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Wanting Out of the Working Class.

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Wanting Out of the Working Class.
How many of us have wished for a better life? One that is decadent with minimal work involved? This wishful thought is certainly something I have thought of growing up in a working middle class family. ‘That’s what being in the working class is all about-how to get out of it’ Neville Wran said. I think it is only human nature to want a more comfortable life and thus there is some truth in what Wran says.

Take JK Rowling for example, she was unemployed and barely surviving on welfare when she was writing now famous book serious Harry Potter. Obviously this is not the ideal life anyone seeks- with instability due to lack of employment. In addition she had a baby daughter to support. With her hard work in writing the first Harry Potter book and determination to get it published, despite 3 publishers rejecting the manuscript before Bloomsbury accepted it she was able to make it out of the ‘working class’ and join the rich and famous in society. From the success of her books, she can now comfortably live her life and provide for her family whilst writing to her hearts content.

However, there is a problem with Wran’s mentality. If we were all to ‘get out of it [the working class] ‘ then how would the economy be able to sustain itself? The working class have a great role in society that is often overlooked by those in higher classes of society. They are the ones that are involved in factory work or those in laborious industries, without them we would not be able to buy that gadget we’ve eyed for months in the shops. More importantly we would not have anything to offer to other countries in global trading and this could impact the economy of a nation.

There are few that would honestly say they were happy living a working class life, especially in a society that does not appreciate hard work like in previous times. I believe that if people do want ‘out ‘ of the working class it is because a more comfortable life tempts them. In that case, we must then question what life in the working class is today. If comfort to them means having more money and less intensive work, or better working conditions then perhaps we should address them, rather than ignoring these issues. That way, we could know who truly does defy Wran’s idea and in a way place a certain due respect for those working class citizen who do keep the economy in check.
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