Hall links “popular culture” close with “social class” because class is one of the main reasons popular culture is constantly changing. The upper and lower class are constantly creating what it is to be “popular”. Popular culture opens doors for issues such as class struggle. While the upper class individuals in society usually the ones who are usually setting the standards for the currently definition for popular, the lower working class are the ones struggling to keep up with popular culture. In a society ruled by popular culture the rich get richer and the poor get poorer due to the fact that they are supporting what the rich people created.
One example I can think of is when most guys like to be the ones driving the latest cars that outperform the rest. Yet there are guys who don’t make as much but go into debt just to have a taste of popularity. A year later another car will come out and the cycle continues as the rich stay on the top and the poor constantly struggle to be close to the top while digging a deeper hole for them financially. There are also those who keep working and working but can only dream of having the same possessions as the higher class.
Hall states “What we are really looking at is the active destruction of particular ways of life, and their transformation into something new.” Which is basically what popular culture is. A way of life is created amongst the social classes and frequently being destroyed as a new trend begins to grow.
