Middle Class Anxiety Part I

For the last half century (or more), our society has championed the middle class, effectively turning it into the 'Middle Class' (capital 'M', capital 'C'). In particular, recall: Middle Class Values; Middle Class Morality; and such slogans as "The strength of America lies in its Middle Class." Politicians from both parties are always promising to "save the Middle Class" from the machinations of their counterparts across the aisle.

I, too, have generally esteemed our Middle Class, as it is neither so high as to be inclined toward pretension or profligacy, vices which so often overtake the upper classes; nor so low as to preclude them from personal enrichment via reading, the arts, museums, and the like. (Although I have received word of a dwindling number of aboriginal and "native" people groups who have forsaken material gain in exchange for more leisure time, the poor of America--and of most nations of the world--are often so engrossed in simply making ends meet as to make recreation and extra-curricular learning difficult.)

Recently, however, my perspective on the Middle Class has shifted, and not for the better. A series of lamentable--though not necessarily unalterable--societal shifts has exposed my middling friends to the perils across both its socio-economic boarders. From the north, an insidious prodigality has swept down upon suburbia, thereby subjecting it to the unquenchable thirst of Mammon. From the south arises a predilection for all things mean and base, which has swept away aspirations for self-ennoblement. The strength that my beloved Class once found in being situated in the middle, has now made her vulnerable to the vices of those at either end. [Does this not, reader, remind you of the children's of Israel being led astray by the idolatrous nations surrounding what was their special place, the land of milk and honey?]

Maybe we have always had a proclivity for material excess, but having recently come into the working world, I have only now noticed. Regardless, it has come to trouble even me. I alluded to my anxieties about this in previous posts (for example, see J-Talk or Systemic Symptoms).

On one of my jaunts through the mall in searching for my favorite C-list celeb, I entered a puzzle/calander store, to see if there were any 2006 Naruto calanders (sadly, no). There, was, however, a cute troll calander, with those wild-haired trolls dressed up as geisha girls, Einstein, &tc, &tc. Next to it was a Barbie calander, so I thought to myself, "I wonder what they dressed up Barbie as in this calander. Einstein Barbie? Geisha Barbie?" What I discovered may shock the reader, so the faint-of-heart would be ill-advised to continue reading. Barbie in haute couture: Barbie in Bob Mackie, Barbie in Gucci, Barbie in a Vera Wang wedding dress [my aunt's friend wore a "cheap" Vera Wang gown for her wedding--$10,000!], Barbie in Versace.

Now Barbie is just a toy, and all societies from the beginning of time have sought divertment, so I can't object to Barbie per se. Even couture can be excused as the fleeting pleasure of a handful of obnoxiously wealthy women with no interest in philanthropy. But couture for our toys? No, here I must draw the line. While all people should be free to spend their money as they please, one really has to wonder at the sanity of Barbie in hand-sewn, rhinestone-encrusted garments that some little, rag-clad boy in the Philippines is being paid 5 Philippine Pesos to produce.

This entry is running a little long, so I will continue my tirade against profligacy tomorrow.