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Originally Posted by demonrail666

One of the most interesting things to have come out of this election for me are the very cultural distinctions you mention between Europe and the US. Certainly within Britain, and I'd assume much of the rest of Europe, the term 'working class' is treated very much as a badge of honour. Even those who fall firmly within the 'middle class' bracket tend to look desperately for some kind of way in which they can describe themselves as 'working class'. To describe oneself as a socialist however is now less popular than it was, although even in that case i believe Europe is far more sympathetic to its tenets than is the case in the US. And so while I'm reluctant to say that Obama's refusal to use the word is a purely sematic one, I do acknowledge the potential cost to his campaign were he to start talking freely about the 'working class'. (And no, 'Joe the Plumber' wouldn't be described, in Britain at least, as being a part of the 'middle class'.)

yep. americans are like the waiters as described by orwell in "down and out in paris and london". he said that waiters were terrible prospects for the communist party because they didn't hate the rich, instead they looked at the fatcats they were feeding and thought "that could be me". so this is the reason why the rich aren't hated in america, they are even considered virtuous, and that's also why an unlicensed plumber can be a symbol of the self-appointed "middle class".

anyway... 1 month 16 days and 7+ hours until bush is gone!!!!