Middle-Class Hereos: From Emergence to Empowerment
Table of Contents
Understanding the evolution of MIDDLE CLASS within the Global capitalist economy
Who is Considered Middle Class?
Although there are many different ways to define the middle class, many think it makes between $10 and $100 per day. Middle-class families also typically have enough savings to pay for dining out and vacations, own a car, and own a home with a mortgage.
Working Class Spending:-
The middle class has developed into one of the primary drivers of the global economy over the past few decades. The global middle class spent $44 trillion in 2020, or 68% of all consumer spending worldwide. Households in the middle class are anticipated to spend an additional $62 trillion in 2030, or fifty per cent more than in 2020. Over half of the world’s population will be middle class by 2030, with another 700 million expected to join.
Following the announcement of the budget for 2024-25, the working class is eager to assess its impact on their lives. One of the key highlights of the Budget 2024 was Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of new tax brackets and an increased standard deduction to Rs 75,000. Furthermore, reducing taxes will also reduce health and education, providing additional relief in savings of Rs 700 (4 per cent of Rs 17,500), bringing the total savings to Rs 18,200. Middle-class taxpayers will benefit from the new tax system’s increased standard deduction and tax bracket, allowing those with annual incomes of Rs 7.75 lac to pay no taxes.
Why are states unable to fulfil their commitments to the middle class? What makes the state that gives them preference over other groups and demands their assent, in turn, the object of such strong resentment among the populace?
The solution lies in how states are obedient to capitalism, a system that depends on labour exploitation to drive development. Despite their wealth and professional achievements, the so-called middle class makes most of its money from employment since they cannot afford to quit without significantly reducing their living level. They are exploited as de facto workers insofar as their pay is less than the value they contribute to creating. Additionally, they are ruled to the extent that they cannot free themselves from a system that requires them to labour or seek employment under existing conditions, however demanding, precarious or risky.
The foundation of middle-class insecurity lies in the uncertain and temporary benefits of professionalism and owning a home. These factors create a dilemma for the middle class, with top-down state-promoted ideals emphasizing educational and professional achievement, as well as a mortgage-driven culture of home ownership on one side. On the other side, there is a bottom-up approach where workers, who are also professionals and homeowners, work to safeguard their relative advantages by excluding ambitious individuals and newcomers who may devalue their possessions.
In summary, the capitalist state is structurally linked to global capitalism, thus it can only partially and temporarily enhance the living standards of its people, which still relies on their ongoing exploitation as laborers. This is commonly achieved through professionalization and property ownership. These opportunities grant the well-placed and most heavily invested members of the national workforce with just enough property and qualifications, albeit through debt, to envision unattainable security and prosperity and to fear losing the privileges that their homes and credentials have helped them achieve.
