What Is The British Class System?
A comprehensive guide from a tired Brit, for Americans.
At 18 years old, I left a northern mining town for one of the top 50 universities in the world. I left with a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy — a plastic golden ticket — still in my pocket. A tongue-in-cheek parting gift.
Needless to say, I experienced a little culture shock.
(It was the literal caviar left to spoil above the fridge for me...)
I never came back as quite the same person.
Class doesn’t dictate the life of any British person — but I realised, in that year, it shapes every single one of us.
A Warning
First things first, I am not writing this to glorify the British class system.
It’s an archaic social hierarchy we have nevertheless invented, internalised, judged and been judged upon, and enforced over centuries. The fact it is pervasive doesn’t make it inherently right or truthful.
This is a mirror. Not an endorsement.
If anything, I hope this article helps shine light on an often silenced topic, and explain why the U.K is The Way That It Is in 2021.
