Why do people from privileged class backgrounds often misidentify their origins as working class?

[platinumsage]

But Iceland sells Vienettas nowadays so, according to some, must be middle class.

Vienettas were reclassified as working class in about 2004

 

[Sasaferrato]

Homes are being built.

Just the wrong sort.

Winchburgh is a £1 billion development encircling the historic village in West Lothian, some seven miles from Edinburgh Airport. The masterplan will create at least 3,450 homes including 700 affordable houses, 400 of which will be for social rent.

 

[Sasaferrato]

When we bought our house, it was a purely financial decision rather than a class aspiration. The mortgage payments were half that of renting a similar property so it was an easy choice. Of course this was in much saner times when anyone on a small income could secure a mortgage (& house prices to match) and 30 years on it’s all paid off. It’s first and foremost a home and it’s surreal to see what it’s currently valued at. I’d welcome a price correction if it meant we could return to a saner property market where people don’t have to work themselves to death to purchase a basic human need and right. Recent purchases in our street have largely been made by affluent London families who made huge profits selling up and find after moving North that they could easily outbid locals and push prices even further out of their reach. Despite our very modest wages and frugal ways, I’ve never felt so middle class! The joys of accidentally being born at the “right” time.

Our house is worth exactly zero to us. It isn't going to be sold until the last of us goes, so we will not benefit.

I'm seriously thinking about leaving it to our sole grandchild.

 

[A380]

Vienettas were reclassified as working class in about 2004

I can see you need more time in a re-education centre.

 

[pbsmooth]

to the answer the question, I just think it makes me seem cooler.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

seeing these workers / retired workers as the problem strikes me as going right along with the tories' divide and rule / race to the bottom / level down agenda.

Are people doing that though? Isn't it possible to say 'homeowners (of whatever class) have certain material interests' without that meaning 'these people are the enemy/problem/scumbags/whatever'? I think that's what people are trying to get at at least.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Are people doing that though? Isn't it possible to say 'homeowners (of whatever class) have certain material interests' without that meaning 'these people are the enemy/problem/scumbags/whatever'? I think that's what people are trying to get at at least.

Yep. And the problem is the system that creates those conflicting sets of interests, often coexisting and contradicting each other within the same individual or family's circumstances. That's where the 'divide and rule' comes in.

To me, this kind of analysis is attempting to do the opposite - it is identifying and stressing common interests between the majority of the population, even where certain differences may exist. The Corbynite slogan 'for the many, not the few' may have sounded trite, but I don't think it necessarily is. Seems to me to be a pretty good way to try to build a movement. After all, what we have seen over the last 40-odd years is an acceleration in wealth of a minority away from, and at the expense of, the rest of the population.

Plus of course, it is silly to have a go at individuals for making certain choices when all they were presented with was a set of rotten options and they just chose the least rotten one. I don't see anyone doing that, though.

 

[Doctor Carrot]

Vienettas were reclassified as working class in about 2004

It really did. Growing up we had a vienetta about twice a year on a Sunday and it was the most fanciest thing ever.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

It really did. Growing up we had a vienetta about twice a year on a Sunday and it was the most fanciest thing ever.

Pah, deserts you say? The closest we got to deserts were a digestive biscuit at Christmas.

 

[cesare]

It really did. Growing up we had a vienetta about twice a year on a Sunday and it was the most fanciest thing ever.

My rents made sure we had viennetta as much as possible - not on race to the bottom.

 

[JimW]

Never had one, mum made our puddings from scratch except for Angel Delight. Used to love excavating interesting landscapes in the bowl with my spoon.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

My mother could knock up amazing puddings. Her cheesecakes were lush and did actually use digestives in the base iirc.

 

[Pickman's model]

My gran made the best Swiss rolls, never had one that's matched hers

 

[JimW]

My mother could knock up amazing puddings. Her cheesecakes were lush and did actually use digestives in the base iirc.

Ooh yeah, forgot those, was remembering the bread and butter pudding and stewed fruit. She even made ice cream a few times, think it involved powdered milk.

 

[The39thStep]

Never had one, mum made our puddings from scratch except for Angel Delight. Used to love excavating interesting landscapes in the bowl with my spoon.

Best bit of the job

 

[The39thStep]

Before Vienettas there was of course the never fully defrosted Artic Roll .

 

[maomao]

My mum told me custard was meant to have some lumps in it. Even her angel delight had unmixed bits but they were nice, like the 70s version of cookie dough ice cream.

 

[cesare]

Before Vienettas there was of course the never fully defrosted Artic Roll .

Cream or icecream dilemma.

 

[xenon]

What does DotCommunist think of Vienettas these days.

 

[xenon]

My mother could knock up amazing puddings. Her cheesecakes were lush and did actually use digestives in the base iirc.

Mine too. And lemon meringue pie, rubarb crumble etc.

Weirdly I rarely eat puddings these days.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Cream or icecream dilemma.

I used to attack a bowl of ice cream with my spoon to try and partially melt it as I thought it tasted better. My sister did also. My dad would get annoyed and called it “a pig’s trick.”
Not sure what his problem was. Probably the sound of the spoons hammering against the bowls annoyed him as he was trying to watch Match of the Day or whatever.

 

[JimW]

Mine too. And lemon meringue pie, rubarb crumble etc.

Weirdly I rarely eat puddings these days.

Crumble was another staple, apple as well as rhubarb.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Crumble was another staple, apple as well as rhubarb.

And pretty cost effective given you can grow both and forage the former. There’s quite a few wild cooking apple trees in my home town. And brambles can be foraged also.

 

[Yossarian]

Vienneta's law - "Any discussion of class on Urban75, if it goes on for long enough, will eventually become a discussion of food in the '70s and '80s."

Maybe it should be "Cole's law."

 

[JimW]

And pretty cost effective given you can grow both and forage the former. There’s quite a few wild cooking apple trees in my home town. And brambles can be foraged also.

Yeah, mum was feeding four kids on a tight budget rather than being Nigella before her time.

 

[xenon]

Oh yeah apple crumble as well. Our neighbour used to give my mum a couple of bags of cooking apples every year. We had a quince tree in the garden. Was a normal suburban south London terrace house.

 

[Artaxerxes]

We had an apple tree and while I hated the filling the crumble bit was always lush. Got used to baked apples now though, maybe it was just the tree in garden.


Rhubarb can fuck off.

 

[Elpenor]

Vienetta was always a treat - usually at Boxing Day round my uncles. Doesn’t taste the same now. Probably Blair’s fault.

 

[Sue]

My gran made the best Swiss rolls, never had one that's matched hers

How did she make a Swiss roll..?

 

[andysays]

How did she make a Swiss roll..?

My Grannie always said the best way to make a Swiss roll was to push them down the Alps...