Critically evaluate the claim that Britain is now a classless society Essay

Critically evaluate the claim that Britain is now a classless society - Essay Example The unique fair answer to claim of Dr. Goebbels that England and remains the country of "two nations", would be a recognition, that in practice there are three of them. But feature of English class distinctions is not in their injustice, but in their anachronism. They do not quite precisely coincide with the borders of economic distinctions. It is accepted to classify a modern society according to three parameters: the upper class that is bourgeoisie, middle class, that is petty bourgeoisie, and working class, that is proletariat (Abercrombie, 2001). England remains the one of last countries clinging external forms of feudalism. New titles are kept and are constantly established; the chamber of lords, basically consisting of hereditary peers, possesses real powers. At the same time in England there is no real aristocracy. Racial distinctions, on which the aristocracy is based, were erased already by the end of the Middle Ages, and the well-known medieval families practically have already disappeared (Abercrombie, 2001). It is interesting to note that the sharp line, not financial, but cultural, runs inside of middle class, separating those who aspires to a secular way of life, from the others. To standard measures everyone among the capitalist and living for the week salary can be in a crowd ranked as petty bourgeoisie. That is the farmer, the responsible official, the lawyer, the priest, the bank-worker, the enterprising contractor and the fisherman are enlisted in the same class. Anybody, who pays even least attention to class distinctions, will place the officer with the revenue in 1 000 pounds above on a public ladder, than shop-assistance with the revenue in 2 000 pounds. The similar distinctions exist even among the upper classes: It appears that more honour is given to the titled person, than to the untitled one, but richer. In practice the people of middle class are