I think in the US the idea of the 'genteel poor' was tied more to higher education and bohemianism, but that's fallen almost completely out of favour in the past couple of decades -- the emphasis is on college as a way to get started in a career (and yet there are still people getting lots of degrees in the humanities). Or that was also maybe the class of university professors, who were seen as highly educated and were often artists teaching on the side, but now with the hiring crises a lot of the labour falls to adjunct faculty who are often just plain poor.
But it was kind of amusing how many US readers thought the Weasleys in HP were on the economic brink!
//probably not making sense, haven't had enough coffee
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-03-09 07:55 pm (UTC)But it was kind of amusing how many US readers thought the Weasleys in HP were on the economic brink!
//probably not making sense, haven't had enough coffee