five great middle-class maladies

Top-Maladies

1) Middle-class people want those material-realm "goodies" or "rewards" that they don't truly deserve.

Unlike most genuine achievers who unfortunately appear to suffer from "impostor syndrome" (or "impostor phenomenon"), most of the middle-class people want what they are not made for nor cut out to do. And the latter types want what they have not truly worked for. Features that define India's Middle Class People (MCP)

Meaning, they -- the thick scum (majority layer) among the middle-class people -- want to grow and expand the wrong way.

That is, they are essentially a bunch of losers who want to convince/deceive themselves, and others, that they are winners.

So, losers' 'philosophy' of life is to gain an undeserving, and unfair, advantage over others. Call such losers genuine impostors, if you will.

Such losers pretending to be winners are not to be confused with genuine achievers (natural winners with a crimped or deficienct self-belief).

How to recognize these parasite-like impostors among the middle-class people? Easy!

Typically, losers (who masquerade, or carry themselves around, as winners) adopt a way of living that has an easily recognizable pattern:

zero risk
grab all you can, with total focus on self ("I, me, myself, my and mine")
play it safe; hold on to what has been secured already; consolidate
grab more always, without ever digressing into areas unrelated to selfish interests or hectic, busy-busy routines of the rat race, because it's a game of 'the survival of the fittest' -- so, "mind one's own business" (selfish personal matters) all the time, no matter what
conformism, spineless compliance
sleep with the enemy, if it can further selfish personal interests
never resist, oppose, question or defy, either directly or indirectly, the evil or bad authority
get ahead -- never cooperate with, nor strengthen, any member of the peer-group, who should be used as a stepping stone to higher positions
use-and-throw, manipulate, exploit, cheat, betray, back-stab peers, especially when you can bask in their reflected glory
winner takes all (so win at all costs, either by hook or by crook)
ends alone matter, not the means (so losers don't have a sense of history, nor a global outlook, much less any inner moral compass or reference point for ethics; nor do they have any respect and appreciation for the symbiotic relationship that should exist between the part and the whole.)

To be sure, there is no contradiction in what follows below:

Back to the top

2) The majority scumbags among the middle class want what they don't deserve -- and they want it the easy way or through crooked, unfair, corrupt, questionable, insincere, dubious, or unholy means.

Most middle-class people, especially the majority impostor segment, receive some craved-for (but undeserving) early success in life either through "beginner's luck" or through sheer providence; either because of other people's kindness and generosity or through wrong/dubious means. Later, they refuse to use such early success as a springboard, foundation or starting point for real hard work, genuine growth, complete transformation; they don't put in adequate and sustained efforts to build on such early success for the right goals.

Instead, they mistake early success for true success, or tend to take it for granted, feeling a sense of entitlement.

Worse, they infer a wrong cause-effect behind their "success". They begin to believe use of wrong means has paid off, that it is okay to use wrong means. So, in pursuit of more (and more) "success", "rewards" or "dividends", losers (masquerading as winners) begin to tread the "grey zone" -- that thin, almost blurred, boundary which separates "good" from "bad", "light" from "darkness", "white" from "black".

Next, they decide to double down on employing wrong means, dubious methods, corrupt techniques, unethical strategies, insincere or dishonest ploys all the time, throughout their lifetime, confusing them for the authentic and right way to 'true success'. And they try to rationalize or explain it all away by invoking family compulsions, real-life practicalities, realism, etc.

And they persist with the wrong means even when it no longer produces the desired or hoped-for results. Worse, they don't even pause to review the means and methods that are failing over and over again, landing them in ever deeper, complex troubles.

Or, they settle for a humdrum, 'grey-zone' life of routines -- predictable, hectic, formula-like lifestyle patterns of the cut-throat 'rat race' characterized by the following:

mediocrity, slow-burn, organism-level instinct for survival and self-perpetuation
conformism, compliance, complacence, risk-aversion, non-committalism (vis-a-vis community)
'asset'-accumulation, crass consumerism, zombie-like 'lifeless life' devoid of vitality, life-force, sanctity and inner significance, but full of hot air, make-believe, pretense, delusions of grandeur, self-deceptions.

