h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Opps, that wasn't intended as a direct response to you, more a general comment on the class system..

Well, meanwhile, am I the only person who totally loves the Sopranos?

az

Della. You are middle class. Accept it. It's not a bad thing.

DIY, No!!!!!!! Bank holidays are for sitting around reading books and listening to music.
Oh, and Bouncy, I am an underemployed special needs teacher, and I too, am broke most of the time...

Saturnine, no I'm not, and yes it is.
Oh, the Sopranos. I for one, have never seen it, but it doesn't sound very interesting.

Soprano's Rocks!
Alabama3 rock!
Simpsons rock!
Bank holiday's rock!
Books rock! (when balanced precariously)
Music rocks! (hopefully)

The class system sucks though

There is a huge class system in NZ, all the worse for being totally unofficial.
Stargate SG-1 rocks.
Star Trek rocks, (in all its incarnations except Enterprise).
Babylon 5 rocks, and Crusade rocks, (or, they did, along with Dark Skies) and Buffy is okay.
Everything else sucks.
Oh, and most music that isn't Country and Western, rocks.

A girl after my own heart...

Teaching is still a profession Della, even if its not paid like one. You are a professional, and are just going to have to put up with it.

The designation of working class in the traditional sense hardly exists anymore. Maybe some illegal immigrants or some people who rent. For a start, menial manufacturing work is pretty hard to come by these days; most of it is at least semi-skilled. Secondly, most people do own houses that aren't particular squalid or falling apart, which makes it pretty hard to claim proletarian status.

Why are you guys even arguing about this?

Like most good Hootoo conversations, we've reached the 'Obligatory Topic Drift' phase where tangents occur. As to why? I have always assumed it's 'because we can'.

Ok then, back to the class system - i'm afraid it's absurd to suggest it doesn't exist because we (the proletariat) no longer live in sub-standard housing or do a particular job.
The class distinctions exist where they can do most damage - in peoples minds! They are hammered into us from the cradle to the grave by a society full of prejudices - wherever you live.
It depends therefore not on you or even your own backround or upbringing, but everyone else's. Even accepting that we are very lucky to be living in the relatively small part of the world that allows us to spend our "leisure time" in such activities that we are right now engaged in does not alter the fact that wherever in the class system we are, we each and every one of us consider it a disadvantage.
The system itself (possibly consciously designed to be - but that's another issue) seems to encourage this self-dissatisfaction - but also teaches powerlessness in the face of overwhelming odds.
All we can do is moan & grumble - the working class's lot in life.
But the words we use to do it get better.

& you're right - stargate sg1 rocks!
& so do all the other's (except i prefer enterprise to voyager)
& Buffy's cute (but ya gotta love Willow)

So, to conclude:

The masses are downtrodden but will never rise up unless they start producing some REALLY bad trashy TV that fails to remove our attention from the hopelessness of our own situations.


Did I say that the Simpson's rock too?

Hmm de hmm.

The point about manufacturing jobs being mainly semi-skilled or skilled was that it comes more under "artisan".

Admit it, you only like Willow because of the lesbian thing...

Ah, well, I rent a house which is squalid in the extreme, but Mr X is right, why are we arguing about this? It's irrelevant.

Thought it was an attempt to deny the all too abhorrent & obvious class distinctions in the world.

& it's more the vulnerability & scattiness that attracts me (pheobe in friends, for instance,....hmmmm), yet the awesome power that she can handle. Just got a thing for vulnerable yet powerful women I guess.

(That & the gay thing)

& it's only pointless if we accept the mantle that society has thrown on us.

BBITM

artisans are working class if they're employees, bourgoisie if they own their own business

Monsieur, I beg to differ, petty bourgeoisie if you will. Too counter-revolutionary to be true proletarians. Up the revolution!

BBITM

ok, I'll give you that one

So...come the Revolution, who should get the TV broadcast rights?

not C4, they've sold out