Are you proud of your class background?

ntlbell · 22-07-2008 4:20pm

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I would more than likely be considered middle class. I have no strong feelings about my backround. What does bother me is other people presuming I'm a spoilt little bitch because we live in a large house and have two 07 cars. My parents may have money,

Not at all they shouldn't be assuming you're a spolit b|tch at all because the chances are the bank owns the cars and the house..:pac:

LivingDeadGirl · 22-07-2008 4:22pm

ntlbell wrote: »

Not at all they shouldn't be assuming you're a spolit b|tch at all because the chances are the bank owns the cars and the house..:pac:

No, we own our own house and cars.

stovelid · 22-07-2008 4:22pm

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I would more than likely be considered middle class. I have no strong feelings about my backround. What does bother me is other people presuming I'm a spoilt little bitch because we live in a large house and have two 07 cars. My parents may have money, but when it comes to their children, they are the cheapest people I know. I'm not bitter about what I've received from them, they raised me well enough, I never went without anything I really needed. I just get very annoyed when others presume I'm spoilt and get everything I want. There's a lot of begrudgery around I guess. :rolleyes:

You should have been around in the 80s. We always wanted to shag middle class girls when we were younger so they could buy us drinks?

LivingDeadGirl · 22-07-2008 4:24pm

stovelid wrote: »

You should have been around in the 80s. We always wanted to shag middle class girls when we were younger so they could buy us drinks?

I was born in '91

ntlbell · 22-07-2008 4:25pm

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I was born in '91

"you don't know your alive child"

phenomenon · 22-07-2008 4:27pm

There is no excuse for being poor in Ireland today, with free third level education and all. I come from a cliched working class sob-story background but it never stopped me from making something of myself. These days my accent is the only give-away of my background but I'm quite well-off due to my hard work. Have I been "promoted" to middle class?

And yes there is nothing more annoying than rich kids trying to pass themselves off as poor and from "the ghetto" to gain street cred. Finally to all those who rant about scangers hanging around street corners, how do you define a scanger? Clothes they wear? Accent? There seems to be alot of closet prejudice against the proles in Irish society. We're not all lazy, drunken, uneducated criminals.

Stabshauptmann · 22-07-2008 4:27pm

Ireland is great I think because
A)There isnt really (or if there is its tiny) a real "upper class"; and
B)There is no impediment to social mobility.

Someone born working class can go on to be a professional and the son of a TD can end up in mount joy. I honestly believe we've a country that gives everyone pretty good opportunities in life

ejmaztec · 22-07-2008 4:27pm

Terry wrote: »

Indeed.
Why else do you think there are so many big cars on the road these days?

An old Datsun Sunny used to do the same job.

I saw one of our local "Nouveau Riche" (got a big quarry), driving her brand new top of the range beemer. She had one hand on the steering wheel, whilst using one of the fingers of her other hand to go snot-hunting up one of her nostrils. Pure class? Real classy people always make certain that their bogies are sorted before they leave their mansions. :P

stovelid · 22-07-2008 4:29pm

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I was born in '91

and your parents only have 07 cars? Tsk.

Poccington · 22-07-2008 4:29pm

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I would more than likely be considered middle class. I have no strong feelings about my backround. What does bother me is other people presuming I'm a spoilt little bitch because we live in a large house and have two 07 cars. My parents may have money, but when it comes to their children, they are the cheapest people I know. I'm not bitter about what I've received from them, they raised me well enough, I never went without anything I really needed. I just get very annoyed when others presume I'm spoilt and get everything I want. There's a lot of begrudgery around I guess. :rolleyes:

Of course people are gonna begrudge you, this is Ireland :P

Most people make a judgement on what they see. So if they see your house, 2 cars and all that malarkey they're gonna say "Ah she's spoilt blah blah blah..." even though you aren't. I know folk from what would be viewed as fairly posh areas by people from where I live at least. If they were to see them they'd be on the "Rich *****, stuck up people blah blah blah..." when they're quite nice people.