[The losers / impostors take and post lots of selfies and other inane, ego-gratifying content on social media; vicariously watch reality TV and other such mind-numbing, voyeuristic or addictive content, including live sports telecasts; enjoy or even take part in so-called talent shows for singing and dancing, etc; upload or share recordings of their perceived / imagined 'talent'; spend ill-earned money on branded clothes, branded accessories, branded gadgets, branded goods, branded products, branded services, branded technologies, or luxuries and acquired tastes beyond their ordinary means (like, say, expensive imported liquor or imported foods extracted through violent, cruel, inhuman methods -- to afford which, they amass wealth via unholy means, or by being mingy-stingy in others areas of life); imagine themselves to be on a par with heroes, heroines and superstars by looking at their own images, videos shot with personal phone-cams ...]

lack of proactive, conscientious, demonstrable resistance to both inner and external evil, as well as to bad change imposed by evil-minded people at the top; rather, instead of resistance, this: spineless, unthinking acceptance, compliance or embrace of such bad change
convenient, 'diplomatic' resistance to, or avoidance of, good change
preference for the known, the familiar ("comfort zone") and the status quo
propensity to jump on the dog-eat-dog, frog-pull-down-frog bandwagon saturated with herd mentaliy, while always expecting others to take the initiative, make the first move, sacrifice. Click/tap here to read more about this saturated form of shameless selfishness and exaggerated self-importance.
tendency to believe and take seriously ego-scripted, ego-gratifying (hence self-deceiving) narrative about oneself -- where (in that self-story) self is a hero / heroine / superstar... a victim of circumstances struggling against all odds and succeeding in spite of everything -- the self-deluding, imaginary "struggle" being a hectic, busy-busy, comfort-addicted, convenience-defined life full of selfish pursuit of personal interests, often in a thoughtless, unconscious way fit for an automaton / robot, or through unfair, undeserving, unholy, ill-earned advantage over others.

Worse, they have the cheek and gall to think of those who made way for them, who helped them, who got cheated by them as 'losers'.

Worst of all, driven by a vulgar (but unrecognized) sense of entitlement and smothered, suppressed conscience, they think the underprivileged, the oppressed, the exploited and the helpless are a mere fact of harsh life, little realizing they (impostors) are culpable for the mess directly or indirectly.

Back to the top

3) Middle-class people grab what they don't deserve by depriving others who truly deserve it.

Or, middle-class people 'help' themselves to what they don't deserve by stealing/usurping it from those who created it from scratch by dint of hard work, creativity, and imagination.

Back to the top

4) Middle-class people don't want 'really true success' either at the next higher level(s) or even at the so-called top level, which is there for the taking but they don't want to take it.

True mystery, if there ever was one!

'Really true success' either at the next higher level(s) or even at the so-called top level is something middle-class people should truly pursue and attain, which is their duty and responsibility ("dharma") to achieve; but they steer clear of it anyway.

Why? Because of the following reasons:

They are afraid of really true, "top" success
They lack confidence and faith in themselves due to ignorance (or lack of awareness or true information/insight on "top-level" success)
They are intellectually, philosophically and spiritually lazy
They are addicted to intellect-disabling or intellect-destroying addictions, vices or weaknesses like harmful substances (foods, beverages in solid, liquid or gaseous forms) or idiotic concepts, fantasies, escapisms, psycho-socioeconomic traps
They are slaves of their ego / dark side / "lower self"
They are scared of embracing change and lifting themselves out of their cucoon-like comfort zone created and preferred by their ego
They wallow in mediocrity, avoid pursuit of excellence, resist self-upgradation and evolution as "change" is interpreted by their ego as "too much hard work", which is in turn labelled by the subconscious mind as "pain", which in turn triggers the primal or primitive "avoid pain and seek/reinforce pleasure" response. Why are most of the middle-class people mediocre or evil (or agents of evil)? Has it got something to do with "marriage"? Click / tap here to download an interesting theory (speculation, which could well be true).

