There have been few examples in history of a truly classless society where, to any significant degree, equality of pay and conditions prevailed. Two short-lived examples are the Paris Commune of 1871 which was ruthlessly destroyed by the forces of the French government and the anarchist regime that controlled Barcelona in the early days of the Spanish Civil War which was ironically brought to violent end.

Today in Europe there is a new class which is growing apace that has come to be known as the underclass or sub-class. This class consists of groups of individuals who do not have access to the rights enjoyed by members of other social strata. Indeed, in order to secure very basic living conditions taken for granted by others, they are often forced to suffer the indignity of a means test, be at the receiving end of charity and have to rely on run-down public services. The worlds of private transport, private health care, private education and private housing are remote and inaccessible.

The underclass consists of the poor, the homeless, many of the unemployed, the emotionally disturbed, and the disabled. A high proportion will be from ethnic minorities, many being employed illegally at low wage levels and under sweatshop conditions. Some will be employed completely illegally; their very existence unrecognized and unrecorded by the authorities.

This class also includes drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics. The underclass is the unspoken but ever-present shadow of our modern lifestyle.

Whereas the poor of the last century were employed and formed the working class, the poor of today are now largely unemployed and form part of the underclass.