Goodbye middle class. Hello, middle class. Strange as the words may seem the shift has taken place. Sociologists will fret and frown as the centuries old definition comes under challenge. At the turn of the 19th century leading up to and intertwined between the two great wars society's structure underwent an irrevocable change. Feudalism and nobility or aristocracy initially creaked and then gave way to a whole new vista of opportunity. It was grabbed at by aspiring minds that penetrated the hitherto cloistered realms of specialisation. Physicians, lawyers, economists and a host of disciplines were confronted by those that challenged the status quo and indeed improved on the knowledge that got them there.
Two nations with imperialistic ilk were savagely reduced to ruins. Today, Germany divided initially into four parts, then two is united. Along with Japan they quietly call the shots as two of the largest economies have rebuilt everything from scratch. So much so that the 77-year embargo on their having offensive capabilities is being lifted. The late Shinjo Abe pushed through legislation that reformed Japan's constitution to allow his country to join the UN peacekeeping forum and enter a treaty called AUKUS without being named in it. The country will also ramp up its attack capability. Germany broke decades of pacifism by supplying lethal-grade weapons to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Both countries have nuclear wherewithal for peaceful use, just steps away from weapon grade capability.
Their major investment has been in education mainly in the sciences building on their traditional expertise but also readjusting and adapting to a tech savvy world. As late as 2008, Germany reacted swiftly to focus its curriculum more on economics and science thereby preparing for another economic meltdown. Italian think tanks bemoan the fact that their country missed the bus. For all things crashing around them Germany remains the strongest European economy and Japan the third largest in the world having been overtaken by China.
Without too much of fuss or showing off, the two economies have created middle classes that are not in conformity with traditional views. Their base was on the learnings they gained as they separated the rubble and rebuilt with whatever they could use. Germany lost their scientists, mostly Jews who were extracted and whisked away to the United States. They developed new ones tasked with self sufficiency that allowed healthy competition, even on the international stage. Industrial growth has been phenomenal. The Japanese model was based on mere survival than wealth generation at the outset. Germany was quick to revive cooperation rather than confrontation with Europe, leading to the European Union. Their labour bodies were bound to a dynamic regimen that ensured steady growth of wages and benefit in line with the country's economic progress.
Along the way new professions and specialisations emerged and gained traction so as to be in global demand. These potentials were overlooked in South Asia as countries quibbled and quarrelled internally and with each other. Energy and enthusiasm were lost. In terms of policy, India held on to its self sufficiency model for some years. But the geo-political and global village economic traits forced them to open up. Where they could have made a major difference went by the board at the hands of petty cronyism and as now seems fuelled by a misplaced religious agenda.
The pandemic and world spats have had similar impact on Bangladesh. Traditional vocations such as agriculture are under threat as educated youth are averse to return to farmlands even with agri degrees. Trading has flourished as has fisheries and hatcheries. These vocations are flourishing among a group that hasn't progressed far in traditional schooling. Most garment workers do not have formal schooling. Fish farmers and hatchery owners don't require the type of education fished out. Fifty years ago, the Dr. Kudrat e Khuda Commission was tasked to produce an education policy for the immediate and foreseeable future in keeping with the country's needs. Much of it was ignored. Fewer were the efforts to rejig or write anew a policy more befitting today and the future. Too much time, effort and expense are devoted to useless objectives. Wiser words are not listened to. Younger aspirations are ignored.
Antony Faucci could drive the pandemic recovery in the US at the age of 79! That's the perfect breeding place for a whole new set of trade and skills not all of which are savoury. From political hangers-on and drug peddling and dealing to home and institutional tutoring and so much between new vocations have emerged creating a new middle class unrecognisable from that which we know of.
Facebook is awash with sales advertisements for counterfeit products. Online business and services are rendered by those that have no certification whatsoever. Yet they thrive. If the pandemic resulted in lost vocations it also created new ones. Those contribute further to the unstructured, unorganised grey economy. Their consumption patterns are different and varied. This and the SMEs have so far kept the economy afloat even as plunder plagues the formal economy.
