This article covers a simple paradox about class, and defines

classlessness

as the state of being in which one does not identify onself with any particular class as used in the vernacular.

The paradox of class

One of the principal difficulties with class as a useful concept to some is that, depending on one's social background, there may be different models for what many call the class system. Those who recognise this difficulty claim that there is no such thing as this class system, or at least that it is a misnomer, if only because it is so unsystematic. This can be ascertained by asking people which class they see themselves as and how they view others. Typically, in English society, the results would be: :
  • Upper Class people, e.g. aristocrats, traditionally refer merely to The Lower Classes, without making any distinction between people who are not aristocrats, i.e. they operate in a two-class model :
  • Working Class people, similarly, traditionally refer merely to 'toffs', i.e. anyone who isn't working class, and also operate in a two-class system, but a different one from Upper Class people :
  • Middle Class people, in contrast, recognise Upper Class and Working Class, perhaps on the same bases as people who claim to belong to each, but in addition, draw distinctions between the Upper Middle and Lower Middle classes (or even introduce the notion of Middle Middle Class, for anyone they feel doesn't fall into any of the other categories), i.e. they operate from a 4- or 5-class perspective. From this observation one can argue that class cannot be objectively measured, since any definition is coloured by the perspective of the speaker. It hence becomes impossible to reach a consensus model. It can be argued that this inherent ambiguity in class is one of the reasons why it can be divisive if class myths endure.

    Class Consciousness

    Class may be a useful idea for academics, particularly economists (in order to grade society and historians (who may analyse events in terms of class struggle, but in terms of how people identify themselves today, it is seen by some as an outmoded concept. Therefore, as inequalities in society reduce, there are an proportionately more people who cease to fit into class stereotypes. It is held that ''class consciousness'' is itself the only fact of class, and once people are liberated from hide-bound views of class they are by definition classless.

    Embourgeoisement Thesis

    Proponents of ''classlessness'', which was debated as the ''embourgeoisement thesis'' in the 1950s, argue that as middle_class values become more prevalent, marginalising the elitism of the upper classes and the inferiority_complex of the working classes, there is a tendency for everyone to become middle class, or at least all of the same class, resulting effectively in a state of classlessness. Proponents also claim that it is reactionary to cling to outmoded class concepts, and that social policy should pursue classlessness as a means of removing discrimination. Such policies also can be targeted to undermine those who aim to cause unrest or even revolution on so-called class grounds. A position is also taken by some people that movement in Britain at the end of the 20th Century reflected politicians setting an agenda to appeal to classless people.

    An irony

    Marxian economics claims that it will only be after the abolition of capitalism that true classlessnees will be possible. Contemporary evidence is that collapsed communist regimes have left behind a legacy of poverty that effectively introduces a new underclass of poor unemployed people who depend on investment from their classless neighbours.
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