What's a good or service that both the upper class and lower class buy, but the middle class doesn't?
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This was based on a question that my economics professor in college had asked us. His question was more to the effect of “What’s a good/service people buy when they have a bit of money, then they stop buying or buy less of it when they get some more money, and then they start buying it again once they have even more money?” — feel free to answer that too.
My first thought was alcohol: lower class people might buy more of it to cope with their difficult situation, whereas upper class people have more money to spend on vices and luxuries such as alcohol. Not sure if this theory holds true.
The best answer I’ve been able to come up with is golf carts, at least in the US. It’s common to see lower class people drive golf carts around their trailer parks or neighborhoods, whereas middle class people rarely do that. An upper class person might live in a wealthy neighborhood with its own built-in golf course, or the person might even own their own golf course(s).
Some dubious investments, such as crypto or donations to certain social organizations or politicians might also qualify?
This is less of a specific good and more of a trend, but middle class people are more likely to buy bulk goods. Lower classes often don't have the means to do so (space to store it and money to buy it, or access to places that sell in bulk) and higher classes simply don't need to, or they buy luxury items that wouldn't be sold in bulk.
Similarly, middle class people are less likely to shop at places with high markups, such as convenience stores.
The times when people shop would also see trends, with lower and higher classes doing more shopping midday on a Tuesday and middle class working people with average 9-5 office jobs being unable to do so.
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Just wondering, why do you think that coke users stay away from psychadelics and vice versa?
I think crack users don't bother with hallucinogens because they're looking for high impact dopamine hits, not a lengthy psychedelic experience. I don't think vice versa is true, people who use psychedelics aren't necessarily avoiding cocaine, but they're probably using higher quality cocaine rather than crack
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Old cars.
Good one!
I routinely use terms like "classic" to describe my cars. It amuses me, and is mostly harmless.
But, on occasion, this has disappointed a friend who I gave a ride to, who did not realize the term was meant as humor.
(Though technically correct, I guess? My car is old, if not nice.)
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I like that one. I used to jokingly tell people I drove a classic car. It was technically correct, but no one was impressed by my rusted out, 1980s, economy sedan or its 115 horses.
We finally got a family car when i was 16 - a 1978 corolla station wagon.
In the 90's.
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Any farm animal
This made me laugh, it's so true! Apart from chickens though - I know a few middle class people with chickens.
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Horse. You well off, Dad's got a bit of land? Then you can have a horse.
Nine of yous, living in a caravan with your Mum? Then you can have a horse.
Grow up in a semi-detached? No horse for you! -
Bicycles! Lower class uses them as transportation, upper class uses them for recreation.
I feel like recreational biking or mountain biking is a very middle class thing to do tbh.
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Good one!
I routinely use terms like "classic" to describe my cars. It amuses me, and is mostly harmless.
But, on occasion, this has disappointed a friend who I gave a ride to, who did not realize the term was meant as humor.
(Though technically correct, I guess? My car is old, if not nice.)
A friend's parents are classic car buffs so they got him a cheap Trabant (car from former east Germany) for his birthday. It was awesome. I mean, the car itself sucked ass, it had trouble going uphill and it was made of cardboard. But it was still kinda cool.
When it died around graduation the class sawed it in half and buried it in the school's garden so that it looked like it was driving out of the ground. It was part of that year's graduation stunt.
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Here I am wondering how old i can get away with and still be safe and reliable for my teens to drive
I don't think a 2025 Armored Personnel Carrier is capable of keeping a teen driver safe. Having said that, I think the best we can do is front and side airbags, crumple zones, a low center of gravity (sorry Jeep), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). If I had to put a year on that, I'd say 2012, when the NHTSA required all new vehicles to have ESC. A roll cage wouldn't hurt, if that's an option. Bonus points if you can convince them to wear a racing helmet and Leatt neck brace while driving.
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We finally got a family car when i was 16 - a 1978 corolla station wagon.
In the 90's.
That's honestly kind of cool, even if the circumstances that led to it might not have been.
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This was based on a question that my economics professor in college had asked us. His question was more to the effect of “What’s a good/service people buy when they have a bit of money, then they stop buying or buy less of it when they get some more money, and then they start buying it again once they have even more money?” — feel free to answer that too.
My first thought was alcohol: lower class people might buy more of it to cope with their difficult situation, whereas upper class people have more money to spend on vices and luxuries such as alcohol. Not sure if this theory holds true.
The best answer I’ve been able to come up with is golf carts, at least in the US. It’s common to see lower class people drive golf carts around their trailer parks or neighborhoods, whereas middle class people rarely do that. An upper class person might live in a wealthy neighborhood with its own built-in golf course, or the person might even own their own golf course(s).
Some dubious investments, such as crypto or donations to certain social organizations or politicians might also qualify?
Disney Plus, Netflix, Hulu, Cable TV, etc.
The lower class usually get up for their hardworking but ill-paid jobs. The one thing they want to do is go home and turn on the TV and just have their one streaming service work when they've been busting ass all day.
The upper class doesn't really care what the price is, they just have every service stream what they want.
The middle class makes just little enough to not warrant paying that much for a shit streaming service so that they can save up for x hobby, so they'll pirate all day.
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That's honestly kind of cool, even if the circumstances that led to it might not have been.
Holy shit, close. Ours was a paler red
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You and I have different definitions of upper class.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I know, I think I just got called upper and lower class at the same time. How was that up voted so much?
