The Establishment and the Mob

Society can roughly be split into two teams; the establishment and the alternatives (aka the mob). Each has stuck to its own kind. Until now. With the growth of gloablisation, the credit crunch, the search for new lifestyles, the lines between the establishment and the mob have blurred to the point of erosion. The result is a hodge-podge of people crossing society’s lines. People who lived in caves until three years ago now drive around in BMW and eat in swanky bar-restaurants (you can find some of these in a place beginning with ‘A’ and ending in ‘O’) and people who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth have now gone all hippy and hang out at a place beginning with ‘K’ and ending with ‘A’). Hmmmm…

Thing is, a leopard cannot change its spots. (Tell this to the Nicosia Housewife who can’t get out of her leopard-print leotard). The newly-rich will never become old money so they might as well try stop sending their kids to the posh schools. The establishment will never be able to mingle with the lower-classes (i.e. people who do not own a holiday home in Geneva) and people who emerged from the swamp a year ago will never be able to shake off that stink. So why try? Well because we all want what we can’t have and want approval that we are all encompassing personalities from everyone. Even strangers in remote social groups.

I once read that only the rich can afford bad shoes. This is because the rich are the only ones who do ‘poor’ well. It is easy to act as if you are a tree-hugging hippy when you own the whole forest or want to save the whales when your school serves sushi from lunch. But not matter how rich you recently became, you will never be able to pull off that pedigree you aim for, which takes generations to cultivate. (And leopard-print leggings are not fooling anyone).