To have “class” means different things to different people. Some think it means having money. Others think it means being able to identify and procure expensive, hard to attain things. Another lot think it means appreciating obscure types of art or music.

The key to the word’s meaning, however, always hinges on the concept of refinement or advancement. It means you lack it (class) until you mature into a certain understanding of the world. And with that in focus I’ve come upon my own definition of the word.

The true sign of class is caring personally about the suffering of the poor, uneducated, and misfortunate.

Many people know a lot about wine, cars, or maybe have an extensive art collection about which they could speak for hours. But if a man is able to turn his head in apathetic disregard—or even disgust—when looking upon a starving person on the street, he has revealed his true and repugnant nature.

For me it’s easy to tell who has class: it’s the people who genuinely care about the suffering of the less fortunate.

It is this view of class that we need to become contageous. And not just in the signaling sense—as with so many in Hollywood—but in the true sense of seeing us all as one people on one planet.