THE ORDERED LIFE AND MIDDLE CLASS VALUES

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

DEFINITION

The ordered life, as explained in this article, is the same as the middle class lifestyle in places such as America, Western Europe, and parts of Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. India and Red China, in particular, are also developing a middle class, as well.

The middle class is the shining example of how hard work and minimal play, along with using your brain and your brawn to support yourself and your family, can succeed well in life.

THE SOCIAL CLASSES

Scholars divide the people in a capitalist or free market society into various groups. We would say the most important of these are:

The dependent class. These are babies, children and people who truly cannot work for some reason such as illness, old age or mental disability. They include many homeless people.

The lazy class. In modern societies there is a group of people who can work, but prefer not to work. They learn how to legally collect money from the government or even from churches and private charities so that they do not have to work.

The poor or lower class. These people work, although not necessarily steadily. However, they do not save money and often spend whatever they earn so they live more or less from paycheck to paycheck.

They often drink alcohol and may use drugs, and have other bad habits that prevent them from saving money and using their talents well. Most do not own a home.

The middle class. This is the subject of this article. These people work and some own businesses. They save their money, usually own a home or want to, and usually live in families.

The upper class, also sometimes called the investor class. These are wealthier people who have a lot of investments so they may or may not work regular jobs.

Criminals. These are people who break the laws of society and steal from others. They may be corrupt politicians who take bribes, corrupt businessmen and women who cheat on their taxes and elsewhere, cybercriminals, and others.

QUALITIES OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

The middle class is characterized by the following qualities or characteristics:

1. Fairly comfortable and secure economically, but not super wealthy.

2. Holds a job, has a career, or is an entrepreneur who earns money, rather than:

- living on welfare (the underclass)

- living from investments (very wealthy people)

- living by corruption (the parasitic ruling class).

3. Usually lives in a family setting and believes in family values such as raising children, having a husband or wife, and living in a stable home.

4. Believes in independence or personal freedom, the work ethic and basic goodness.

5. Believes in a Western-style morality, in general. This does not mean the person is religious. However, in most cases, middle class people accept the Judeo-Christian value system such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.

In contrast, the ruling class and the poverty-stricken classes have more negative attitudes and are more amoral, believing instead in the law of the jungle - that might makes right and the elite must rule.

6. Does not feel like a total victim like the very poor, nor is a total vampire like the ruling class in most nations. People of the middle class often have a little of both the vampire mentality and the victim mentality. However, it is usually moderate and not too disruptive.

7. Is part of a capitalist or free market society. Some economic and political freedom appear to be necessary to have a thriving middle class.

For example, there is not much of a middle class in the communist nations of the world or dictatorships like Mexico. Here one finds a small ruling class that controls most of the wealth, and a large underclass or worker class who do the work, but who are forbidden from keeping the rewards of their labor. Karl Marx blamed this situation on the capitalists or owners of factories. This is not true, however. The fault lies with the ruling class, who make the laws and secretly control the capitalists and the workers.

What the middle class is not. As a general rule, those who live the ordered life do not:

- stay up late at night

- do not often get drunk or high on drugs.

- do not engage in loose sexual behavior.

WHY BOTHER WITH AN ORDERLY LIFE?

1. To reduce stress on the body, which greatly improves one’s health. The human body thrives on stability and moderation.

2. To have more joy and happiness. There is joy in economic security, family, in work and careers, and in the social interaction that occurs in middle class communities. These are among the most important ways that human beings become happy and content.

3. For development. Development, as we use this word on this website, is greatly aided by a relatively stable living situation that often occurs with people in the middle class.

Very poor people often must work hard and may have trouble affording a development program. Very wealthy people often travel too much, may work long hours, and may party too much. These activities interfere with development. However, if one has leisure time, following a development program is an excellent use of that time.

IS AN ORDERED LIFE BORING?

For most people, the middle class or ordered life is wonderful. It is not a boring life because one has one’s friends, family, occupation and often hobbies, as well.

There can be a sort of mundane quality to the ordered life, but people realize it is helpful, in most cases, to prolong life and assure safety and security.

OTHER LIFESTYLES

For a few people, the ordered life is boring. These are the people known as gypsies, hippies, vagabonds or wanderers. They want to live totally free, with no responsibilities. They generally do not hold regular jobs, often like drugs and loose sexual morality, do not believe much in the nuclear family, usually have little money but don’t care, often live on welfare, and prefer to live “free as the wind”.

A few of these people do well with this lifestyle. Most, however, are running away from responsibilities and are not mature. They usually do not live long, and are subject to rape, robbery, shootings, and other catastrophic events that come with the vagrant lifestyle.

WHY TALK ABOUT THE MIDDLE CLASS ORDERED LIFE?

The ordered life or middle class values are under attack all over the world. We are told that traditional values are “old-fashioned”, “homophobic”, “anti-women”, and more. None of this is the truth, however.

The reality is that socialists, communists, and liberals the world over hate the middle class because they stand in their way of total control over the people. This is the case because middle class people tend to be politically active and often vote Republican in the USA, for example. Middle class people usually vote for good laws, protection of children and the family, sexual moderation, outlawing of drug use, and other things that promote a truly free society.

The idea of a strong, stable, happy middle class also does not fit into the Marxist paradigm or view of how societies function, and this bothers the communists and socialists.

So it is important to review what is the ordered life, and why live this way. It is also important to ignore and denounce the attacks on Judeo-Christian values, rugged individualism, natural rights and other aspects of middle class life.

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