At least once a week I come across an editorial, blog or essay lamenting the death of the Middle Class. The Middle Class is “shrinking” or under pressure, etc.
I think it’s time as post-modern thinkers to accept facts; the Middle Class no longer exists because only vestigial traces of the manufacturing economy that it supported remain. As markets have expanded and manufacturing has become automated it is no longer labour which drives economic activity.
In the same way that the Agricultural Revolution allowed the societal elite to move away from labour and pursue non-agricultural efforts (religion, art, philosophy… the bedrocks of a culture-based society); the Industrial revolution allowed those who were skilled to turn their wealth into owned property, something only the elite had until the 18th century. Unfortunately, almost as soon as this started to happen, middle-class labourers started to purchase material goods which they had otherwise made themselves or gone without.
Well, the scale has finally tipped; the “Middle Class” no longer exists because labour is no longer a gateway to ownership, it is a gateway to consumption. With the decreasing value of consumer goods and the shrinking of labour pools widespread and consistent consumption is driving the economy almost exclusively. Home-ownership has skyrocketed, but it has been financed by debt and questionable practices. Owning four walls while borrowing money to pay for your groceries and clothes is indicative of an economy of consumption, not ownership. And so I give you the new Consumption Class. The “middle class” is still there; it’s just the at the centre of a new economy, and centuries-old labels no longer apply.
Loading ...
