The Middle Class

France had a revolution in 1789, just a few years after the American Revolutionary War. Terrible things happened in France, shortly after the storming of the Bastille and the killing of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. That was the time of the guillotine and the beheading of royalty along with many other people who confronted the leaders of the "Reign of Terror." Napoleon became the emperor of France in 1804. He lost his rule after the battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was first followed by a king, then a democracy and then another king. France is currently in its Fifth Republic. My point is that a democracy is not easily achieved. It takes a great deal of time to establish a democratic government.

In my opinion, a large and prosperous middle class is essential in obtaining and maintaining democratic rule. This is because the middle class has growing investments in businesses and even houses. They want to protect all their financial interests. Through voting, the middle class feels that they have some involvement in promoting and keeping a strong democracy. Several countries prove this point.

Russia has had a democracy for a short time. However, Russia is returning to the rule of a new tyrant because of the huge lower class, the small rich upper class and relatively few middle-class people. The new ruler, Putin, seized a few wealthy peoples' assets and then jailed them. Putin will not give up his power quickly. He will probably figure out how to overcome the constitution or eliminate it all together.

Germany is another democracy. Germany had the Weimar Republic, a supposed democracy, after World War I. Hitler and his Nazi party were able to easily overthrow that Republic. Germany, as most of the industrial countries had suffered a depression. The United States had the longest depression during the 1930s. Germany fell easily to the Nazis because of rampant inflation. Germany became very prosperous after World War II, with the aid of the United States' Marshall Plan. It continues to be a successful democracy with a large middle class.

Many countries in South America demonstrate the issues facing democratic societies. Both Argentina and Chile have middle classes. Each country has been in the control of dictators. Argentina also had economic difficulties. But the large middle classes of Argentina and Chile struggled hard to reestablish prosperity. Now it appears that these two countries maybe well-established democracies. Several countries in the northern part of South America are teetering on losing their democracies. Venezuela just had an election. Democracy seems to have narrowly won out. But the strong man, Hugo Chavez, has yet to react. Several other countries in that region are having their democracies challenged because the middle classes are not large or secure.

The United States is also having economic problems. The current administration, by bending over backwards to help the very rich through tax reductions has increased the national debt. Most of the debt is owed to foreign countries. The debt has been run up at a rate never known before in the western world, even during the many wars our country has helped finance or when the U.S. has made adjustments for inflation. Favoring the rich has negatively affected the middle class, whose incomes have fallen due to inflation. The middle class is becoming less effective in trying to maintain a strong democracy. The wealthy people, who can afford lobbying, are influencing Congress to pass laws that are against middle/lower class voters' interests. The media has also been ignoring the economic problems of the country. Running up the huge national debt will eventually affect the soundness of the country's economy by destroying the middle class. The upcoming elections will be very important. Yet, a group of religious zealots, who only care about insignificant religious issues, may distort the election results. Unfortunately, the future of the U.S. rises or falls over the Iraqi war, abortions and same-sex marriages, rather than on the country's declining economy and the debts that future generations will be left to pay.
Chester P. Soling