Does the Middle Class Need to Pick a Side?

Struggling Home and Business Owners, the Anarchists are not fighting you.

I have family friends and acquaintances, both black and white, living in the area of the Minneapplis riot and fires that followed the Protests Concerning George Floyd’s Murder, and I have great compassion for all of them. So far I’ve only heard from a very few that they are “ok”, although under great stress. I pray for the best for all of them.

The Peaceful Protests in Minneapolis have been replaced by Anarchistic Riots where angry destruction creates headlines. People have been hurt both physically and financially, and the financial hurts are more than just that, because the loss of homes and businesses may represent a loss of life long struggles.

I am told there are “opportunists” who seem to be among the peaceful, who might have even started walking in support of the peaceful protest, but who have taken a turn into the “mob mentality” that riots are born of. Whether they self label or not, I believe Anarchy is the best way to describe those behaviors of destructive and danger, despite the consequences we know will come of it.

The anger and pain of anarchy is plainly represented in these events, whether the “bad actors” are self-aware enough to describe it that way or not. Whether they display political anger or personal greed, their behavior is born from a lack of “respect” for the law that fits exactly into the definition of anarchism. The law has not served their needs, and they are done serving it’s needs.

I’ve heard a few observers suggest conspiracy theories around these events that do not seem that far fetched. Our current government is “corporatist” enough to strategize using public anarchy to further their own needs.

I am saddened by all of it.

But I am not surprised. The media often talk about the growing distance between the upper and lower classes. The truth is that the middle class has been used like body armor to be in the front lines when revolt happens. For the ruling class must know that riots like these are going to happen, here and there, as a result of the castigation of many peoples in our country. Pensions are gone, access to heath care is again being reduced after a hopeful attempt at expanding it, and if you win a court case against someone who has harmed you, you still have to pay the court costs. If you are a person of color every interaction with a police officer has to involve an awareness of a risk of being murdered or unfairly imprisoned. Clearly, the “have-nots” are not having their needs met. Homeownership is a fleeting goal which has put many of us through the wringer, and can no longer even be described as a description of “middle class”. (Read “The Yellow House” by Sarah M. Broom if you need further evidence of that statement).

Peoples whom have been abused by “the system” may hold a very angry perspective of anyone around them who has been able to manage any type of “success” within the system. Therefore home- and business-owners like myself and my peers, may feel a need to “pick a side” between the system and the anarchists. We have, for the most part, fought and struggled to stay above poverty and follow the rules. Following the rules is exhausting and depleting, and even when we do succeed in small ways we are PLAGUED by depression and antipathy due to that emotional expense(Read Barbara Ehrenrich) consider. We have become the Prozac Nation, and our small successes of “ownership” become paramount.

Now, my compassion for the anarchists is tempered by my fear of losing the little gains that I have made. My gains look huge to my grandchildren, but they are minor compared to most of the clients I had in my earlier careers in hospitality and physical fitness. Before I became a parent, I was very likely to have supported the anarchists, at least with my voice if not with my actions. Now, I am only on the side of peaceful protests. Because now I have the perspective of knowing that the middle class, who are most likely to suffer the pains caused by the destruction, are not the enemies of the anarchists.

Unless they choose that side.