Working class citizens in England are usually individuals earning minimum wage, and do not have a great deal of disposable income at the end of every month. Presumptions about luxury being equated to money can put lower class people off the idea of a ‘luxury’ product or service. This relates back to the importance that luxury can be considered as simple things or items which you already take for granted. For poorer households within our society you would expect the largest percentage of income and financial outgoings to be spent on food products, as eating healthy is usually the most important priority for a family.
However there are many lower class people who believe that luxury does take a part in their life. Human behaviour is motivated by passion and pleasure, and there is a defining boundary between luxury and necessity. Surely poorer individuals though, have personal luxuries. Family experiences constantly take place at home and ‘the physical environment communicate[s] in a non verbal way, and non verbal communication, often powerful and important to the people [and the family] connected.’
Effortlessly some working class people would straight away jump to the conclusion that they in fact have no personal luxuries at all. Lower class families do not usually have the best social and financial background according to statistics, and this could be a factor in their disbelief and discontentment in ‘luxury’.
The middle class in England falls between both lower and upper class under social economic terms. In the United Kingdom it is usually implied that the middle class citizens would have their own family home, have good educational backgrounds, and work high up within the working sector, either as part of the managerial team or perhaps even the director of a company. The widespread trade in consumer goods sales coincides with a civility in middling and upper classes; this can be conveyed in new ways of eating, socialising and via public pleasure and leisure. In the seventieth and eighteenth centuries you would be limited where to go, for example there was basically a theatre some public gardens, but these days there is no excuse to not adventure out, socialise and explore.
Economic expansion and social redistribution of wealth means that a middle class citizen could afford to purchase ‘luxury’ branded products if they wish to do so with their monthly income – although most ‘luxury’ products and services could not be considered a part of everyday life, other than the occasional impulse purchase.
There are obvious pre-conceptions that the upper class have the most luxurious possessions, and obviously purchase the expensive up-to-date luxury goods on offer in today’s society. The upper class are at the top of social hierarchy, they have a much higher disposable income than the middle and lower class. Though surprisingly, most of the higher earning people I questioned on ‘luxury’ believed the more simple things in life to be of more importance to them than their material possessions.
Nicolas Barbon (1690) stated that –
The wants of the Mind are infinite, Man naturally Aspires, and as his Mind is elevated, his Senses grow more refined, and more capable of Delight; his Desires are enlarged, and his Wants increase with his Wishes, which is for everything that is rare, can gratify his Senses, adorn his Body and promote the Ease, Pleasure and Pomp of Life.
Equality and being treated the same is a factor in which now the social classes boundaries are becoming less and less obvious. The upper class are just like everybody else, most are grateful for the things they cannot pay for – Grateful for the situations and circumstances that they cannot control. Luxury to them can be when the uncontrollable goes well. There are many well-known phrases surrounding money, for example, “money cannot buy you love” –money cannot manipulate passion or get you your own way. Then there is the saying, “money isn’t everything, but I’d like to see you live without it,” clearly you could have a life without money, but it would not be very appealing to most. Money clearly takes up a huge part in everybody’s lives whether they wish for it to or not.
The well-off society can afford all that they desire and most already own all they desire. The comfort of being financially stable, can possibly lead to the upper class focusing on the smaller, uncontrollable things within their daily lives. It is more important to have freedom, time, family and health. Though no person is likely to want (or admit to wanting) a luxury product more than a healthy family member.
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