Social structure of Vale

The social structure of Vale has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting Valois society in the early-18th century. Classes are divided by the most influential and powerful groups of people in Vale. It compromises a series of concepts to establish the classes, such as the economic, cultural and social capital. Economic capital is defined as income and assets; cultural capital as amount and type of cultural interests and activities, and social capital as the quantity and social status of their friends, family and personal and business/professional contacts. Thus, members of a lower class may have a higher economic capital than those of a higher class, while having a lower cultural and social capital.

Classes
Although definitions of social class in Vale vary and are relatively controversial, most are influenced by factors of occupation and education. There is however, a class system recognized by the Government of Vale.

Ruling elite (Élite dirrigeante)
Members of the elite class are the top 1% of Valois society with very high social capital, and very high highbrow cultural capital. Occupations in the government are strongly represented.

Council of Ten (Les Dix)
The Council of Ten is the highest social class of the Vale aristocracy and is the most reputed position in the Republic of Vale. High Council of Ten appointed positions in the State, such as the President & CEO of the Banque du Val, or other appointed state-owned companies high positions, are also considered part of this elite group of people. For instance, many former Council of Ten members were appointed to many of these positions.

Presidency (Présidence)
High ranking members of the Presidential Office, especially the President of Vale and their family, are the second highest ranked positions in Vale. The Hand, the Secretary of Defence and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs are also part of this very restricted category of people.

Senate (Sénat)
Members of the Senate, especially higher ranking officials of the main political parties, but also members of the Government as ministers, are amongst the most prestigious positions in Vale.

Higher education (Éducation supérieure)
Those with a higher education diploma or certificate are considered amongst this class of people.

Intellectual elite (Intéllectuels)
The intellectual elite compromises mostly university professors and personal advisers to the ruling elite. High class journalists and public commentators, writers, philosophers, researchers are also amongst this class.

High civil servants (Hauts fonctionnaires)
A high civil servant is an officer of the public administration in charge of important responsibilities in the State. A large number of senior posts of the State is occupied by members of this class, as well as a large part of the job manager, department head or deputy director of the central administration. Compared to other occupations attributed to state officials, the high civil servants have two common characteristics of power:


 * historical seniority, which gives them both a symbolic legitimacy and a network of co-optation firmly established;
 * their relative autonomy from external hierarchy, total autonomy for judges.

Traditionally, these large bodies are prioritized according to their prestige. With the rise of the communal and territorial civil servants as well as the high mobility between the public bodies, the design tends to become obsolete.

Technical elite (Élite technique; Techniciens)
A technician is a professional mastering one or more techniques as a specialist in this/these technique(s). This may be a technique derived from the application of technology in the art therefore. This includes architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc.

Despite not necessarily having a higher education diploma, artists are considered part of this class.

Professional elite (Élite professionelle; Gestionnaires)
The professional elite consists of people with higher education diplomas who are entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed. This includes usually corporation CEOs, shop owners, etc.

Working elite (Élite ouvrière)
The working elite is the class of people employed for wages, especially in manual or industrial work. Working-class jobs include blue-collar jobs, but also include large amounts of white-collar and service work. The working class relies on earnings from wage labour, thereby including a large majority of the population of Vale.

Pariah (paria)
Pariahs are the class of the Valois society compromising people who do not conform to the usual classes of society who work and earn a salary.

Bohemians (Bohémiens; Gitans; Tsiganes; gens du voyage)
Many Bohemians in Vale are sedentary, employees, integrated: as Roms they have become "invisible", even if a slightly larger "majority" of roms remains nomadic or semi-nomadic. Many of the sedentary Roms are doing under-the-table jobs in construction or other business. However, some of them also practice (voluntary or forced by criminal networks) begging or even criminal activities: trafficking of metals, including stealing electrical wires or telephone cables on railways, burglary of apartments, aggressive begging, pick-pocketing and drug trafficking and human beings for prostitution.

The nomadic roms usually wonder across the country, their traveling and way of living conditions protected by law. In Valois law, their legal status is that of an ethnic group. They follow a nomadic or settled lifestyle; passing from village to village and are more strongly identified with the Montagnais speaking population. Continuing their nomadic life, they would pitch their bow-tents on rough ground on the edge of the village and earn money there as tinsmiths, hawkers, horse dealers or pearl-fishermen. Many found seasonal employment on farms, e.g. at the berry picking or during harvest.

Monks (Moines)
Monasticism is the status and lifestyle of people who have taken vows of religion and are part of an order whose members live under a common rule, separated from the world. They are called monks (nuns in feminine). Monks and nuns are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Manitist community. First and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Manitism. They are also expected to provide a living example for the population, and to serve as a "field of merit" for lay followers—providing men and women with the opportunity to earn merit by giving gifts and support to the Church. In return for the support of Gaïa, monks and nuns are expected to live an austere life focused on the study of Manitist doctrine, the practice of meditation, and the observance of good moral character.

