The Middle Class Is Finished; The Middle Class Is No More. It is Going to be the Haves and the Have Nots.
The situation of the middle class can be likened to the situation of the revellers on the titanic who were singing and dancing while the ship was going down.
How many times have you heard that line being trumpeted in the media and all over the place? It has become the popular sound bite. Okay, so what is this all about? Let’s talk a little bit about it.
Most of us come from pretty humble beginnings. All our lives we were sold on the middle-class dream. You know the story: work hard, get an education, get a good job, further your education, buy a house, save, raise your family, and get promoted. That should see you living a decent life, enjoying all the benefits and perks, and then retiring with a good pension.
So we thought, "Okay, cool, sounds good. Let us work our way out of this poorer class situation." So we got the education. Some of us had to repeat high school in community colleges, some had to work and send ourselves back to school, and some of us migrated and got training. We did what we had to.
Only to wake up one morning to hear, "Hey! Hey! You, yes you, the middle class—police, nurses, teachers, lawyers, managers, chefs, accountants, administrators, firemen, bankers, etc. We can’t give you what we promised. The world has changed, so we have shifted the goalpost. As you were. Freeze. Don’t move a muscle. Give us back all those benefits, privileges, and some of your pay. Things are tough. We can’t do it anymore."
Things are tough? What!!!! Are you kidding me? The world’s economy has never been bigger, so why are we being cut and labeled as done? In 1988, out of every 100 Fortune 500 companies, 88 offered a pension and great benefits. By 1998, only 8 offered a decent pension and benefits, and all of their profits grew more than tenfold in ten years. See what is happening?
Academy, hear me and hear me good. We did well. We did a great job with what we had to work with, and we have BREAKING NEWS. We, the middle class, who have made the transition from the lower class, are not done. No! No! No! We are just getting started.
Lest they forget, we are responsible for doing the real work for the last 20 years that has taken the world to this point. So what do they think? Those cognitive and physical capabilities have left us? Well, they better think again. We are equal to the challenge. We are going to reinvent ourselves, and while they are sleeping, we are working. Follow me. It’s going to be hard, but it’s our territory. We must fight for it. We must learn and unlearn, open our minds, read, create, think, drop the things that don’t empower us, unite, support each other, form our own groups and organizations, share, help, and uplift each other. And most importantly, we must AVOID THE TRAPS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO KEEP US DOWN—the credit traps, the consumeristic traps, the system-imposed fears, the comfort zone pitch. There are enough resources among us; we have to CHANGE how we handle these resources.
WAKE UP PEOPLE. If the middle class is abolished, then we will go up to the top. We WILL NOT GO BACK. We might be cheated but not defeated. No one is going to stick a finger in my face and shut me down.
Look out for yourself, people. Teach your children. Start THINKING, start READING, BE AWARE! LOOK OUT FOR THE TRAPS! WE CAN, WE WILL, WE MUST. And this time we make the rules. We will be the captain of our own ships.