Class Structure

Politically prohibited is the notion that Class Structure still  exists in contemporary Canadian society. 

                                 The 1960's Classes:

Upper Class  Topped by Royalty and Aristocracy once, now plus the .1% &1%  

Middle Class       Upper : Could live as well as the Upper Class

Middle Class       Lower: Could be very close to Working Class

Working Class    Tradesmen and union men and salesmen.

Underclass          Unemployed and under employed and poorly paid

The difference between life in the Upper and Lower Middle Classes was a great difference. Many people thought they were in a class higher than the one they were living in. 

The Upper Classes are probably even more up there as more    comfort and luxury are widely available to them.

The Lower Middle Class is still a great place to live as long as  one is not swindled or loses ones livelihood.

The Working Class is crumbling in contemporary society.

Working Class was once a more productive and financially robust Class. I said about Vancouver's 21st and Fraser area "once this neighbourhood was full of ordinary working class families who owned their own houses". In addition ordinary working men could purchase new automobiles. There were many more amenities that were attainable for the working class. Now there is luxury beyond what was available in the past but there is less ownership of real assets and there is  debt as well. Canadians are the most indebted people on Earth.

I Drunky Cocamo in my economic lectures state that the Working Class has been done in by credit swindlers with Credit Cards, long Finance Contracts  and division of Family Assets by Divorce. Partaking in Alcohol, Drugs and Gambling are more damaging Working Class eroding factors. Wages may be lower now than they should be to provide as good a living and property ownership as workers enjoyed in the past due to more pay and profit taking at the top for stockholders and Executives.

                                       The Underclass

 

The Underclass is a rotten place to live. Unhealthy and dangerous with little economic mobility or opportunity for education for young people and poverty for old people. Authorities are suspicious, disciplinarian and uncaring towards Underclass people. There is loss of self esteem and poverty and the loss of the uplifting of the psyche through achievement. 

People are soured by this unhappy and frustrating existence and react sometimes against others whom they perceive are not suffering as they in the Underclass are suffering. Lindon has been attacked and ripped off and defamed by members of the Underclass who thought he had it too good and he should be hampered or arrested or have his business shut down or have his assets seized. "It is horrific" Lindon says, "to have the Police sent to your business or home as the Underclass lashes out. It is terrifying to be defamed so authorities attempt to punish you." 

The Underclass spreads their suffering around fulfilling their economic needs and assuaging the powerlessness they experience. The noxious mindset and actions condoned or created by Underclass resentment can continue even after economic conditions have improved to a comfortable level for those persons.

The needs of the Underclass and their reaction against privilege and comfort cause persons from the respectable classes to be fearful of and hostile towards the Underclass. This particular phenomenon creates a bad situation for honest hardworking members of the Underclass. Lindon and I have both lived in the Underclass and  encountered  prejudice and disenfranchisement judged by our old cars and old shoes and old clothes. Underclass persons, as Lindon was perceived and as disposable income would indicate he was Underclass, are treated as if they do not matter and it does not matter what happens to them or their property or prospects.

There are many processes whereby The Underclass or The Poor  can be precipitated to an even lower condition. If you are injured in an accident, the insurance company will try to not compensate you properly or at all. Then you fall to the bottom of the Underclass. Seizure and repossession and eviction can smash the bit of comfort there is in the Underclass. Fear and loathing in the Respectable Classes triggers and creates immense damage in the Underclass.