Two Billion More Bourgeois

摘要

People love to mock the middle class. Its narrow-mindedness, complacency and con-formism are the mother lode of material for sitcom writers and novelists. But Marx thought "the bourgeoisie…has played a most revolutionary part" in history.rnAnd although The Economist rarely sees eye to eye with the father of communism, on this Marx was right.rnDuring the past 15 years a new middle class has sprung up in emerging markets, producing a silent revolution in human af-fairs-a revolution of wealth-creation and new aspirations. The change has been silent because its beneficiaries have gone about transforming countries unobtrusively while enjoying the fruits of success. But that success has been a product of growth. As growth collapses, the way the new middle class reacts to the thwarting of its expectations could change history in a direction that is still impossible to foresee.