Best among equals?

I just finished re-reading George Orwell’s 1984.  Maybe I shouldn’t say “re-reading” since I probably first read it in high school and, although I thought otherwise, I’ve discovered that I really didn’t remember much of it other than “Big Brother is watching.”  I definitely should read Brave New World again as well.  And then A Clockwork Orange.

Anyway … back to the topic at hand.

In 1984, there is a discussion about society being composed of three groups:  upper, middle, and lower classes.  Societal disruptions happen as the middle class fights to pull the upper class down only to replace them and become the new upper class.  This reminded me of of a former acquaintance.  This man was from England and complained often about how East Indians were treated in England.  At first, I thought that he was critical of the class structure in England and that he believed that no one’s treatment should be dependent upon their class status.  As a Sikh whose family was from India, I thought that he was speaking against a society reminiscent of the caste system in India.  I was wrong.  He didn’t think that it was wrong for their to be an upper class group which discriminated against the “lower” classes.  He just wanted to be in the “high” group.

That surprised me at the time.  Now, I kind of expect it.

Some parts of Saskatchewan society are actually quite different from the three levels described in 1984.  Here you can observe the “crab in a bucket” mentality where nobody is supposed to get ahead.  Do you think it’s the middle pulling everyone towards them?