Social mobility
18/11/10 21:46![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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talkpoliticsIt has emerged that the young lady who Prince William has proposed to is a 'commoner' - but then , this is being marketed as a plus by Buckingham Palace and the Government.
Interestingly enough, her grandmother was a shop assistant, but her great grandfather was a coal miner from the north of England - ironically, he worked in one of the mines that the princes forebears used to own. Thus, in 5 generations, Catherine Middleton's family have gone from working down the coal mines to putting their daughter into Buckingham Palace and entered the Royal Family of Great Britain.
"How's that for social mobility?", some may say. Well, good for Kate and all that, but a closer look reveals that the biggest jumps in social movement occured when a daughter in the family married someone of higher social status. Also, the State Sponsored education system that produced the Grammar School has to be included in the assessment.
See, grammar schools in England worked like this - a really bright kid from a poor background, if he (and it was usually he )did really well in school, was sent to finish his education , not in a normal school, but a top noch establishment where the standard of teaching and expectations were much higher.
To be selected for grammar school was an acknowledgement that you were brighter than the rest and expected to go to uni.And, rather than being ' elitist' , they actually gave hundreds , if not thousands of poor kids a leg up into better paid jobs than what their fathers did.
But what about the girls? there were some places for them , but not so many. however, many an attractive and intelligent young woman of low social status managed to 'marry above herself' it seems.
Even so, as our correspondent in the Times observes, social mobility in England , over the last few hundred yrs has not resulted in many people going down, but plenty going up.
This is because a rather dim child of middle/ upper class background will be assisted by uncles and others, whereas a bright working class kid has to make it all on their own.
Middle England has thus become a kind of 'social car park' where many arrive and either go up or stay put.
the shifts in the economy have led to the creation of middle class jobs, but a decline in unskilled manual work - thus we now have a bloated middle class and few jobs for unskilled workers to fill.
it will be interesting what happens in coming decades, but the past real movers seem to be bright boys and pretty girls. Maybe with equal opportunities, we shall see girls becoming doctors, instead of marrying them, but the point is that if you have got the looks, or the natural raw talent toecell in sports or singing, then you have a chance to get out of the ghetto. Too bad if you don't.
I used to be anti any sort of 'privilege', but I guess that some people will always have something they themselves never had to work to get. me, , I'm a fighter- had to overcome dyslexia, shyness and a bad homelife to get where I am today. I have seen several other people go under and commit suicide, O.D on drugs and booze - and I wonder why it should be me that was blessed with the mental constitution that allowed me to go on where others gave up.
maybe we cannot legislate our way to Utopia. there will always be people who give a damn about their kids- give them the money to started, buy them their first car, or music lessons; and there will be parents who don't and can't.
Perhaps we can eliminate poverty, but not privilege.
yes, it is good that we can put a man on the moon, and a shop assistant can dream that one day, one of her great grandchildren will sit upon the Throne of England. Yet, for most people in life, this just isn't going to happen, nor will they even see their kids grow up- maybe they won't even grow up themselves, but die of a preventable disease.
Somehow, that seems like an awful waste of human potential, and for that reason , maybe social justice should be sought, and social mobility should be encouraged.
Interestingly enough, her grandmother was a shop assistant, but her great grandfather was a coal miner from the north of England - ironically, he worked in one of the mines that the princes forebears used to own. Thus, in 5 generations, Catherine Middleton's family have gone from working down the coal mines to putting their daughter into Buckingham Palace and entered the Royal Family of Great Britain.
"How's that for social mobility?", some may say. Well, good for Kate and all that, but a closer look reveals that the biggest jumps in social movement occured when a daughter in the family married someone of higher social status. Also, the State Sponsored education system that produced the Grammar School has to be included in the assessment.
See, grammar schools in England worked like this - a really bright kid from a poor background, if he (and it was usually he )did really well in school, was sent to finish his education , not in a normal school, but a top noch establishment where the standard of teaching and expectations were much higher.
To be selected for grammar school was an acknowledgement that you were brighter than the rest and expected to go to uni.And, rather than being ' elitist' , they actually gave hundreds , if not thousands of poor kids a leg up into better paid jobs than what their fathers did.
But what about the girls? there were some places for them , but not so many. however, many an attractive and intelligent young woman of low social status managed to 'marry above herself' it seems.
Even so, as our correspondent in the Times observes, social mobility in England , over the last few hundred yrs has not resulted in many people going down, but plenty going up.
This is because a rather dim child of middle/ upper class background will be assisted by uncles and others, whereas a bright working class kid has to make it all on their own.
Middle England has thus become a kind of 'social car park' where many arrive and either go up or stay put.
the shifts in the economy have led to the creation of middle class jobs, but a decline in unskilled manual work - thus we now have a bloated middle class and few jobs for unskilled workers to fill.
it will be interesting what happens in coming decades, but the past real movers seem to be bright boys and pretty girls. Maybe with equal opportunities, we shall see girls becoming doctors, instead of marrying them, but the point is that if you have got the looks, or the natural raw talent toecell in sports or singing, then you have a chance to get out of the ghetto. Too bad if you don't.
I used to be anti any sort of 'privilege', but I guess that some people will always have something they themselves never had to work to get. me, , I'm a fighter- had to overcome dyslexia, shyness and a bad homelife to get where I am today. I have seen several other people go under and commit suicide, O.D on drugs and booze - and I wonder why it should be me that was blessed with the mental constitution that allowed me to go on where others gave up.
maybe we cannot legislate our way to Utopia. there will always be people who give a damn about their kids- give them the money to started, buy them their first car, or music lessons; and there will be parents who don't and can't.
Perhaps we can eliminate poverty, but not privilege.
yes, it is good that we can put a man on the moon, and a shop assistant can dream that one day, one of her great grandchildren will sit upon the Throne of England. Yet, for most people in life, this just isn't going to happen, nor will they even see their kids grow up- maybe they won't even grow up themselves, but die of a preventable disease.
Somehow, that seems like an awful waste of human potential, and for that reason , maybe social justice should be sought, and social mobility should be encouraged.
(no subject)
Date: 18/11/10 22:11 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 18/11/10 23:22 (UTC)She had no title then , but her father was a Major in the army ( and army officers tend to be wealthy men )
In Britain, we have a curious custom called 'primogeniture' - this means that thenobility 9 who once held all the land, and therefore the main source of wealth) left the title to the eldest son.
now, this meant that the younger sons of the duke/ earl/ baron of whatever had to make their own way in the world. being as they had some money from dad to help out, they usually went into things like law, the army, or some other profession.
this meant that the aristocracy, if they needed a doctor, solicitor or whatever could call upon an uncle to help out - hence, we find that Camilla was not *born 8 into the aristocracy, but is a decendant of that class, and soon made her own way back into the same class by marrying the Prince of Wales.
Basically, the Upper Class of England owned the country, the Upper Middle class ran it, and were usually the younger relatives and descendants of the younger relatives of the Dukes and Earls.
Your lower middle class types could be anyone from rising working class lads to younger sons of dukes who hit on hard times.
But the people who got turfed out of their farming hovels made straight for the factories of the Industrial Revolution. Still, it is possible, if you are bright enough to go from the pits to the palace in 5 generations, it seems. camilla got back where she belongs, and everyone loves a happy ending- except the SWP who hate the system that keeps them in cushy jobs !