Sky lord
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Upper class or middle class? Decoding India's class conundrum
In America, protesters shout: "We are the 99%!" Their point is that despite being a dominant majority, they are victims. Their complaint is that the 1% upper class in America keeps getting richer while their own middle-class incomes have stagnated or declined. They are demanding change.
What slogans should we be shouting in India for the changes we seek? I have been thinking about it and failing to come up with good lines for us Indians in the middle class .
Problem 1: I cannot find the middle class in terms of income. When you and I were in school we knew what we were. We were middle class, and middle class meant 'not poor'. There was an upper class above us (in my school it was that one fellow who vacationed in Singapore and Disneyland while the rest of us went to Matheran or Nainital). And there was the working class, meaning those who worked with their hands. These were the poor who were definitely below us.
Where have we gone? What I mean to say is: where is the middle class? It has vanished. The government has published data which reveals that only 1% of Indians pay any income tax. The majority of the 1% of Indians comprises those, like you and I, who draw salaries and whose income tax is automatically deducted. You thought we were middle class but a 1% segment of any population can only be described as upper class. So congratulations, we have been promoted.
Problem 2: I cannot find the upper class that is cultured. Now, like you, I like the thought of being upper class. Unfortunately, it comes with some obligations and responsibilities. The classical music and high culture of all civilized nations is preserved and patronized by its upper class. In New York and London, the aristocracy flocks to the symphonies and operas, the art galleries and the museums. Tickets to these are, as many of you will have experienced, very expensive.
What about India's high culture? Our classical musicians must perform at free or 'sponsored' concerts because the audience does not pay for tickets. Tens of millions of Indians who regularly pay Rs 300 for a Bollywood movie have never paid that, and will never pay that, for a classical concert or an art exhibition or a museum ticket.
Also, look at our general sense of aesthetics: we have the most ugly urban spaces and buildings. This is definitely not the product of a cultured and educated class.
Problem 3: I cannot find an educated class that is progressive. We continue, even in 2016, to have regressive laws, like bans on cow slaughter, and paranoid laws, like bans on inaccurate maps. One reason is that there is no real opposition to stupidity in India. The unhinged and the irrational always win here. Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. This is because there are insufficient numbers standing up for what is rational, what is humane, and pressing for moderation. It takes an upper class to dissociate itself from things that concern its own benefit and push for greater good. Where is such a class in India? Not in Parliament, not in our offices and not in the studios of news channels. Indeed, the most rabid perspective on traditionally blue-collar issues like nationalism comes from these upper class places.
Problem 4: If all the civilized classes are missing in India, what are we composed of?Clearly, and I hope I have demonstrated this, we have no economic middle class, no cultural upper class and no educated progressive class in India.
So then what are we? Who are we?
This is a most difficult question to answer. The theorists of communism conceived of a vanguard, an elite and informed class that would take charge of change in society. They assumed such a class existed in all nations, but where is this class here? I cannot see it and the government's data does not reveal where it is either. If we are to progress in India, which group should we be actively mobilizing?
That returns us to the problem of our rallying cry. The numbers suggest our slogan for change should be: "We are the 1%!"
But for some reason it doesn't have the same ring to it.
By Aakar Patel
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...dias-class-conundrum/articleshow/52488082.cms
In America, protesters shout: "We are the 99%!" Their point is that despite being a dominant majority, they are victims. Their complaint is that the 1% upper class in America keeps getting richer while their own middle-class incomes have stagnated or declined. They are demanding change.
What slogans should we be shouting in India for the changes we seek? I have been thinking about it and failing to come up with good lines for us Indians in the middle class .
Problem 1: I cannot find the middle class in terms of income. When you and I were in school we knew what we were. We were middle class, and middle class meant 'not poor'. There was an upper class above us (in my school it was that one fellow who vacationed in Singapore and Disneyland while the rest of us went to Matheran or Nainital). And there was the working class, meaning those who worked with their hands. These were the poor who were definitely below us.
Where have we gone? What I mean to say is: where is the middle class? It has vanished. The government has published data which reveals that only 1% of Indians pay any income tax. The majority of the 1% of Indians comprises those, like you and I, who draw salaries and whose income tax is automatically deducted. You thought we were middle class but a 1% segment of any population can only be described as upper class. So congratulations, we have been promoted.
Problem 2: I cannot find the upper class that is cultured. Now, like you, I like the thought of being upper class. Unfortunately, it comes with some obligations and responsibilities. The classical music and high culture of all civilized nations is preserved and patronized by its upper class. In New York and London, the aristocracy flocks to the symphonies and operas, the art galleries and the museums. Tickets to these are, as many of you will have experienced, very expensive.
What about India's high culture? Our classical musicians must perform at free or 'sponsored' concerts because the audience does not pay for tickets. Tens of millions of Indians who regularly pay Rs 300 for a Bollywood movie have never paid that, and will never pay that, for a classical concert or an art exhibition or a museum ticket.
Also, look at our general sense of aesthetics: we have the most ugly urban spaces and buildings. This is definitely not the product of a cultured and educated class.
Problem 3: I cannot find an educated class that is progressive. We continue, even in 2016, to have regressive laws, like bans on cow slaughter, and paranoid laws, like bans on inaccurate maps. One reason is that there is no real opposition to stupidity in India. The unhinged and the irrational always win here. Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. This is because there are insufficient numbers standing up for what is rational, what is humane, and pressing for moderation. It takes an upper class to dissociate itself from things that concern its own benefit and push for greater good. Where is such a class in India? Not in Parliament, not in our offices and not in the studios of news channels. Indeed, the most rabid perspective on traditionally blue-collar issues like nationalism comes from these upper class places.
Problem 4: If all the civilized classes are missing in India, what are we composed of?Clearly, and I hope I have demonstrated this, we have no economic middle class, no cultural upper class and no educated progressive class in India.
So then what are we? Who are we?
This is a most difficult question to answer. The theorists of communism conceived of a vanguard, an elite and informed class that would take charge of change in society. They assumed such a class existed in all nations, but where is this class here? I cannot see it and the government's data does not reveal where it is either. If we are to progress in India, which group should we be actively mobilizing?
That returns us to the problem of our rallying cry. The numbers suggest our slogan for change should be: "We are the 1%!"
But for some reason it doesn't have the same ring to it.
By Aakar Patel
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...dias-class-conundrum/articleshow/52488082.cms
And dynasty is the best form of government !!!!
