Elite:
the most privileged group, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of economic, social and cultural capital
This must be drug gang leader Avon Barksdale in his imperial phase: rich, well-respected, the untouchable master of all he surveys. Even when he is sent to prison he lives an ultra-comfortable life of riley (prison guards bring him his KFC, baseball games stop as he walks past). When I filled in the BBC class calculator for Avon, his earnings, property and wealth sent him off the scale. But you also have to identify the occupations of your friends, and he didn’t really know anyone with any of the jobs given (teacher, artist, shop assistant, etc), unless you counted his No 2 Stringer Bell as a chief executive, which I did, and that took Avon to the top of the chart again. I took the liberty of imagining he listened to jazz and hip hop, watched sports, went to the gym, and sometimes socialised at home, and all that meant he fell squarely into the category of elite.
Established middle class:
the second wealthiest, scoring highly on economic, social and cultural capital
Marlo is the up and coming youngster who eventually moves up into the elite position, but – like many middle-class people who try to gain acceptance among the aristocracy – finds he is never fully comfortable with the expensive suits and snobbish company that surrounds him once he has got there. For class calculator purposes, I thought Marlo probably had less property than Avon, but was in the highest boxes for earnings and wealth. I’m not sure how many people from the various professions Marlo knew socially, but he did have a shop assistant killed at one point, so I ticked that one. Like Avon, however, Marlo comes out as elite – probably due to all that lovely money.
Technical middle class:
a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital, distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy
Omar, the lone wolf who robs drug dealers, is definitely distinguished by his social isolation – but cultural apathy? As Omar explains, he “loves them Greek myths”. Cultural apathy is really more the province of someone like young dealer Bodie, who becomes confused about why the radio is breaking up as he drives out of his hometown for the first time, and muses wonderingly, “Why would anyone want to leave Baltimore, that’s what I’m asking ... ” I put Omar into the class calculator; his best friend and “bank” Butchie runs a bar, so I counted him as shop assistant and accountant, there being no category for someone who looks after all your stolen money for you – and Omar did come out as technical middle class ... indeed.
the most privileged group, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of economic, social and cultural capital
This must be drug gang leader Avon Barksdale in his imperial phase: rich, well-respected, the untouchable master of all he surveys. Even when he is sent to prison he lives an ultra-comfortable life of riley (prison guards bring him his KFC, baseball games stop as he walks past). When I filled in the BBC class calculator for Avon, his earnings, property and wealth sent him off the scale. But you also have to identify the occupations of your friends, and he didn’t really know anyone with any of the jobs given (teacher, artist, shop assistant, etc), unless you counted his No 2 Stringer Bell as a chief executive, which I did, and that took Avon to the top of the chart again. I took the liberty of imagining he listened to jazz and hip hop, watched sports, went to the gym, and sometimes socialised at home, and all that meant he fell squarely into the category of elite.
Established middle class:
the second wealthiest, scoring highly on economic, social and cultural capital
Marlo is the up and coming youngster who eventually moves up into the elite position, but – like many middle-class people who try to gain acceptance among the aristocracy – finds he is never fully comfortable with the expensive suits and snobbish company that surrounds him once he has got there. For class calculator purposes, I thought Marlo probably had less property than Avon, but was in the highest boxes for earnings and wealth. I’m not sure how many people from the various professions Marlo knew socially, but he did have a shop assistant killed at one point, so I ticked that one. Like Avon, however, Marlo comes out as elite – probably due to all that lovely money.
Technical middle class:
a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital, distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy
Omar, the lone wolf who robs drug dealers, is definitely distinguished by his social isolation – but cultural apathy? As Omar explains, he “loves them Greek myths”. Cultural apathy is really more the province of someone like young dealer Bodie, who becomes confused about why the radio is breaking up as he drives out of his hometown for the first time, and muses wonderingly, “Why would anyone want to leave Baltimore, that’s what I’m asking ... ” I put Omar into the class calculator; his best friend and “bank” Butchie runs a bar, so I counted him as shop assistant and accountant, there being no category for someone who looks after all your stolen money for you – and Omar did come out as technical middle class ... indeed.
