Social Climbing and Kates family

[GabbyLoggon]

Kate Middletons family must be top of the league in respect of Social Climbing...

Lets make it more personal than royal

My Family? A big one, there are just 2 of us who were bone fide Social Climbers.

How are your tribe doing?

I assume the first step towards moving into a different class is by getting your kids in private prep school

How about social descenders? well, the author who wrote 1984, went to Eton and down the mines.

You can feel sorry for whomever you pleased. I stated that I do not feel sorry for KM, but for women whose circumstances are dire and very largely out of their control.

She chose this knowing full well what it entials.

I think it is terrifically sad if the purpose of education is to just for it to lead to paid employment-why not education for the sheer joy of it?

'why not education for the sheer joy of it?'

Because it really sucks to live in poverty.

education for sake of it is v middle class concept,like collecting baubles or trinkets.something to mention at dinner party.oh yes when i did my degree....

by time fees and graduate taxes are applied many poor people wont be able to educate for sake of it.not that they really ever did

my take is i would hope education leads to an application of the learning and yes that is largely through paid employment

Nah, education for the sake of it is what makes life worth living. Living inside your own head. :)

i dont think incurring student debt for sake of it is v good idea.but of course there is emotional social and experiential educational experiences that enhance one.all for that kind of education

'Living inside your own head.'

Too bad if it doesn't put a roof over that head or food in the belly that's attached to it.

agree.usually education is about increasing one earning power.putting food in the fridge

'education for sake of it is v middle class concept,like collecting baubles or trinkets.something to mention at dinner party.oh yes when i did my degree....'

Disagree with that.

If you think education is all about showing off at dinner then you obviously haven't had one.

I disagree with Framey. I'm one of those who was taught to pursue education as an end in itself.

I would not wish the poverty we live in on my children.

Therefore I have drilled into their heads, and do so at every turn, that its purpose is first and foremost to hopefully give them skills with which they can well feed and house themselves and that is its greatest value.

Because in my world, it is. All education - schools, learning to grow food, to make and mend clothes, to find their bearings in the outdoors, to learn what they can eat and what to avoid, to prepare food, to keep things clean. In our world, and in the world to come, these things will be vital for many more even here.

We cannot afford them the luxury of anything else.

Fewer and fewer will be able to.

This is how it is in most places in the world, over most of time. It is only for those who are quite wealthy for it to be otherwise.

I agree with you expat but it is possible to be enriched by education for the sake of it and also work and earn a living in a more mundane way.
In my field of work I'm constantly learning and I find that very rewarding. Although I'm not going to earn any more money I still want to continue to study.

ont think i'll berate self whether or not ive attended proper dinner party or not

i did vocational degrees leading to professional qualification specifically because i wanted it, and to be able to be solvent and pay my way

drummed into me was education as the way up and out. not a just because.a tangible investment and career choice that would give me financial security my parents never had.and to never be dependent upon anyone else

Life is an educational process, Framey. But for most, and for many more now and soon to come, formal education is a means to improve one's survival and comfort by being better able to source paid employment.

A skill or set of skills one trades for means of sustenance, even if that skill is educating others .

I'm definately downwardly mobile!

I agree with both expat and scottishmummy, it's the way up and out and it's the way to earn your sustenance. I just believe it's something else too, but I'm too tired and have drunk too much wine to explain myself properly.
:)

''why not education for the sheer joy of it?'

Because it really sucks to live in poverty'

I don't think there is any danger of Kate Middleton living in poverty because she hasn't used her education for paid employment! I actively encourage my DCs to use their education to get a job that gives them job satisfaction rather than high pay. You only get one life so you might as well spend it doing something that you really enjoy. (Of course if you can get high paid and enjoyment it is a huge bonus!)

'I don't think there is any danger of Kate Middleton living in poverty because she hasn't used her education for paid employment! '

I never made any mention of Kate's education on this thread, so it goes to follow my post was in response to that of Framey's nearly directly under that post, as the thread went off topic.

I don't know anything about Kate's education and don't really give a toss about it.

The thread went off topic by the time I made that statement.

You quoted my statement expat and my statement was about KM.

I actively tell my children to use my life as a warning to what happens to those who do not use what they have to make money.

It's in no way satisfying to be poor and in debt like this. And they know it is all the result of my own poor decisions and all my fault.

I remind them of this all the time and also that we will never be able to help them financially if they do not learn quickly to keep one eye on the Almighty Buck if not both.

We do not have the luxury of anything otherwise. We live hand to mouth in every way.

I feel I will have failed if I do not ensure my children have a serious grip on the reality of life for the working poor from the get go.

Because I wouldn't wish this on them.

If they want all this job satisfaction for very low pay that is fair enough but they also know they'd better learn to love the cold and the feeling of an empty stomach or hitch their star to a brighter one quick.

Because money isn't everything. Unless you have none.

I hadn't even read that part about KM, pisces. Don't really care about any of them tbh.

Thought it was all about 'social climbing'.

To me, it's all about money. Always will be. Is to most people.

But hey, if you're going to get narky, fine.

Very true expat but I would rather they were a struggling actor, if that is their passion, than a banker if they are highly paid but find it soul destroying.
You need a certain amount, to have a roof over your head and food on the table and to cope with an emergency, but after that money isn't everything. (I agree that it is if you haven't got the basics).

It is about social climbing but KM is in the thread title so I was relating it to her especially. I am very thankful that my grandparents were social climbers-or the preferable term socially mobile.

If they want to be a struggling actor, I'd encourage them to spend an entire month living with someone like us.

It's fine when you're young. But when you start getting old, it's lame.

Mine are already being shaped, thankfully.

The girls have a wee bank and we do a chart/spreadsheet. They earn pocket money and 1/2 goes in the bank.

The younger one steals money.

The older one keeps nagging me to ring back a very good modelling agency so she can work and buy her own place.

This place is a dump and our lives are an endless cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

They are well aware of this and I hope they learn their lesson.

Money may not buy happiness, but it makes being miserable a hell of a lot more comfortable.