Middle Class Guilt

Somebody said the recent universal lament about global warming is mirroring some kind of 'middle class guilt' sentiments. Intriguing argument.

First, let us take a closer look at what middle class is. 'Middle class' or 'bourgeoise', a paradoxical concept about classifications of people in society. It has never been only a topic in ideological and political '...isms' out of reach by the majority. No. Instead, the concept 'middle class' has always been accepted as a matter of fact in our everyday life. 'Middle class' is equivalent to high education, stable handsome salary, abundant chances of travel, good taste of music, books, movies, sports, fashion and food, or in short, quality of life. In a practical earthy Hong Kong sense, middle class is synonymous to an overseas (preferably American or British) degree, a 1000 sq feet harbour-view house with either flamboyant or minimalist interior design, weekend golf or boat trips, Waltz or these days Salsa, Diana Krall and Il Divo, 號外orTime, 明報,經濟or SCMP, Burberry, Gucci or LV (but no monograms please), Starbucks or 'non-cha-chan-tang' style coffee in general, City Super and GREAT, frequent long distance flights, children in English Foundation or DSS schools... You know what I mean. Ask any average Hong Konger, I am sure s/he will come up with a similar list and tell you this is his/her dream lifestyle.

Right, everybody is struggling to get there - be 'middle class'. But who defines what 'there' is like and who plants these images in our mind then? In fact, this label has been deep-rooted in human mind for centuries, probably since the decline of the church and landlords and the emergence of industrialists and businessmen with accumulating wealth during the Industrial Revolution era. It has however taken on a different shape these days with the triumph and omnipresence of advertisements. Yes, advertisements that are literally invading every single corner. These ubiquitous and fanciful images have turned all the qualities of middle class into commodities, in other words, things that you need to pay for. Therefore, to be middle-class, you should prefer Starbucks coffee (which costs you double) to Hong Kong style milk-tea. To be middle class, you should visit HMV to buy DVDs and CDs that can be conveniently bought in local stores. To be middle class, you should subscribe SCMP or Time, even though you can hardly finsh one-third of each issue. To be middle class, you have to own a nice flat in an estate where the entrance lobby has a chandelier, never mind you have to work your whole life off the 5 m mortgage. These are the things that get you into the middle-class. Who cares whether you know the difference between Palestine and Pakistan, whether you know who you are voting for, whether you literally read or flip through the 村上春樹 or Kafka you're carrying, whether you call prostitutes dirty and cheap 'chickens' while frequently enjoying their service, whether you give your seat to a pregnant woman on MTR (let me rephrase -- middle-class people seldom take MTR), whether you give way to or swear at one of those slow-moving cardboard old ladies when you drive, whether you only blame the school for your children's misbehaviour while spoiling them with an unlimited supply of playthings like NDS, Wii and iPhone but never a book.

Now, do we have a reason for guilt? I believe yes. I am not saying that middle class is a group of people we should despise. In fact, I somehow quite like or am struggling to get many of the things mentioned above too. What I am saying is just 'Can we be a little bit more than that?' While we are enjoying all the privileges that our effort and much more importantly our luck (luck of being born with the intelligence, to be exact ability to memorize all that is required in the public exams and get into a university to get a decent degree and a handsome salary) bring us, we should also make an effort to understand how we are made, and how our earth and the unfortunate ones suffer as a result. Let us try to make a difference not merely by making a scanty monthly donation of $100 to an organization whose work we hardly even know.