Final Word from Thursday, September 19, 2019
It was so much easier to pigeonhole people when there were just two classes, the haves and the have-nots. Or, if you prefer, the seizers and the seized. Or maybe the Zemanites and the Drahošians. Or the liberals and the illiberals. Now that Czech Radio has declared that there are six classes, and that everyone must fall into one of them according to a class "calculator," it ain't so easy anymore. Where does someone like Andrej Babiš fit into the picture? There is no Czech upper class, according to Czech Radio, much less a separate class for the criminal elite. Surely Babiš isn't part of the "secured middle class." True, he's got Kč 90m in tax-free annual income, but he's also got debts and legal problems coming out the wazoo. His creditors can call his loans at any time, and he had to turn to Chinese communist bankers to make ends meet. What's more, 70% of the people are against him, and he could lose his job at any time. He's not yet destitute; he's part of the endangered class. [ Czech Republic Miloš Zeman Jiří Drahoš social ]
Glossary of difficult words
to pigeonhole - to assign to a particular category, typically an overly restrictive one;
the haves - people with plenty of money and possessions;
the have-nots - economically disadvantaged people;
seizer - someone who seizes (assets);
seized - (in this context) someone whose assets have been seized;
out the wazoo - in large numbers;
destitute - extremely poor and lacking the means to provide for oneself.