Some people are just bitter these days.

ntlbell · 22-07-2008 4:30pm

phenomenon wrote: »

Have I been "promoted" to middle class?

probably not, do you have a toni and guy torres mullet?

didn't think so buddy.

Aurora Borealis · 22-07-2008 4:30pm

I'm from a pretty disadvantaged working class area and I'm proud that it makes no difference whatsoever to the people I meet or to me. I think in many respects the greatest social divider in Ireland is education but I neither condone nor condemn this.

ntlbell · 22-07-2008 4:32pm

ejmaztec wrote: »

I saw one of our local "Nouveau Riche" (got a big quarry), driving her brand new top of the range beemer. She had one hand on the steering wheel, whilst using one of the fingers of her other hand to go snot-hunting up one of her nostrils. Pure class? Real classy people always make certain that their bogies are sorted before they leave their mansions. :P

maybe she was just finishing off her bag of chit chat

Captain Darling · 22-07-2008 4:33pm

There is no such thing as a class system in Ireland. The only things that define you relative to a class system in our society are personal wealth, education, location and profession.

As far as my background is concerned i'm happy with the way i was raised and i got every chance to do what i wanted, even if i did/did not avail of those oppertunities.

Jimoslimos · 22-07-2008 4:35pm

brianthebard wrote: »

how can you claim we have a flat class structure and then immediately show that we don't?Just wanting it to be so doesn't make it so,and just knowing something is a social construct doesn't stop it from existing.

I never claimed that Ireland had a completely flat class structure, just agreed that compared to the UK its a blip (of course most of the class structure we do have, has in large part been inherited from British rule)

brianthebard · 22-07-2008 4:43pm

Jimoslimos wrote: »

I never claimed that Ireland had a completely flat class structure, just agreed that compared to the UK its a blip (of course most of the class structure we do have, has in large part been inherited from British rule)

thats all well and good but people in the uk are always claiming the don't have a class system,at least not compared to victorian society.Which is bull tbh,and as i already laid out there is a clear and highly stratified class system both hear and in the uk.

Iago · 22-07-2008 4:44pm

I'm proud of the man I've become, thanks largely to my parents influence. I spent my formative years in the inner city, before my family moved to Ballybrack. Now that I've a home of my own I'm living in Finglas. I'd like to think I'd still be the same person if I was raised in a different area, but I'll never know for sure

I'm always amused at comments I read here and from people I work with in regards to Finglas etc, the sterotypical attitude and ignorance displayed is as funny as it is wrong. Sometimes I feel like typing a response but to be honest I really couldn't care less what others think.

It would be really easy for me to take out my epenis and comment on how much money I earn and how great my life is, but ultimately none of that matters. Regardless of where you live or where you come in, despite what you earn or what you drive, all that matter is that you and those you love are happy with your lifestyle and your surroundings. After that, everything else is just details.

Johnnio13 · 22-07-2008 4:52pm

Ya can't buy class!!

Poccington · 22-07-2008 4:54pm

Iago wrote: »

I'm proud of the man I've become, thanks largely to my parents influence. I spent my formative years in the inner city, before my family moved to Ballybrack. Now that I've a home of my own I'm living in Finglas. I'd like to think I'd still be the same person if I was raised in a different area, but I'll never know for sure

I'm always amused at comments I read here and from people I work with in regards to Finglas etc, the sterotypical attitude and ignorance displayed is as funny as it is wrong. Sometimes I feel like typing a response but to be honest I really couldn't care less what others think.

It would be really easy for me to take out my epenis and comment on how much money I earn and how great my life is, but ultimately none of that matters. Regardless of where you live or where you come in, despite what you earn or what you drive, all that matter is that you and those you love are happy with your lifestyle and your surroundings. After that, everything else is just details.