Welfare (bien-être social)
Social welfare in Vale, known under the term "bien-être social" (pejoratively called "BS"), is a basket of services offered by the Government of Vale, under certain conditions, at any Valois citizen, permanent resident or refugee claimant living in Vale. When an individual passes the necessary evidence to demonstrate their inability to support themselves financially over a long period, the Valois government pays them a monthly allowance. In addition, the person has access to different services at reduced cost or free of charge.

Homeless (sans domicile fixe; SDF)
Homelessness is the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are most often unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The term homeless may also include people whose primary night-time residence is in a homeless shelter, a warming centre, a domestic violence shelter, rehabilitation centre, a vehicle (including recreational vehicles and campers), cardboard boxes, a tent, tarpaulins, or other ad hoc housing situations. There are numerous homeless shelters across Vale.

E and non-E
Language and writing style have consistently been one of the most reliable indicators of class, although pronunciation did not become such an indicator until the later 15th century. The variations between the language employed by the upper classes and non-upper classes has, perhaps, been best documented by linguistic Professor François Duhamel's 1674 article on E and non-E Valois usage, with "E" representing Ruling and Higher Education elites class vocabulary of the time, and "Non-E" representing Working elite and pariah vocabulary. The discussion was furthered in Noblesse Oblige.

Subtleties
There are many inconsistencies and subtleties that many believe are far more important to the Valois system than a person's occupation. For example, many believe that referring to one's self as 'classy' (ayant de la classe) or even using the word 'class' (classe) in a such a context is indicative of a lower class. Other examples include the way a person holds their knife and fork to eat, the way a person pronounces certain words such as 'village', how well a person respects others, and the care taken by a person to uphold the rules of grammar in conversation and when punctuating a sentence, especially when written.

Valois regional accents
Vale has a wide variety of regional accents, most of which have working elite connotations:


 * Sud-Ouest dialect - The accent and dialect of southwestern Vale, especially former Herulia, and the surrounding area.
 * Nallois – The accent and dialect of Neuilly and surrounding areas.
 * Rimouskois – An accent and dialect of north-east Vale, particularly the Rimouski area.
 * Norois – An accent and dialect of northwestern Vale and surrounding areas, heavily influenced by Norman words.
 * Verlan is traditionally the criminal dialect of Lutèce. It also has distinct variations in grammar and vocabulary.
 * The Lutèce accent is spoken by the higher education elite of the city and most media and politicians around the country.
 * Multicultural Lutèce Valois (abbreviated VML), is a dialect (and/or sociolect) of Valois that emerged in the late 16th century, and is used mainly by young, inner-city, working-class people in inner Lutèce. It is said to contain many elements from the languages of Northern Gondwana (Numidian and Arabic), Southeast Asia (Indochinese languages), and West Gondwana (Mali languages), as well as remnants of Latin. The dialect is characterized by its heavy usage of contemporary argot and verlan.

Social stereotypes
Despite the relative homogeneity of the Valois culture, cuisine and language, there is still the habit of believing those who live an hour's drive away are an entirely different breed. Most stereotypes and subcultures in Vale are similar to those in other Western nations on Kobol. There are still unique stereotypes to Vale.

Bobos
The word bobo, is an abbreviated form of the words bourgeois and bohemian, suggesting a fusion of two distinct historical social classes (the counter-cultural, hedonistic and artistic bohemian, and the white collar, capitalist bourgeois). Often of the corporate professional elite, they claim highly tolerant views of others, purchase expensive and exotic items, and are strongly patriotic.

Bon chic bon genre
Bon chic, bon genre (Aegean: Good style, good sort) is an expression used in Vale to refer to a subculture of stylish members of Lutèce's upper class. They are typically well-educated, well-connected, and descended from "old money" families of the pre-Revolution. The style combines certain fashionable tastes with the appearance of social respectability. The expression is sometimes shortened to "BCBG" and is used pejoratively to speak about greedy young pseudo-intellectuals.

Manichiants
Stressed-out urban malcontents are increasingly fleeing office jobs and heading west in search of a better, slower life. They're usually very religious (Manitism) and despise foreigners, especially those who aren't of the same religious faith. The term manichiant comes from Manitism and the Valois word "chiant" which means "annoying", in a vulgar manner.

Faroe Islands
The Faroese have often been qualified as froussards by the Valois, mainly due to their demonym (Føroyingar), sounding a little bit like froussard in Valois, which means scared. There is also a widely spread stereotype that Faroese men used to hump their sheep.

Guiana
Guianans are often referred to as Mowgli in Vale. They're stereotypically tall and dark-skinned and dance and party all the time while drinking rum, in a jungle-like house. Mowgli comes from the The Jungle Book, and the Guyanas are often associated with their jungle.

Svalbard
Svalbard people are stereotypically tall, with a huge beard and are killing polar bears everyday.