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Snobbery


Guest Raidne

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i like single-malt scotch, live opera, and top-dollar hos. what class am i?
That spells upper-middle class in the stars, like Saggitarius or some shit. You're The Man.
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I have no doubt that Blaine could tell all of us our social class, probably after 3 simple questions.

Honestly, we really use demographics based on age, earnings or accumulated wealth more than actually saying high or low or middle class. Besides, the majority of everything is marketing toward the middle. But even there you have your usual assortment of good-better-best shoppers.

That, to me, is way more reliable than any assumptions or notions of class. Pretty much anyone who has ever bought anything ever has been presented with 3 choices: the cheapest thing, the middle priced one, and the most expensive one. When consumers don't know which to pick (ie - no advice or prior experience), they ALWAYS choose the same one.

One target demo will always buy the cheapest thing. Others (like myself) will only buy from the middle. And another set (like my wife) will always choose the best.

There have been numerous studies, but even when people have been told that all three products are identical, aside from packaging, they'll still feel pulled to choose from the middle or the best category.

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I've always been a philosophical thinker, this thread got me thinking.

The base is power not freedom. We always have the drive to develop our individual power, for our power is freedom. Freedom as the base for power? That belief leads to the superior and inferior; some of the superior acknowledge power as the base, for example owners of business empires, others live on it symbiotically for example politicians. Governance politics will always fail as a democracy, it is built for those who acknowledge power as the base.

The time everyone acknowledges power as the base we end governance politics, we then move into something else, a true democracy because we all know the destruction groups with common interests can do to each other.

So a mature anarchic situation is how we avoid streets on fire, streets on fire arises because of the failure of individuals to acknowledge power is the base.

As to snobbery it is inherently weak as we give our power to others, to be superior we need someone else to be inferior, we need that other person, we need them, they do not need us. It is when the 'inferior' realises this, that the tables are turned, a reversal but into yet another weak situation, or people escape enter into a mature understanding of power as the base.

Edit: How many times can I say base haha.

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I will bookmark stuff that I want and then actually watch it for a month or so to see what happens to the price.

I've been shopping for a new toaster for, like, over a year now. All the available options are terrible.

ETA: It's funny that it's the same product Blaine mentioned. Blaine what is the European toaster you speak of?

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I'm like Chats - I have zero patience once I've decided to buy.

There are times that I hold out, but its rare. There's this backpack luggage thing with wheels on it and a detachable smaller backpack that I've been holding out on for months. Its cool, and I'd definitely use it, but I can't bring myself to spend $300 on a bag. But if I think the price is reasonable on an item its usually see -> want -> buy in short order.

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Blaine, I find this fascinating and wonder if it was intentional or not.

presented with 3 choices: the cheapest thing, the middle priced one, and the most expensive one. When consumers don't know which to pick (ie - no advice or prior experience), they ALWAYS choose the same one.

One target demo will always buy the cheapest thing. Others (like myself) will only buy from the middle. And another set (like my wife) will always choose the best.

There have been numerous studies, but even when people have been told that all three products are identical, aside from packaging, they'll still feel pulled to choose from the middle or the best category.

The "most expensive" and "the best" are not synonymous so why the switch?

I am among those who found the source article too uninteresting to read. I agree that snobbery is alive and well on the board.

At my friend's birthday party last week I discovered that I have a very real limit to how much time I can spend out of my class element. I have a definite sense of where I belong and where I do not and if I spend too much time in places that are too fancy and expensive for me I start freaking out a little.

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It's fine if people don't like Nevaeh personally and don't want to give to their own daughters. But saying that looking down on someone else for naming their daughter Nevaeh is an indicator of a healthy society is a perfect example of unsavory classist prejudice, IMHO.

OK, now I'm kind of curious. What does "Nevaeh" have to do with class? It's just "heaven" spelled backwards, right? A bizarre thing to name a child, to be sure, but it seems like this would be more about religion, no?

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That's what's amazing. People are often paying for nothing more than the feeling that they bought the best. That feeling is the actual value.

I believe accountants call this "goodwill" - an extra bit tagged on to the price simply because of the company's reputation.

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It's fine if people don't like Nevaeh personally and don't want to give to their own daughters. But saying that looking down on someone else for naming their daughter Nevaeh is an indicator of a healthy society is a perfect example of unsavory classist prejudice, IMHO.

Not so, I'm afraid. As long as people who choose names like Nevaeh are held in some measure of contempt there is still hope that our society has not yet devolved into utter idiocy. Yes, reality television will still exist and Sarah Palin will still be a national figure, but at least we will have drawn a line in the sand and declared that not all intellectual standards in this country have been "taken to Jesus".

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OK, now I'm kind of curious. What does "Nevaeh" have to do with class? It's just "heaven" spelled backwards, right? A bizarre thing to name a child, to be sure, but it seems like this would be more about religion, no?

No, I know what board Ormond is speaking about because I was a member a long time ago, haven't been in several years because the culture grew more and more unbearable, but I was always fascinated by names and liked to see lists of them and that sort of thing. The board consensus opinion is that names that have a history of being names are good, random words, names created from bunches of syllables, names from fantasy, names that were popular in the last 50 years, and "unique" spellings are declasse. The best compliment one can receive is that your chosen name is "classic". It's ok to give your kid a name that was popular before 1930, like naming the kid after your grandma, but if you plan to name the kid after your mother, tread carefully lest you end up with a "dated" name. Currently-trendy names will also date your baby, and Nevaeh falls under several of those categories, so if you want to use it, I will tell you where to avoid getting opinions on it.

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I'll take convenience over price, any day.

Convenience rules. If I know going in that I'll be getting a more expensive item -- TVs, computers, cars -- I'll head down to Delaware, but other than that I don't pay much attention to price. I know I should, but I'm impatient. I had one roommate in college I used to take with me to the grocery store, and he spent a lot of time comparing prices. On the one hand, I recognized he was being smart and I respected that, but on the other hand, he spent more time shopping than any other male of my acquaintance, and waiting the extra half hour annoyed me.

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OK, now I'm kind of curious. What does "Nevaeh" have to do with class? It's just "heaven" spelled backwards, right? A bizarre thing to name a child, to be sure, but it seems like this would be more about religion, no?

Close your eyes and think about Nevaeh. Let your thoughts wander. What comes to mind? Is it a gated community? A preppy New England boarding school? Greenwich, Connecticut? Or is it a trailer park in Alabama?

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OK, now I'm kind of curious. What does "Nevaeh" have to do with class? It's just "heaven" spelled backwards, right? A bizarre thing to name a child, to be sure, but it seems like this would be more about religion, no?

I feel the need to point out that when I read this, I thought they just mispelled Nivea. I spent half the day wondering why people would want to name their kids after hand cream and why that was considered low-class/trailer-trash.

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And so I have another thought: is shared snobbery about the same things necessary for a healthy relationship?

Yes.

You know, I have never seen an episode of the Hills, but I know all about Audrina, Speidi, and Whitney's spin off show in NYC thanks to trashy celebrity magazines and my love for a good pedicure.

:lol: You should check out some trashy celebrity mags from the UK (Hello!, OK, Heat, etc).

In Advertising, understanding class and target ambitions by demographic is sort of the secret crucial art to getting things just right.

<snip>

I sort of knew some of that, but hadn't properly thought it out. Good post :)

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