Always nice to see someone else from Finglas floating about

KnifeWRENCH · 22-07-2008 4:57pm

I've never noticed class differences tbh. I grew up in the country and my parents were always able to provide for us. Although we didn't have expensive toys or the latest games consoles or holidays abroad etc, we were never ever short of food/clothes/important things.
I'm actually puzzled as to how we got on so well, because for a good number of years neither of my parents worked.

Class differences are irritating as they're based on stereotypes. Problem is, stereotypes are never without basis.
Not every upper-class person is like Ross O'Carroll Kelly and not every working class person is like Vicky Pollard. Unfortunately, it's a few toofs/scumbags that give the others a bad name.

Eoin · 22-07-2008 4:57pm

brianthebard wrote: »

as i already laid out there is a clear and highly stratified class system both hear and in the uk.

You've laid out what you think is the class structure, which I don't agree with. I think you made lots of distinctions that may be valid to the CSO, but not to people in real life.

ejmaztec · 22-07-2008 4:58pm

Of course, if money and professional qualifications were removed from the equation, there would be two classes, those with wheels on their accommodation, and those without.

HalloweenJack · 22-07-2008 5:02pm

I'm middle class. There's no pride there.

Phlann · 22-07-2008 5:02pm

I've never really given it any thought.

I do have friends who take umbrage at the fact I'm from a relatively wealthy background, which I just find endlessly amusing. I mean I couldn't give a sh1t where they came from. I'd never notice if somebody's house wasn't nice or whatever, not unless they pointed it out to me. But if you don't live in squalor you're automatically the archetypal rich-boy for the working class to rail against. :pac:

Stupid, really.

Terry · 22-07-2008 5:03pm

I'm from a council estate which is surrounded by private estates.
During the 80's, we were looked down upon by those in the surrounding estates.
We were treated as the scum of the earth.

I look back now and laugh at the crap some of those people used to say to us.
What makes it funnier is that some of their kids ended up in jail or hooked on gear or both.

Also, most of the parents of the families in the estate are still together and happily married.

Funny how people can fall for stereotypes.

Dudess · 22-07-2008 5:06pm

The people I know with the most serious drug problems are from upper middle-class backgrounds.

Phlann · 22-07-2008 5:08pm

Terry wrote: »

I'm from a council estate which is surrounded by private estates.
During the 80's, we were looked down upon by those in the surrounding estates.
We were treated as the scum of the earth.

I look back now and laugh at the crap some of those people used to say to us.
What makes it funnier is that some of their kids ended up in jail or hooked on gear or both.

Also, most of the parents of the families in the estate are still together and happily married.

Funny how people can fall for stereotypes.

The rest is fair enough but I'm not sure the bit in bold says much of anything, really.

Poorer, less educated areas (apologies, I'm not saying anything about you there) tend to be more religious. Maybe divorce/separation just isn't an option for them?

Terry · 22-07-2008 5:09pm

Phlann wrote: »

I've never really given it any thought.

I do have friends who take umbrage at the fact I'm from a relatively wealthy background, which I just find endlessly amusing. I mean I couldn't give a sh1t where they came from. I'd never notice if somebody's house wasn't nice or whatever, not unless they pointed it out to me. But if you don't live in squalor you're automatically the archetypal rich-boy for the working class to rail against. :pac:

Stupid, really.

Are you an ugly dude with a hot girlfriend?
If so, I hate you.
If not, then you should buy some of my art

ejmaztec · 22-07-2008 5:11pm

Terry wrote: »

Are you an ugly dude with a hot girlfriend?
If so, I hate you.
If not, then you should buy some of my art

Banksie - is that you?

Terry · 22-07-2008 5:12pm

Phlann wrote: »

The rest is fair enough but I'm not sure the bit in bold says much of anything, really.

Poorer, less educated areas (apologies, I'm not saying anything about you there) tend to be more religious. Maybe divorce/separation just isn't an option for them?

Did you get the happily bit?
The married bit is important too.
Some people seem to believe that council estates are full of unmarried mothers and their sponger boyfriends.

Not too many of them go to mass either.
I know this because I can see the church from my house.

Are you proud of your class background?

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