new university". Will normally own their own home and earn well above the national average.
- Lower middle class: May not hold a university degree but works in a white collar job and will earn just above the national average.
- Upper working class: Generally does not hold a university degree and works in skilled or well experienced role such as supervisor, foreman, or skilled trade such as plumber, electrician, joiner, tool-maker, train driver.
- Working class: Generally has low educational attainment and works in a semi-skilled or unskilled blue collar occupation, in fields such as industrial or construction work. Some examples would be a drill press operator, car assembler, welding machine operator, lorry driver, fork-lift operator, docker, or production labourer. Disappearing fast due to de-industrialisation and automation.
- Lower working class: Generally works in low/minimum wage occupations, such as cleaner, shop assistant, bar worker. Often eyou must certainly buy into a concept of public and private moralitymployed in the personal service industry.
- Underclass: Reliant on state benefits for income, described by Marx as the lumpenproletariat. "
So why am I quoting WIKI's etc? Bit bl**dy boring?
Well, there was a line in the Weasel's post that caught my eye.
"you must certainly buy into a concept of public and private morality"
Given the start of this blog, rights,wrongs, morals, ethics yadda yadda an interesting subject to think & write about.I'd like to turn the whole thing on it's head and state that true class is based on morality and nothing more.
My logic for this is quite simple.
You can only truly "get on" in the world if you have a strong moral base (or knowledge of right from wrong, whatever you wish to call it).
I suppose it might be the "good triumphs over evil" lark again.
I'm sure many critics would tear this argument apart, but let me continie my reasoning.....in the morning
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