On the So-Called “Middle-Class Citizens” as the Power of Social Change

Hiroshi Setooka Hiroshi Setooka

doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.4.1.0025

Abstract

This article, looking at the middle-class citizens of today who have grown into the majority of the population in developed countries and who are gradually becoming the majority in emerging countries too, argues that none other than such citizens might retain the power of social change in this phase of capitalism. This article, by tracing the different aspects of citizens' features along with capitalist development, reveals the complicated characteristics of contemporary middle-class citizens who though usually supporting of the capitalist system, sometimes turn into influential opponents of the system where they feel themselves betrayed or abandoned by it. This article insists on the distinct meaning of the Worldwide Comprehensive Consumption Reduction Movement, which is effective not only for preventing the destruction of nature, culture and human health but also for the middle-class citizens to develop into constructive reformists, not simply opponents, of the very same capitalist society.

Highlights

The Peculiar Meaning of the Middle-Class CitizensIn the 19th century, as many theorists after Karl Marx have been arguing, those who can change the social system and create a new system have been considered to be working class, selling their own labor power in exchange for exceedingly low wages with very long working hours and remarkably poor labor conditions
With a relatively high standard of education and generally living in or near the big cities, consume far more than the workers of the 19th century so long as the business cycle is operating fairly well. They support capitalism by mass-purchase of mountains of commodities and services produced by the capitalist system, and what is more the large part of them often play a politically important role as voters for the government party and support the capitalist system, too.[1]
Insofar as middle-class citizens are the vital element of contemporary capitalist society, if through some circumstances they should feel betrayed by their society or abandoned by the regime, political and social conditions in the nation concerned could develop into a serious situation

Summary

Introduction

The Peculiar Meaning of the Middle-Class CitizensIn the 19th century, as many theorists after Karl Marx have been arguing, those who can change the social system and create a new system have been considered to be working class, selling their own labor power in exchange for exceedingly low wages with very long working hours and remarkably poor labor conditions. Insofar as middle-class citizens are the vital element of contemporary capitalist society, if through some circumstances they should feel betrayed by their society or abandoned by the regime, political and social conditions in the nation concerned could develop into a serious situation.

Results

Conclusion