The middle class in the middle of nowhere

The middle class in Bangladesh is a fairly large class of people that exists in a precarious situation, sandwiched between the upper and the lower class. They look up at the luxurious lifestyle of the upper class people and wonder how they can climb the ladder of success and take a berth at the upper bunk. Many with hard work and determination can actually do that. But, most others keep slogging on where they started as a young man and die blaming it on fate.  Similarly, people of the lower class look up to the middle class and believe this is the happiest class of people and they want to climb the ladder too. In doing so, while some may succeed, many others try to earn some quick buck in the back alleys and eventually perish in a prison.  

Well, what is the population size of this so-called middle class? Difficult to pinpoint but one unofficial calculation says that after the 20 per cent of super rich and 20 per cent of super poor, the remaining 60 per cent of the people constitute the middle class. Some demographers further classify this class into upper middle and lower middle. Ok, 60 per cent is a big chunk indeed! Something like 10 crore!

 Now, what do the people belonging to the middle class do to earn a living? They work in government offices, private companies, colleges, universities, hospitals, clinics, media, showbiz, airlines, cruise ships and railways. And some also run small businesses.      

Interestingly therefore, with some exceptions, all sorts of professionals come from this class. You name it and there they are: teachers, generals, police chiefs, actors, poets, pilots, novelists, scientists, researchers, journalists, politicians, rebels, conformists, conservatives, mountaineers,  bankers, doctors, chemists, environmentalists and so on and so forth. This is a unique class because the people belonging here create news and at the same time create knowledge.

The people of the middle class nurture their intellect through higher education and acquire enough knowledge to earn a Nobel Prize. But they can hardly earn enough wealth to buy a BMW car or a villa on the seaside. And this is the reason why the middle class so quickly tends to fall into financial problems whenever there is a major crisis nationwide.

We had seen it during the 1971 liberation war. A vast number of people from the middle class left the cities and towns and fled to the villages to escape the bullets of the Pakistani army.  They had taken with them some money and gold ornaments to meet the expenses. It was difficult to live in a strange situation but fear of life compelled them to stay on. If we recall, not many people from the upper class had left for villages. Similarly, the people from the lower class had to stay back in towns amidst the death threats to do menial work or run a tiny shop to earn a living.   

But now, the middle class finds itself in the middle of nowhere. It has never faced an adversary as deadly and as protracted as Covid-19 in the last 50 years. Their jobs are gone, their steady income is gone, their office is gone, their cars are gone, their savings are gone and their peace of mind is gone. When the super rich are getting incentive packages from the government to keep their businesses going and the super poor are getting relief packages from various sources, the middle class is getting nothing. They are left to fight for their life and living alone without losing their dignity. They may bow but not stoop.

Now, the pertinent question that arises at this point. Who is standing by the side of the middle class? Any specific ministry? Any UN organization? Any international relief organization? Any specific bank? No. None. Middle class families by now have cashed their saving certificates, bonds and FDRs. They have sold small pieces of land. They have asked for financial help from sons and daughters living abroad. They have taken out loans against credit cards and now find it difficult to pay the monthly installments. Banks show no interest in offering them a quick loan against a land they own. If such loans were easily available many families would be able to survive in such difficult days.

Maybe the silent prayers of the middle class would be heard some day soon. And the government would take up a policy to make bank loans easy for them. Instead of selling odd things on the road side, teachers would be able to stay home and read good books. Let the horrendous days of denial and indignity come to an end for the middle class.    

The writer is Associate Editor at The Business Post