Classes

[stevethedog 0]

I was watching the news last night and it surprised me how apparent the class divide still is within contemporary British society.A working class woman from Merseyside, Jacqueline Simpson, is currently in court for manslaughter after getting drunk at New Year and allowing her pet pitbull into the house while she was babysitting her granddaughter, Ellie. She says she turned her back for a moment and the dog savaged the child, killing her almost instantly.On the other hand the middle class parents of Madaleine McCann are considered to be national heroes, any criticism of them is met with derision by the British press and public. It seems we've forgotten that they left their three babies alone in a holiday apartment while they went out to drink cocktails and eat tapas with their friends for a few hours.Both of these cases smack of bad judgement and neglect, however only the working class woman is having to face up to the consequences of her actions in court.I wonder how the British press would be treating the McCann's if they were from a council estate? Or how they'd be treating Ms Simpson if she was a respected heart surgeon?I can only guess: very differently.

[TikiPrincess 0]

Unfortunately, there is no utopian society with a classless system. There will always be people with power and people without power. There will be people with certain talents that others lack. However, those same people will lack talents that others have. And some talents will be considered more valuable than others by different societies. That's just the way of human nature. I wish it were otherwise.For example, my chosen career is teaching. I believe that it's an important job. Teacher have the potential to be one of the most influential people in your life. Of course, learning doesn't only come from positive experiences, and a bad teacher can influence you just as much as a good one. I'm sure most of you can remember at least one teacher that you disliked, even if you can't think of one that you admired.However, teaching is one of the lowest paid professions in the country. The base salary for a teaching in my area is somewhere between $30K-$40K for ten months of work. Granted it's not bad in most parts of the U.S., but in California, there's no way a person could afford to buy a house with that. In fact, some city maintenance men have a higher base salary. A job that doesn't require a degree or credentials or continual licensing to maintain your credential. But it's a job that most people don't want to do. We pay plumbers hundreds of dollars for a few hours work because we don't want our noses anywhere near the sceptic tank and so on. On the other end of the spectrum, the Los Angeles Galaxy is paying David Beckham $250 million dollars to play soccer (football for all you non-Americans). I'm sorry, but kicking around a ball does not justify being paid massive amounts of money, no matter how good at it you are.But inequality remains. No, life isn't fair. And the rich will get away with things that people in lower classes won't.

[stevethedog 0]

I liked that post. It started friendly but turned into a bit of a rant! Here in Scotland I believe teachers get paid a decent wage however the schools are having trouble paying it. Once you are finally qualified and accepted as a teacher you can start of at ?20k + which is a good amount as a start off. It's not going to get you a smashing house in the city but it's not bad going.That does seem quite a low income in California, and something that people should certainly be looking to rectify.It all seems to be about supply & demand and if you are replaceable or not. Firefighters, doctors, police - it's these guys that should be earning big bucks.As for Beckham, well that's a different kettle of fish. If LA are willing to pay that to bring him to them then think they will get more than that back, which judging by attendances & coverage they might acheive. He's getting all those bums on the seats in the stadium which would not have happened if they signed a guy valued at $150 Million, maybe Cheers,stevethedog

[sheepdog 10]

As for Beckham, well that's a different kettle of fish. If LA are willing to pay that to bring him to them then think they will get more than that back, which judging by attendances & coverage they might acheive. He's getting all those bums on the seats in the stadium which would not have happened if they signed a guy valued at $150 Million, maybe

And isn't it a sad thing that we value entertainment and watching sports more than we value the education of our children?

Personally, I would never want to be a teacher. Especially in this day and age. Putting up with a bunch of spoiled, squaling, whinning rug rats is not my idea of a good time. They can mouth off to you and disrupt the class and do pretty much whatever they want, and you can't do a dang thing about it. If you turn them over your knee and spank them you get nailed for child abuse. In many cases you can't even fail them if they don't do the work because some idiot decided that it would hurt their feelings and damage their emotional state. What a crock of crap.