A DIMINISHING MIDDLE-CLASS

Oct 02, 2017 Editorial

It is said that a strong middle-class is the bedrock of a country’s economic prosperity. In Guyana as in other countries, it is the middle-class who work and pay taxes, provide most of the country’s production with their skills and labor and in turn use their wages/salaries to purchase the same goods and services they produce, thereby creating a functioning and sustaining economy.
The middle-class has the purchasing power to advance or hinder the economy and the development of the country, but the ruling elite has the political power to make and implement laws. The rich and powerful have always found loopholes to pay little or no taxes on their income.
They take more from the country than they give and that governments, past and present have allowed them to do what they want because of their status.
This is also true of several senior government officials who do not pay taxes either, while others, including members of the cabinet, are provided with several allowances ranging from house, car, security, maid, cook and telephone and electricity, among others.
However, in order to spur sustainable economic growth and provide a good life for all, the middle class must be able to consume; and to do that, they need to see their incomes rise in line with the cost of living.
Notwithstanding their importance to the economy, the middle-class way of life is diminishing; leaving our society divided between the wealthy elite, tax dodging business-people and a sprawling proletariat, some of whom were formerly considered middle-class, but are now struggling to make ends meet.
The middle-class is vital to our society in the sense that they serve as a goal for lower classes to aspire to, and as a springboard to the upper classes, but without education and decent paying jobs and tax cuts, the lower classes would never progress. Those in authority need to understand that the input of the middle-class is crucial for the development of the economy and hence the country.
After more than two years in office, the vast majority of the campaign promises have not been fulfilled and most of the policies that were implemented have done nothing but to protect the financial and economic interests of the wealthy elite. This is further evidence to prove that the middle-class is diminishing.
The economy could be in a tailspin if the middle-class families can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that they have produced and are sold by businesses. It is for this reason that the government should do what it takes to protect and not punish the middle class by dipping into their pockets after they work so hard to provide for themselves and their families.
During the past two years, commodity prices have increased substantially and it is alleged that new taxes on the middle class are pending in the up-coming budget, while the salaries of the middle-class have increased by a meager 5 percent. Not to mention the impact of the 14 percent value added tax on water and electricity have had on the middle-class. These issues have not only diminished the middle-class, but they have widened the poverty gap between the rich and the middle-class, at the same time significantly increasing their political power.
This upswing in power has slanted our political system in favor of the rich. As a consequence, they are able to exert political influence over the government, as most of the economic policies are geared towards weakening the middle-class way of life.
Some have even predicted that the2018 budget will impose more taxes on the middle-class; while the wealthy will continue to plunder the country by not paying taxes. The government needs to aggressively go after the tax-dodging business moguls and the self-employed. However, many believe that it will not happen because of the influence of the wealthy over the government, which suggests that the middle-class is diminishing.

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