Grab - Bill Gates came from a wealthy family and went to Lakeside, an exclusive prep school in Seattle. Luck had nothing to do with it - except maybe he was lucky he didn't go to Garfield and live in a run-down house with a single mom who worked graveyard to put groceries on the table.

Since you seem to agree that parents impart values, would you then say that two children (being instilled with the same value system) have exactly the same opportunities in life? That is so far from the truth it is laughable. It is money that buys the best educational opportunities. Therefore, if education is the key, you better have lots of it.

If not, you have to be smarter and work harder and longer than the rich kids. Upon graduation, some begin their careers with help from daddy and his friends and no debt to drag them down. Others face a job market with no foot in the door and a huge student loan debt. They are definitely disadvantaged, regardless of their values.

To overcome all of that and speak the 'Queen's English' may or may not entitle you to 'class'. Probably not. In fact, it is very likely that you will die in the same socio/economic class that you were born into.

You may still achieve the distinction of having a touch of class, depending on your manners, your speech and the choices you make in life.

I also think that the need for instant gratification should play a part in this discussion. It seems to me that those who were impoverished as children, have a greater need for instant gratification than those with a touch of class. It is the need for instant gratification that makes the lower classes so prone to cheap thrills. People with a touch of class do not seem to indulge in cheap thrills to quite the same extent.