Weekly Poll Lowdown

After passing the scones and then declaring trouble down tut Mill the #ThingsElliottSays poll is now closed. Most of you have declared yourself to be middle class. I am also pleased to announce that 11% of my readers are members of the royal family, so everyone better be upstanding for the Queen.

Equally 4% of you believe yourself to be lower class, I didn't realise so many scandalous MPs like Dennis Mc Shame read #ThingsElliottSays. 18% of those who answered the poll are comrades in arms, solidarity comrade.

What Class are You?

Upper Class	11%
Middle Class	46%
Working Class	18%
Lower Class	4%
I Do Not Believe in Class	20%

Total votes: 157

I did this poll after seeing hundreds of people answering questionnaires on Facebook asking what class they are. Politics and class are somewhat linked in Britain so I thought it would be a interesting question to ask #ThingsElliottSays' readers where they would put themselves on the ladder of Great British society. John Prescott famously claimed 'we are all middle class now', clearly the majority of you didn't think  he was correct.

Two Jags is wrong, according to #ThingsElliottSays readers.

Personally I don't really get class, unless you're a blood relative of the Queen (the Queen is special and all those who disagree should be sent to the Tower). People interact with each other because they're friends or work together rather than because they travel in different social circles. The idea of class doesn't really seem to work because people just see people as well other people. You're judged on your characteristics rather than some unwritten social law.  

The Queen is very happy with #ThingsElliottSays

What really defines people now is economics*, rather than snootiness, and I think this is for the better. People's lives are now decided by how much value they put on things. That might be money but in most cases its friends, family and general life happiness. But importantly with this it's your choice. You choose what you want to be/do in your life and you cannot be constrained by some sort of system which stops you from achieving what you want so long as you put your own effort into it.

Of course the previous paragraph is fairly idealistic, there are several blocks to having everyone being able to fully control their lives. There is the fact that our education system until very recently hasn't been fit for purpose in making everything easy and catering for everyone, yet no one, at the same time. There's government action which despite often having high hopes of looking after people often does the opposite and constrains. This would explain how a large proportion of people on benefits are trapped just above the poverty line. There's also those who don't actually like the idea of getting rid of a class system, these are generally left-wingers who just want to keep the people in their place, see Poly Toynbee or Owen Jones that back a system of mass poverty with a few bastards like them at the top.

Oppressor!

So as you can probably tell I'm not really big into class, there is no point to it and it doesn't allow for people to be happy. But let's be realistic and say that although there is no class system anymore in the UK there are definite blocks to a classless society.

Vote in the new poll on the sidebar.

Want a classless society? Back Margaret not Marx.

* Economics is about people putting values on things not just counting money; a lot of the time it's about emotions.