The Western-type economic system of capitalism, characterised by the so-called free market enterprise, has trapped the majority middle-class people in an intellect-destroying, soul-degrading, self-perpetuating, addictive, and seductive vicious cycle.

That vicious cycle is like a matrix full of layers upon layers with inter-connected nodes, with nodes in each layer cross-connected to other nodes across the matrix. Here is an overview of the node-rich layers that comprise the matrix of vicious cycle:

ego, hyper-individualism, arrogance, excessive importance for personal likes and preferences
physical comforts, sense pleasures
laziness, mediocrity, complacency
greed, fear, insecurity, anxiety, neurotic behavior, stress
selfishness, self-centredness, self-absorbed lifestyle
crookedness, deceit, wilyness, wickedness, duplicity, two-facedness, hypocrisy, intransigence, recalcitrance, intolerance
wrong use of (or excessive reliance on) 'soft skills' like soft-spokenness, sweet words, conformity, compliance, interpersonal charm, external 'politeness', fake diplomacy (non-committalism due to obsessive selfishness)
incapacity for self-introspection, busy-busy hectic routines, belief in 'survival of the fittest', 'get ahead of others in the rat race by hook or by crook', cut-throat competition with peers
indifference, apathy, non-committalism, make-believe, fake or hidden agenda-driven approach to community, society, environment; lack of proactive, fearless resistance to evil
spinelessness, obsequiousness, dull conformism, 'yes-sir' syndrome / 'yes-madam' syndrome, 'no-problem' syndrome
treachery, betrayal, backstabbing, ingratitude, biting the hand that feeds, opportunism, indecisiveness, timidity, and corrupted conscience
impostor indulgence (pretentiousness, tendency to live in denial, slavery to delusions of grandeur and self-deceptions, propensity to postpone dealing with fundamentals and self-truths endlessly)
risk-aversion, complacency (which is wrongly labelled by the ego as contentment, renunciation of greed), preference for status quo, avoidance of duties, responsibilities, commitments that don't further selfish interests
lack of resistance to (or unquestioned, spineless acceptance of) 'bad change' imposed by evil-minded people at the top, but avoidance or perpetual postponement of the necessary 'good change' advocated by higher-realm people.

This cowardly, ignorant, self-deceiving, and self-defeating attitude of the majority middle-class people, which stops them from pursuing top-level success, is covered up by their ego as being "wise", "cautious", "smart", "strategic", "practical", "realistic", "not being excessively ambitious and greedy", "acting as per one's own limitations", etc.

Back to the top

5) Middle-class people want Universe to help them maximize comfort-reinforcing, ill-gotten "success" of the ego-created, ego-preferred "comfort zone" in exactly the way they desire.

Meaning, middle-class people want absolute power to manipulate the entire Universe Itself to make 'It' work in the way they want.

Middle-class people resist allowing themselves to be manipulated and used by Universe in the way 'It' wants, so as to be rewarded by 'It' beyond all expectations and wildest dreams. Because their intellect, conscience and soul have been corrupted by capitalism, their faith has been eroded as well.

Hence, middle-class people don't have trust in Universe that 'It' will for sure bestow "rewards" (of the material realm, to be sure) if 'right' efforts are put in for 'right' purposes.

When they develop trust, fill the faith deficit, they can easily realize that such massive "rewards" will come for sure, and ought to be used the right way, for right purposes.

That, in turn, will help build a virtuous cycle.

Else, a whirlpool-like vicious cycle of downward spiral will ensue.

Have a view, comment, observation or feedback to share? Email us: nrinatter@outlook.com

Back to the top

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition, was not the victriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people. Our generation will have to repent not only for the words and acts of the children of darkness but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light."

-- Dr Martin Luther King Jr, in his speech at the Dinkier Plaza Hotel (Atlanta, Georgia, in the U.S.) on January 27, 1965.