This isn't about upper class society, it's about middle class society.
The toffs don't give a toss about respectability. They're automatically respectable. That's why you get, say, Prince Harry punching photographers and showing up at a fancy dress party in a Nazi uniform.
The middle classes, on the other hand, are desperate to be respectable. Sometimes they're confused about exactly what that means, but that just makes them even more desperate to get it right. And pointing out your neighbors' failures is always the best way of hiding your own insecurity.
And that's life in the respectable suburbs, in a nutshell.
I think Americans don't get the upper/middle distinction, but it doesn't really matter, because the American suburban middle class still seems to act the same way.
@falcotron bravo! Too many people “miss” that part, that the real “enemy” is their own grasping neighbors! Americans “get” it, but don’t have a clue what it actually MEANS.
@falcotron bravo! Too many people “miss” that part, that the real “enemy” is their own grasping neighbors! Americans “get” it, but don’t have a clue what it actually MEANS.
This isn't about upper class society, it's about middle class society.
The toffs don't give a toss about respectability. They're automatically respectable. That's why you get, say, Prince Harry punching photographers and showing up at a fancy dress party in a Nazi uniform.
The middle classes, on the other hand, are desperate to be respectable. Sometimes they're confused about exactly what that means, but that just makes them even more desperate to get it right. And pointing out your neighbors' failures is always the best way of hiding your own insecurity.
And that's life in the respectable suburbs, in a nutshell.
I think Americans don't get the upper/middle distinction, but it doesn't really matter, because the American suburban middle class still seems to act the same way.
@falcotron bravo! Too many people “miss” that part, that the real “enemy” is their own grasping neighbors! Americans “get” it, but don’t have a clue what it actually MEANS.
@falcotron bravo! Too many people “miss” that part, that the real “enemy” is their own grasping neighbors! Americans “get” it, but don’t have a clue what it actually MEANS.